Associate Review

I am an associate in the Assurance department at EY and I work on clients in the Real Estate, Hospitality, Construction and Marine sectors. On a day to day basis I am usually working at the clients office interacting with the client and other members of the team whilst helping to complete the audit. My responsibilities vary from day to day which is what I enjoy the most.

During my time here at EY so far I've learnt a lot about not only accounting but how businesses work in Real Estate and Construction markets. I've also started college and studying for my ACA exams and as a result of this I've learned a lot about accounting outside of my day to day work.

I enjoy my programme to a reasonable-large extent. The work is challenging and often leads to working a lot different hours to a '9-5' job. However, you're always learning with the various amount of work you're given, there is a great culture and the people you're working with are brilliant.

My programme is very well organise. There are lots of training events at the beginning to get you up to speed with EY and there is always support whenever you need it. Whether it's my buddy, fellow team members or my counsellor I feel I always have support and have someone I can speak to - whatever it may be about. There are clear times and days set out for college, studying and work and I have regular catch ups with my counsellor to ensure I'm on top of everything and that I am coping.

I receive multiple strands of support from EY. On a more personal basis I have a buddy who is there to answer any silly questions I may have, then from a professional development side of things I have support from my counsellor who is there to assist with any thing else from: mental health, promotions, feedback etc...

When working towards exams we attend college at Kapaln. From the experiences I've had so far now embarking on my 7th & 8th exam with Kaplan the support is extremely good. The tutors are brilliant and are always there to help with any questions we have outside of the exam.

Personally I feel the majority of the learning is done 'on the job' and the time in college and work towards the exams most of the time is just to ensure the exam is passed. Although, all of the information being learned in some form of way I have found is applicable to my day to day role.

Yes, there are many many activities to get involved in! Unfortunately, because of the pandemic these opportunities have naturally been limited. But there are plenty of sports team available to join and there are always weekly if not monthly social events that you can attend to get to know your colleagues better.

Yes

I'd recommend EY to a friend because it offers incredible opportunities to work on market leading clients and if you apply yourself the progression is fast. Additionally, there is a lot of variety. I enjoy the fact that I am always working on different clients and visiting there offices in and around London.

The application process is rigorous and from my experience there were a lot of stages. I'd recommend people applying to take the time to look into EY as a company, their values, more about what they do etc... there are a lot of people applying and you need to do what you can to stand out.