Senior Review

I am now a senior at EY having previously been as associate. The day to day role that I perform is very varied depending on the stage of the audit we are in. Overall though we are in charge of ensuring that companies have made no material misstatements within their financial statements.

I am currently studying for the ICAEW qualification of which there are 15 exams to be completed in total. I also normally have at least 1 week of training each year with other people who are in the same peer group. This gives you the skill set which you require to complete the day to day job and creates life like situations for you to ensure you are prepared for all scenarios.

I really enjoy work however the hours are very long so ensuring you get the correct work life balance can at some points be difficult, especially when you have exams as well. I have always had good experiences with the teams I have worked with which makes the day to day role a lot easier.

As part of the feedback phase you receive a large amount of feedback from your managers who can help offer tips towards your overall career progression. This helps you feel valued when you receive positive praise and when you are offered new areas to work on that showed further appreciation that you are trusted with more complex elements of the audit.

There is a lot of training given in the first few years to give you the skill set to perform the day to day job. As we were the first year of starters on the school leaver programme initially there were some teething issues where the exam timetable had not been fully organised so there was some confusion over this.

You are assigned a counsellor and a buddy at the start of the programme. Your buddy is of a similar level to you and offers day to day advice whereas your counsellor is charged with leading your career progression and ensuring that you are performing at the correct level. You will also have a peer group of people who can support you whenever you are having any issues.

There is a large support system to help you at all stages of your career. There are various channels which people can use for support however I do not feel that all of these are that well known and therefore more could be done to ensure everyone knows where support is available from.

The salary is competitive amongst the rest of the Big 4 and seems reasonable given as a school leaver we do not have the large student loans which a large amount of graduates start with. The salary covers my travel costs, some which get reimbursed, and also is very comfortable for living and other daily costs.

There are a large amount of social activities organised as part of this role, this involves department only activities and also whole office activities. Everyone is also encouraged to take up to 2 days a year off to complete charity days to get involved in the local community. Generally the office is very socialable so it is easy to socialise outside of work.

Yes

I feel that I have learnt a large amount in the last 4 and a half years and I have been given a large amount of opportunities which have further helped my personal development. Despite EY being a large firm I have developed a good group of friends who act as my support system at all times.

Always be yourself at any interviews you attend. EY is very much a people firm and it is very obvious when people are not being themselves in the interview process. There is a lot of literature on the EY interview process so it is also helpful to have a good read through of this before you apply to ensure that you fully understand the process.