BDO |

At BDO, we’re one of the UK’s largest accountancy and business advisory firms – big enough to work with well-known clients, but still personal enough that your voice matters.

We offer a wide range of early career routes – from apprenticeships and internships to industrial placements and graduate programmes – across audit, tax, advisory, and business services.

Whatever your background, you’ll find structured training, recognised qualifications, and real responsibility from the start. You’ll join a close-knit team and be supported by expert leaders in a culture that encourages curiosity, collaboration and learning.

What makes us different? It’s the people-focused culture, the variety of industries we work in, and a real commitment to inclusion and belonging. Whether you’re just exploring your options or ready to take the next step, BDO is big enough to make an impact – and personal enough to help you thrive.

We’ll expect you to have, or be on course for, a 2:2 or above in any degree discipline. You should also have three A Levels at grades A*-C in any subject (excluding General Studies and Extended Projects) plus GCSEs in Maths and English Language, at grades 9 – 4 or equivalent. You’ll also need the right to work in the UK  (we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for these roles as they do not meet the current minimum salary requirements for sponsorship set by the Home Office. Applications from candidates who have their own legal right to work within the UK must cover the duration of their 3-year training contract and employment)

We recognise that your qualifications and work experience don’t tell us the full story. So we’re keen to find out what you care about and love to do in life. We always look for people who are supportive, responsible, honest and collaborative and are ready to make an impact from day one.

We offer a wide range of core and voluntary benefits covering your lifestyle, protection, money and wellbeing. These are aimed at helping you make the most of work and your life beyond it. They include:

• Additional leave
• Gym membership
• Give As You Earn
• Pension
• Private medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Health assessments
• Bike to work
• Travel insurance
• Community Volunteering Days

There are a few stages to applying for an early careers opportunity at BDO. Each stage is designed to help you showcase your potential and your skills – so that we can see how you fit with our values and what support we could give you. From the outset, the focus is less on past experience and more on how you think, solve problems and interact with others.

Step 1: Online Application

Our initial application stage is designed to be as quick and easy as possible for applicants.

Step 2: Online Task-Based assessment

The next step is the task-based assessment, an interactive and engaging way to measure cognitive ability, resilience and decision-making. These puzzle-style tasks don’t require prior preparation. Just find a calm and quiet place where you can focus and be your authentic self.

Step 3: Video Interview

If successful, you’ll move on to the video interview, where you’ll be assessed on your communication skills, awareness of the business stream you applied to, and how you align with BDO’s values. Preparation is important here: research what we do, practice your responses, and remember to speak clearly and with confidence about what you know.

Step 4: Assessment Centre and Interview

If you are successful in your video interview, the next is the virtual assessment centre, in which you’ll take part in a range of activities that simulate real work at BDO.

For graduates and school leavers, the assessment centre consists of two parts. The first part is the case study presentation, where you’ll analyse information and present your recommendations to assessors. The second part is the group exercise, in which you’ll work in a team to analyse a business problem and present your recommendations.

For Interns and IPs, in addition to these tasks, you’ll also have an interview as part of the virtual assessment centre. 

If you’re applying for a graduate or school leaver programme, your final stage during the assessment centre is a face-to-face interview in the office that you applied to. This is your chance to reflect on your motivations, strengths, and experiences, while asking thoughtful questions about the role.

We’re building a culture where everyone can be themselves, feel they belong and is included at every point of their career. When you join us, you’ll be part of building it too.

From your first day, you’ll hear a lot about our networks. These are groups of colleagues who join together as a community in the workplace based on being allies, shared characteristics, similar backgrounds or life experiences. They welcome anyone who wants to learn more about these communities. We currently have nine networks including our Muslim Network, LGBTQ+ Network, a group aimed at creating gender balance, one for working parents, and many more. You can find all of the networks and more information on our careers site.

Whatever your definition of success, we’ll support you to identify and achieve it. It’s your career and we encourage you to take ownership of it though a range of learning and development options.

From day one, you’ll be part of a firm that is raising the standard of accountancy training across the entire industry which means exceptional development opportunities for you at every stage. Whatever programme you join us on, you’ll benefit from a mix of technical training and live work to put your knowledge into practice.

Our technical training is a mix of internal and external courses that mean you will learn from the top minds in the industry and develop the most cutting-edge skills with thinkers from across the business world. Your development will be a key priority for your manager and we’ll make sure you have exactly what you need to achieve your personal and professional goals.

At BDO, we don’t believe we can be a successful business unless we’re also a responsible business. Our sustainability approach is an essential part of that. Our priority to decrease the carbon footprint per employee and reach Net-Zero.

We have ambitious and measurable goals. We want to halve our carbon emissions from 2020 by 2030. We’re focussing on three areas; ‘How we work’, ‘How we travel’ and ‘How we buy.’ These include installing renewable energy in our offices, creating a carbon-smart travel policy and analysing all our suppliers to ensure we buy form to have Net-Zero targets.