Staff Review

I am a staff/assistant at Ernst and Young and on a daily basis I am asked to perform several stages of the execution audit. I am routinely in touch with clients on a daily basis as most of my work is based on client sites. I keep a strong relationship with those in my year group and maintain daily contact with them, alongside other colleagues I have worked with. I am responsible for completing my work allocation which often involves completing steps such as debtors/creditors, vat, deferred income etc. I have worked on a variety of clients getting a mix of all kinds of industries from steel to medical research.

Throughout my time at EY so far, the area in which I can see the most improvement is the obvious excel skills. I have also learned about and developed my professional front when talking to clients.

I enjoy my programme, however I do not think that it is tailored to school leavers in my area. I think that the school leavers are expected to work to the same effect as a graduate and that the programmes are identical to one another, with people in the office not even knowing who is a school leaver and who is a graduate. However I do enjoy the school leaver programme and the challenge that it brings.

On some occasions such as on smaller teams I do feel valued, where my contribution to the audit can be fully seen. However, on a larger audit, I think it is very much about the big picture to those higher up, I think that they struggle to focus on individual success and progress as much.

I feel the programme could be better structured to those who have directly come out of school to help assist with the full time workload and exam study.

Everyone at EY is provided with a counsellor, this is a helpful channel to receive support.

Same as above

my salary meets my living costs and no more

There are many company activities and opportunities to socialise

No

Overall, the workload and lifestyle I feel is not accurately portrayed in the lead up to employment, often having to work hours and hours of unpaid overtime.

Ensure you know exactly what the job entails before you sign your contract. If you are assigned to Audit for example, make sure you know what that means in general and what that will mean for you. Research the service lines and make sure you are in the one most tailored to you. Explore your options.