Smart Futures trainee Review

My work experience consisted of working in the main departments of EY. These areas were the tax, audit and government and public sector (GPS). On the first day I took part in the tax section where I calculated taxes for some affiliate companies, in the audit section I engaged in data management and in the GPS section I looked at environmental and economic issues that could affect the company and how to solve them.

In my work experience I developed skills such as data management in the audit section. I developed the ability to use Microsoft excell properly, I learnt how to format my data and learned how to create a pivot table. In GPS I was able to build mu confidence by discussing various issues the company may face, I was able out across myvideas and contribute to the discussion. In the tax session I improve on my mathematical abilities through the use of percentages to calculate the tax people owed.

I enjoyed my work experience a lot as it put me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to try something that was different from what I was used to. I was able to meet all kinds of people from different backgrounds who were passionate about finance. I was able to network with people who had garnered a lot of experience through a life time of work which made the experience all the more enjoyable.

The work experience was very organised as we were give a schedule the week prior in order to find out what we were doing. It lasted a week and each day had something different and interesting. Each task we were given and had to do in the future were segmented very well and made it easy to understand what the next steps were.

I learnt a lot about the company, culture and working environment as I was able to meet various facilitators for EY as well as individuals who worked outside of EY. We were placed directly into a working environment and were shown the roles that people had and how they stuck to them. The facilitators that lead us explained to us the purpose of the company and the reasons for it being so important.

My work experience didn't help me all that much on deciding my career choice as I was previously set in stone about what I wanted to do. However, with my work experience I was given a new perspective that helped me make up my mind of what I wanted to do.

I was both payed and reimbursed for this experience as it was a payed work experience to help me develop my skills. Due to the travel costs of the train I used to get to the office I was reimbursed for all my travel expense until the last few days where we were expected to pay for ourselves.

There were plenty of opportunities to meet with people/employers and network as well. Every day we were introduced to partners of ey, employees as well as senior board members who helped us to build our personal profile by creating linked in accounts as well as being able to complete work with affiliate companies of EY.

Yes

I would reccomend EY to friend as it was a very wholesome experience that allowed me to develop new skills, meet with new people, network and build my personal profile. It is an activity that looks good when applying to jobs and university and helped me immensely in getting university offers. It also helped me to build my confidence and public speaking which are very useful.

Some advice I would give Is that even if you do not want to pursue a career in business of finance the entire experience is still worth it. The experiences that you have and the people that you meet will help you to build your own career and allows you to broaden your perspective so it would be a waste not to apply. Don't be afraid to ask questions and get stuck in.