Technology Consultant Review

I work in Shoreditch with EY’s Advanced Technology Group as a Technology Consultant, working on ideas, designs and proposals with a “show-not-tell” mentality. In my time at the company, I’ve done a lot of user experience and user interaction design work to support bids for projects and business cases, as well as studying for a week at Ada National College for Digital Skills every 7 weeks to work towards my BSc in Digital Innovation. My day to day can involve client meetings, internal meetings, working on designs or business cases and building prototypes. I've enjoyed all the work I've done so far and learnt a lot from it.

As part of the degree apprenticeship, I study a 3 year part time full BSc degree in Digital Innovation in conjunction with Ada National College for Digital Skills, covering topics such as coding, how to run projects, testing, ethics and personal development. I also learn code in my own time, although I don’t necessarily use it in my day job. In terms of internal training courses, I’ve done workshops on code, project methodologies and learning about my personal social and working styles which was a real eye-opener and a very useful course. Ada College and EY have supported me in discovering my personal and professional personas and developing them to become the best I can be.

My first highlight came within my first week, when I met all my new Technology Consulting colleagues at a big departmental meeting. They gave me such a warm welcome – I instantly felt like part of the family. Since then, I’ve met people from so many different backgrounds, both inside EY and on our ADA technology college course. It’s been really enriching to share perspectives and learn from each other. From the assessment centre until now, I’ve felt totally supported and really enjoyed the programme experience. The work I complete is fulfilling and exciting to be a part of so I'm constantly learning new things - I've actually learnt the most and found the greatest opportunities by putting myself out of my comfort zone and challenging and pushing myself. One thing that has been a little disappointing was the organisation of the teaching at Ada College - often it seems to be very much thrown together at last minute, meaning we don't get as much out of the teaching as we really should.

Very much so! We receive constant feedback throughout the year from people we've worked with on projects and also our career counsellors, so it's very clear to see the impact I'm having on those around me. I've received an EY Values award and been recognised in a Feedback Friday email within my first 6 months of being in the company. When I'm on projects, I'm not treated any differently from people who aren't apprentices - if anything, my managers give me more opportunities and challenges to learn from.

We started with 2 days of general induction involving the structure of the company, what was expected of us in our roles, talks from senior partners and on specific service lines. After that we went for an 8 week Launchpad at Ada College to learn about everything from coding to how to run our own projects with different methodologies. The topics were challenging but not unmanageable, with regular assignments and progress checks. Support from the college was limited but the student cohort stuck together and supported each other with materials and resources to share understanding. On our return to EY, we began a 7 weeks work, 1 week college cycle. At EY we are given a career counsellor from day 1, who works with you to recognise your strengths and areas for development to help you become the best you can be. Each project you do will also have an engagement manager on who checks with you that you are getting everything you need to be able to support the project. We also have an apprentice cohort lead, who specifically looks after how we are doing in the apprenticeship and the degree to ensure we are successfully balancing work and study and to be there if we need to flag any issues.

I don't feel I receive or have received any support from Ada College - the teaching has been sub-par much of the time and the teaching materials and resources given to us have not been particularly informative. When we flagged this to the college, some small attempts were made to adapt the programme but not enough for us to feel comfortable enough with the content to do exams and assignments without relying heavily on our peers.

I have received very good support from EY on the other hand - when we flagged the poor teaching at Ada to the Apprenticeship support team, they immediately raised this on our behalf and put in changes to support us at work. At EY we are given a career counsellor from day 1, who works with you to recognise your strengths and areas for development to help you become the best you can be. Each project you do will also have an engagement manager on who checks with you that you are getting everything you need to be able to support the project. We also have an apprentice cohort lead, who specifically looks after how we are doing in the apprenticeship and the degree to ensure we are successfully balancing work and study and to be there if we need to flag any issues.

Living in London is always going to be expensive, so starting on a competitive salary of £21,500 is a lot of help. I have found it relatively easy to cover my rent, travel and living costs as well as being able to afford a gym membership through EY's discount and benefit programme, putting money away for my pension and saving some for myself in an ISA. I am still able to maintain an active social life going out with friends, family and colleagues.

There are regular departmental meetups every quarter to discuss quarterly results and anything interesting anyone has to bring up. The company partners also treat us to Christmas and summer parties. We get 2 days a year to use as volunteering days - there are always opportunities to volunteer being advertised around EY and through the Volunteering Network.

Yes

There’s a real buzz here around technology. With such a digital revolution taking place in business as well as our personal lives, it’s exciting to work somewhere that’s at the cutting edge of all this change. One of the most surprising things for me has been how friendly and helpful the people are in this firm. From the assessment centre until now, I’ve felt totally supported and really enjoyed the experience.

Pick an area that interests you and you’ll always find new things to discover, improve yourself and stay engaged. A ‘try anything’ attitude will be your greatest friend. I’ve found great opportunities through putting myself out of my comfort zone to network and get involved in things that interest me. Don’t shy away from what you want to achieve, there’s every chance you’ll succeed. Read around the industry – what are the main challenges, opportunities and trends? The more you read the more you will understand the industry and how it runs, and also whether the industry is the right one for you. The next stage is to get that across in any cover letters or interviews. The one piece of advice that really has stuck with me was about assessment centres – if you finish an assessment centre still excited about the role and tired but not exhausted, then chances are you’ve done well and played to your strengths because you haven’t expended energy being someone you’re not! 3 top skills I think are useful in my job: Flexibility – anything can come my way, and I need to be ready to adapt my style to complete that task as best I can. Willingness to learn – I have learnt so much from being open to opportunities and learning experiences. Anything from sitting in on a meeting to actually attempting the task by myself can be educational. Resilience – Sometimes it can seem like you’re not making as much progress as you’d like, or someone more senior might not be satisfied with your work. You need to have the ability to pick yourself back up and try again – try harder the next time round to make sure you do the best of your ability.