Business Work Experience Review

During my week as a Business Academy Student I was given many different tasks depending on the day and got to speak to multiple different EY employees at all stages in their career which was very insightful. The main task that ran through the entire week was a presentation that we had to do on a topic given to us and present at the end of the week. I enjoyed researching this and developing my presentation as the week progressed but I also had the opportunity to work on real client work in the assurance service line and was assessed on my reactions to different scenarios that could arise working in assurance at EY which I was then given feedback on to help with my development.

I learnt and developed many skills as the week progressed both specific to accountancy (reading financial statements, audit reports etc) but also that will help me in any professional role such as the ability to present a powerpoint, confidence and writing style. The 'virtual learning sessions' that had to be completed as part of the program was most beneficial for this and were presented in a concise but informative way.

There was certainly an element of nerves on my first day before entering the office but after my induction day this was decreased significantly and replaced with enjoyment as I was given more work to do and the ability to show my skills such as the presentation and scenario task. By the end of my week I noticed just how much I have enjoyed the program and will miss not having the opportunity to continue developing my skills in the same way for the rest of summer.

For the majority of my time in the Business Academy it felt to have a consistent structure such as the inductions and scenario task that I believe was developed for me and the other students. We were given our own email adress and laptop upon our arrival showing the planning that had been undertaken. We were consistently given reminders on our calendars for any events we had coming up and overall it felt like a very structured experience.

I was given a tour around the EY site and introduced to many people which was nice. Although i was given a lot of information i wrote notes so that i could reflect back on what i had learnt at a later date. I found that i learnt more about the company but not an overwhelming amount. It was fairly interesting but i would have liked to know more about different job roles within the business

I feel as though it helped me understand more about working with EY and what it would be like however i am still unsure about my future. I was given a few contact details of people within EY to contact if i do want to apply for a job and possibly get an interview. I would say the whole experience was helpful all in all but I'm still not 100% certain on what i want to do in the future.

Yes, I was paid £6 an hour and the salarly would easily cover anyone's travel costs as well as the days I had to purchase my own lunch (which was less than half!). As this is a programme for year 12 students I feel the salarly is more than adequate and this is an opporunity I would have taken without payment; as I have done with other accountancy firms.

Yes, as previously mentioned, i was introduced to a lot of different people within the business. I think my supervisor tried to introduce me to some of the younger members of staff as i feel as though it can be easier to have a chat with someone similar in age to myself instead of an older, senior boss for example. It was difficult to make friends as i was only there for a week but i felt very welcomed by everyone i met.

Yes

I feel the people culture at EY is great and really beneficial for a workplace to have such a friendly group that will welcome you in the way I felt welcomed as a business academy student. This is something I would definitely look for in an employer and I feel others should too hence why I would recommend EY to any of my friends applying for a job in one of their service lines.

I felt the EY application process was quite pleasant and really gives the opportunity for you to show your ability which should not be taken for granted when applying for EY. I would make sure to always be yourself if you were applying to EY and use what your good at to your advantage as there is no single type of person who works at EY so you don't need to be like someone else to get a job here.