Assistant Senior Review

The role involves heading out to client sites, and performing a financial audit. We will analyse the company's financial statements and balances, and perform tests to verify the data is accurate. You will typically be with a team of around 3 - 4 people (depending on client size), and change clients every few weeks. Due to the fact that I have been at EY for 3.5 years, I am now able to lead audits. This involves being the primary source of contact for clients, and leading a team.

In the role you learn a multitude of skills. I would say confidence and time management are two of the main skills you learn. However, team-working, leadership and client facing skills are also common new skills you will learn at EY. The programme has been fantastic for this. and I would definitely say I am a different person from when I joined. The fact that you are thrown in the deep end, actually comes to your advantage and you mature much more.

The programme definitely has its ups and downs! As mentioned above, the skills you learn have made me enjoy my programme, as I have seen myself change in confidence. Furthermore, the situations you are put in (e.g. having to speak to management at clients and leading a team), ensure you are always put in new situations and constantly learning which helps me enjoy the work. In addition, no two audits are the same, and so you are always challenging yourself which is great. However, sometimes the stress and hours can get too much, which can impact on having a work life balance.

The programme is very well structured, and you have gaps for studying in between audits. However, sometimes the gaps for college and the exam are too far apart, and therefore school leavers tend to have to revise after work. This is not a problem that graduates encounter as their college is usually done in block bookings. I would love to see the school leaver programme be more organised like the graduate programme. Although it is common, it still seems like there is a lot of uncertainty at EY about the school leaver programme and sometimes difficult to get in contact with the right person that can help.

The company pays for all exams and study time, which means that you are financially supported in this way. You also have a counsellor who is there to ensure you feel supported throughout your EY journey. You can go to your counsellor for personal issues, study support or audit support, and they will be there to help. However, this is entirely dependent on who you get allocated as your counsellor. As mentioned above, it would be nice if EY had a dedicated school leaver team who would be able to help.

The company pays for all exams with ICAEW, and college time with Kaplan. You get time taken out of your schedule to go to college, which is classed as your study time. Kaplan is absolutely fantastic, and they have some brilliant teachers who are always willing to help. Kaplan and ICAEW also have some really helpful documents online to guide you through your studies, and ensure you feel fully supported. There are also helplines, and chat bots available to help you.

The ACA qualification definitely helps with the role, however not all exams would be applicable. The exams that I have felt are most helpful so far in audit, are Accounting, Assurance, Audit & Assurance and Financial Accounting & Reporting. The tax exams, legal exams and business management exams do not help in my day to day role. I would also say that there is a slight disadvantage here to school leavers, as the graduates would complete these exams much earlier, and therefore have greater technical knowledge at work.

There are lots of extra-curricular activities to get involved in! For example, the office has a social activities team, who organise monthly socials. You can also get involved in sporting events, organising the office ball and organising office charity events. Furthermore, there are also some more professional activities, such as getting involved with being a peer group representative, being part of the analytics team, being part of the quality team etc. EY has a team for just about anything, and I would recommend getting involved in these!

Yes

I would recommend EY to a friend due to the multitude of skills and knowledge you gain. Although it is very tough in the long term, you reap the benefits as you progress through EY, and are at a higher level than graduates (who will be older than you). Furthermore, it puts you in fantastic situations, and you meet so many different clients and professionals in the job. It's also really interesting getting to go to different clients and look at their financials, and how the company works. This ultimately allows you to have better insight into the working world.

Research! I can't recommend this enough! Loads of EY employees would've shared their experiences and thoughts online. When applying, try to understand what EY are really looking for in a person. Furthermore, aim to complete practice psychometric tests and mock interviews. In addition, you should just make sure you're yourself at the interview and assessment centre! EY are looking for someone who is genuine, and they can trust to speak to their valuable clients. Also, be confident in yourself and research the qualification so you know what you're getting into. It's a lot of hard work but it'll be worth it!