Business Trainee Review

I am an Executive in the Corporate Restructuring team. I work with companies to review their legal structures. I regularly work with Partners and Senior Managers and also have junior staff reporting into me. I am often attending client meetings and communicating with clients. My responsibilities vary depending on the project but basically I am an assistant manager. I don't have a typical day to day task.

I have gained an ACCA qualification. I am often attending various internal training courses relating to my role. I do not really attend any external training courses other than those related to my qualification. I have improved my confidence, analytical and communication skills.

I enjoy the work as it varies quite a lot depending on the client and their needs. The team I work in are all very supportive although the social aspect isn't as good as it once was. The culture at EY is very laid back with lots of responsibility passed on to you. But you are expected to perform at all times. This programme has probably exceeded my expectations.

This is probably one of the areas that I feel the firm fails on. Some managers are appreciative whilst others aren't. It is very much a personally driven agenda in that if you want feedback you will need to seek it rather than it be given unsolicited. Beyond that, not much recognition is provided as we are, to some extent, expected to be high performers always.

The programme is well structured with set milestones for promotion linked to exam success. You get a good induction, training is fairly good and the team are very supportive. Some teams are more used to working with School Leavers than others so I think the experience can vary.

I completed my qualification through First Intuition who were absolutely stellar. You were provided with the home and personal mobile numbers of tutors so that you could easily contact them.

You get given plenty of time off to study and the team are always supportive and encourage you to leave on time during your study period. Other team members are always happy to cover for your cases.

Initially, it was a struggle. Cost of living in London is extremely expensive and I relied on support from family in order to get by. Now that I am qualified, I am on a good salary so have no financial issues.

It can vary. Initially there were lots of events outside of work but then this cut down significantly due to a cost cutting exercise. These are slowly picking up again.

Yes

If they want to join a school leaver programme then EY offers a great training regime. The experience is more than I could have imagined for someone my age and I have learnt more about business then I ever would have at university.

Consider whether EY is right for you and then do your research on yourself. It isn't necessary to know all of EYs financial figures, no one really cares. Try and think of some interesting questions to ask your interviewer like "Where do you see yourself in x years?" so that you can work out if EY is right for you and it makes you look good. Qualifications don't mean much so make sure you have plenty of extras to talk about.