Auditor Review

I am an auditor inside the products and services sector under the UK&I department in EY. This involves understanding the companies processes and testing their accounts to check they are true and fair. Part of the task is to meet and discuss with management of firms, to anaylse the results of the company and to check it matches the accounts.

My job involves completing 15 exams to become a chartered accountant, gain much knowledge when completing the exams. This involves completing 15 exams. So far, I have passed the first 8 out of the 15 exams first time. This was partly due to EY paying for "college" in Kaplan who taught us in a classroom environment. Some other firms I know make students study at home - which I think would be a major disadvantage. I would say the main skills i have learnt during the apprentiship is confidence and management skills - organising the team and coaching colleagues below you.

I have been allocated a client which lasts the majority of the year. You are therefore able to get to know the team and the client well, rather than just getting to know everybody and then moving to another client.

EY do give the impression you are valued, which helps under stressful deadlines.I have been given more responsiblity the more time goes on. They are also able to show this by giving out "value awards" woth £50 - incentivising colleagues and yourself to work harder. However, I feel more could be done within the firm to show appreciation for a good piece of work.

When you join, you have an induction with your peers. The induction is well organised where you get to know everybody in your year. When I joined it used to be residential (ie everyone gets put up in a hotel). However, EY are cutting costs and have now stopped this, therefore the new induction is in canary wharf. If you are outside of london, you get a hotel but for all of those who have just joined London, you have to commute in. It does ruin the vibe and is not as good as the old format, but the training will be the same. When you join, a buddy is asigned to you so that you can ask any questions if necessary (such as how to submit a timesheet etc). A peer group meeting is set up to discuss anything that EY could do better for yourself as an employee and you are assigned to a family. This family involves colleagues at every level at EY in the same department as you. The exams are more spaced out than a graduate, which is good in a sense that you have more time to revise for each exam. However, as the exams are dragged out over 5 years, there are a lot of gaps between exams when you would rather get it done. Speeding up the exams is frowned on by the talent team in EY and is very hard to do - therefore there is not much flexibility in this part.

You can ask the college tutor questions at any time during the exam period as the tutor provides their email. You also have guidance from a buddy assigned to you (described above) who are all very happy to help. You are allowed to discuss any problems and anybody I have asked has always been positive and supportive to find a solution. A web-cast is also before the exam between yourself and the kaplan tutor so you can ask all questions you are unsure of.

Senior management help very much if you have a problem within EY or have a problem with your job. They are happy to tell you any solutions and everybody at EY is happy to act as a "mentor" for you. EY have a helpline you can call to ask any questions during the day. HR/IT are easily accessible and usually pick up within 2 or 3 minutes. If there are any issues, they are very knowledgable and can usually refer you to the correct colleague. As described above, you can easily obtain support from your buddy, peer group, family or councellor.

At the start of joining, school leavers earn nowhere near enough to live or rent in London, however this is true for any firm you join at this level. Therefore, I had to commute for the firs two years of the programme, which was very tricky in busy season. Now I am in my thrid year, I am able to live up in London (just), but the salary is not enough. As a school leaver, its very annoying teaching a graduate below you, who is on a much larger salary.

Many events are organised for each department and there is a few socials a year with free drinks. There are many company events or voluntary activities EY organise and allow you to take place in. There are many clubs such as football teams if you want to join. These events are usually local in London and are easy to join up. These allow you to get to meet more colleagues at EY and get to network more.

Yes

It gives you many skills that will be useful in later life. Although the contract is longer, the exams are more spread out. Sometimes, you feel this is very slow, especially at the CFAB level. It takes a year to complete these exams, whereas it only takes 3 months to complete as a graduate. However, it is much more beneficial when you get to the professional level where school leavers only take two exams at once, whereas graduates have to take three at the same time.

I wish I put down somebody as a reference and split the reference fee with them (it is £1,000). That would have given me the money to pay for suits etc. I was actually referred by a colleague, however didnt put his name in the correct box and missed out. Everybody is very nice during the application process, so don't worry about the interview process.