Trainee Associate Review

I am a trainee associate and get treated the same as any level one at the company i.e as a grad. The tasks I do day-to-day vary a great deal depending on clients I work on and work that has been assigned to me in that time. As an employee at EY you are given a large amount of responsibility and your own workload to manage, something that I personally enjoy

I have learnt a lot of new skills not just from being involved in EY's internal training to get us prepared for our first day in the office, but also at college where we are undertaking our exams for ICAEW. The benefit of doing this role while doing your qualifications is that you are always learning something new everyday that can easily assist you when it comes round to exams as you have real life experience.

I really enjoy working with the team that I have been assigned with the majority of the time, and while it is more difficult to build relationships while working on smaller, shorter term clients members of staff are very friendly and try to engage in conversation. There are also a lot of social events organised by the teams you work in as well as within your peer groups.

I feel highly valued within my team, I believe that the valuation reflects the effort that have been put in in recent months and also the internal feedback process allows you to know how you are regarded by other members of EY who you have worked with and also your valuation to the company as a whole.

The programme is well organised with a good amount of training before your first day in the office without being too much information to make it a daunting experience. As well as this, the training received by Kaplan for taking exams was excellent as was the support from EY who understood the need for you to have time to revise and work for the exams. I feel the teams are well briefed with what to expect from you when you come in while still trying to set you challenging work that needs to be done.

The support from Kaplan has been good, the textbooks provided etc were all very useful, as was the fact the tutor stayed around late to answer any questions while also making himself available to reach via email once you had left college.

I think there is a good organisational structure in place for this in terms of you receiving a buddy and meeting him on the first day, this is generally a person who is around a similar age who had started the same position a year or two ago. It is very useful to have someone there to ask the questions that perhaps your manager does not have time to answer or you maybe feel is a stupid question. In addition to this, the counselling received is of a high standard, if only to have a conversation with someone to see how you are progressing and to make sure you are happy with your workload. They also provide someone who would speak on your behalf to others at EY in order to change anything that you need.

I think the salary is highly competitive for coming as a school leaver, of course it would be easier if you earned a little bit more however it still provides you with more than enough to find a nice flat and get yourself to work while also keeping a work life balance in terms of being able to get out and do things you would like to do.

The company puts on a lot of events within different teams, peer groups etc. They also encourage you to get involved as much as possible i.e dodgeball tournaments in order to meet people from teams that you have not worked in already. They also encourage you to take part in things that interest you, a lot of voluntary initiatives are provided within EY, as well as becoming a school ambassador which gives you the opportunity to go to various events and promote EY. Outside of the standard busy season, a good work-life balance can be maintained with friends after work and at weekends and London obviously has plenty to offer.

Yes

I believe it is a great experience and you can become a valued member of a big company at EY. As well as this it is great to have on a CV and the responsibility given to you will set you in good stead for the future.

I think the main thing is not to get too stressed out and worked up about it, in reality the people here want to see you succeed, just come in and be open and honest not who you think they want you to be - EY is open to everybody!