Advisory Scholarship Intern Review

As part of the Advisory Scholarship programme, I sat in the Financial Services Risk division in the Quantitative Advisory Services team during my first placement. My responsibilities included Model Validation as part of the Market Risk team carrying out VAR back-testing on portfolios. This involved using spreadsheets to calculate and verify values. I assisted in a project on client site which entailed implementing IFRS9 as part of the Credit Risk team. This involved attending meetings and verifying reports.

I was able to greatly improve my Excel skills, including general calculations and graphing abilities. I was introduced to taking minutes in meetings, which I had never done before. I got several opportunities to develop my team-working skills, as I had joined several projects during the duration of my placement and so I had to adapt to the new teams quickly and effectively.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at EY. Being part of the quantitative Advisory Services division, I was able to gain a great insight into the specifics of all the work they do. I was able to get stuck into a variety of different activities and actually gain experiences with quite technical work. I found the duration of the programme to be just right to ensure I had enough time to settle in and get involved.

During the time of my placement, I felt incredibly valued by EY. My team helped me settle in and gave me a lot of support. I was given work to complete that actually mattered and the sense of responsibility made me feel valued.

The programme is incredibly organised to help you make the most out of your time at EY. With a jam packed first couple of days with essential induction training to make sure you are ready to join teams. After this point you are free to make the most out of your experience. It is down to you to make connections and pursue any other interests you want to explore, but there is always someone ready to support and guide you.

Once you begin your placement, you are given basic training via an induction week, which helps everyone get used to standard EY practices. Once you join your team you are given a buddy (informal point of contact) and a counsellor, who will meet you regularly to ensure your placement is going well and address any queries. Within the team itself all members are approachable and always ready to assist you in your tasks and help explain any complex things.

As mentioned above, we are allocated a buddy and a counsellor to receive support. We are also in contact with our programme leader who will address any queries. I have found that everyone is so helpful, and help you make the most out of your placement.

The salary is incredibly rewarding. As part of the Scholarship programme we are also given a separate amount to help with University fees. This is incredibly useful.

There is always lots going on with EY and there are lots of opportunities to get involved outside of work. Whether this be meeting up with other scholars for a social event or socialising with your team after a busy week.

Yes

EY has an incredibly welcoming atmosphere. All the people are great to work with and they really help you make the most out of your placement.

Make the most out of your placement at EY. Research beforehand into areas that you find interesting and ace those entrance tests!