Business Trainee Review

I am a Business Trainee within the restructuring practice at Ernst & Young. My daily tasks involve attending meetings with more sinor members of the team to discuss what ork needs to be done on certain cases, I will then set about my work which mainly involves contacting creditors via phone and/or email, drafting statutory documents to go to Insolvency Practitioners for approval and some times taking the minutes during important meetings, whether that be with internal contacts or clients.

I have learnt how to use excel more efficiently and how to use shortcuts to makedifferent spreadheets operate in different ways. I have developed my confidence in speaking not only to external contacts (e.g. clients and creditors), but also when speaking with internal contacts who are a much higher grade than myself.

I really enjoy my program as it allows me to study the subject that I wanted to go to university to do, whilst earning a competitive salary and on the job training that will put my miles ahead of the competition in 3 years time when my peers are finishing their degrees. My team are all really easy to get along with and even though there are 50 of us, we all know each other by name and even the partners will stop to ask how you are in the corridor.

In my department everyone from Exec to Partner values the Business Trainees role, as we have the lowest chargeout rates and are therefore the best people to do the work that allows us to learn the most whilst in restructuring. There are people right through the team who have come in on the school leaver scheme and that way everyone understands what it is like to be a SL and will never take for granted how long it takes to understand something first time round or expect too much of you too quickly.

We had a welcome event before we even got our A level results which was held in July 2013. This allowed us to meet all of the other prospective school leavers and make some friends for when we started work. We then had a 3 day induction event in Reading, which allowed us to meet all of the school leavers again, but this time we got introduced to the way EY works and how we are expected to act when representing EY. We have been offered lots of support throughout the scheme including a buddy before and after joining the firm and there is an exams team who are always available to talk to if you feel that you are struggling or have a personal issue that makes you need extra time at college, etc. Each member of staff has a counsellor who is there to answer any questions you may have and also is there for you to talk to if you aren't doing so well. They are your first port of call with any problem and are always willing to talk to you.

We attend Kaplan college. Whilst there they are always willing for you to ask questions and offer you there details for contacting outside of college tike also, so that if you have any questions through revision you have someone who can answer them for you. However, kaplan in my eyes aren't the best college out there and I believe that there are other colleges thatoffer better tuition to their students, but with similar levels of support.

EY are always willing to offer you support if you need it. No matter how long you have been at the firm everyone is valued the same amount.

Living costs in and around London are quite high and although the salary is reasonably competitive for our level and our industry, it is a struggle to live someone really convenient as you are going by price and not necessarily areas that you are really interested to live in. EY offer a loan to pay for a yearly travel card which they then take from your salary before you get paid, this is helpful as not many people could afford the price of a zone 3 travel card (for example) straight off the bat. Socialising in london is expensive and we do struggle to do things every week due to the high costs involved.

There are lots of societies that you can get involved in and people are opften up for doing things outside of work so that they make the most of the evenings. This however, relates to the cost aspect and whether lots of people can afford to do anything. There are language classes and things of that nature that you can pay for through the firm and they allow you to work it in to your working day, so you can either come in a little earlier or leave a little later, etc.

Yes

Ey are areally friendly and people based company. They value each and every member of staff the same and understand that it takes some people a little longer to get to a certain place. You will make lots of friends whilst working here and they will be fiends for life, not just colleagues who you will keep in touch with as long as you work under the same roof.

I would suggest reading over the website and looking in to the service that you are wanting to join. Interviewers complain the most about people who can't explain why they want to be in a certain profession or area of a profession. Assessment centres take up 4 stages, a group task, an individual task, psychometric testing and an interview. Make sure you prepare for each of the tasks as much as the others. Don't neglect anything and youwill breeze through the process.