Business Trainee Review

I am a trainee accountant working in Corporate Finance. My role changes on a day to day basis which reflects the industry and the client needs. I have been given a number of responsibilities that have really stretched me such as dealing with massive payments and big sums of money. I am also heavily involved in corporate responsibilty initiatives and have been able to present in front of different audiences.

I have learnt a lot about Administrations and been able to develop my business writing and spoken communication skills. There is a variety of things I can continue to get involved with and even more that I can learn.

At first I did not enjoy the studying alongside working full time as the study leave we were entitled to was not at all sufficient. However, I was able to settle in fairly quickly and I now thoroughly enjoy my role and the opportunities available to me within this firm. I definitely made the best decision for me.

It is sometimes difficult to feel valued within such a large organisation but within my team I do feel valued and everyone seems to make an effort to make you feel welcomed. EY is also big on feedback so it is nice to get appreciation for the work that has been completed well and to be given points for improvement so I am also improving in my role.

The 5 year programme is well structured in terms of being put within your chosen teams and having time at college for exam study. However, as with anything there were a few minor things that could be altered such as the communication prior to starting in terms of knowing when we would start college and when our first set of exams would be.

I am studying towards the ACA ICAEW which has already been challenging. I do not feel the tutors at Kaplan gave me as much support as I needed but I believe this was mainly due to tutor availability and the large class size. I was able to contact the tutors via email but would have benefitted from more face to face/ one to one support.

Everyone is assigned a counsellor. My counsellor is very friendly and helpful, she provides me with guidance with decisions that I need to make. Through various networking events, I have also been able to meet people who I now have a mentor/mentee relationship with. This is also really useful as I have added support from people within the business but outside of my department. There is support available but it is a matter of you vocalising your concerns and being confident to speak to different people and being able to tell someone when you need help.

It is a very competitive salary especially for people of my age group (18/19 years old) and there is scope to receive bonuses for good performance.

EY has many corporate responsibility initiatives and internal networks that I have been able to get involved with. I have recently joined a new syndicate supporting a charity that supports children through school in Zimbabwe, we have an active role in deciding where our donations go and after the year we will hopefully be able to see large improvements in a number of less privileged children's lives. I have also had to opportunity to work closely with young people as a mentor. I mentor year 10 students through the Think Forward programme at EY. I have been to a few training sessions with the EY netball team but have not yet fully committed to a team. I have had opportunities to attend networking events and represent EY at recruitment events. There is a lot to get involved in if you can manage your time effectively and I am excited to see what I can do next.

Yes

EY is an amazing firm with many opportunities. It is an excellent place to start your career and with any job there is bound to be positives and negatives but overall the EY is an excellent place to work. I have met some lovely people that are all really friendly and helpful and will be able to support me in my career progression.

Even if you have never considered a career in Finance, definitely consider EY. They offer so many different services and they look for people from a range of academic backgrounds, so you do not necessarily have to have studied Maths or Economics. Do as much research as you can, find out about the business culture, the professional qualifications you can gain whilst working here etc. Try and attend as many career/recruitment events as possible to find out not only about EY but about other opportunities out there so you can make a well-rounded decision. Talk to actual EY employees if you can, to get even more of an insight. The application process is not too long winded; but you need to be aware of EY values in order to succeed in the situational judgement test especially. The interviews are strengths based, so know what your strengths are but also be aware of your areas for improvement. You will also be required to complete a psychometric test (Verbal, numerical and diagrammatic reasoning) - PRACTICE. These tests are extremely time pressured but there is a lot of practice material online. EY does not expect you to have massive amounts of work experience but they will be impressed if you at least have an idea of what they do and what area of the business you are interested in. Find as much relevant work experience as possible beforehand as it will help you when it comes to answering questions at the interview stage and will make you stand out.