Tax Adviser Review

I work in the International tax and transaction services team which provides advice in relation to UK and international tax rules to corporations. On a day-to-day basis this would involve drafting tax memos for clients setting out the expected tax implications of a particular transaction or restructuring, or even designing the transaction steps ourselves.

Yes I have learned many new skills during my time at EY. I am working on the ACA qualification from which I have obtained technical knowledge on a broad range of topics. I have also gained a lot of experience working with various Microsoft office programmes and tools such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Lastly I have had the opportunity to develop soft skills such as how to communicate effectively and work as part of a team.

I enjoy the programme to a great extent. I find the work I do to be very interesting and there are many benefits to working for large organisation such as EY. These include a wide array of social networks / societies. For example, I have recently joined the EY dodgeball society!

The programme has been running for a few years so was well organised by the time that I joined. College dates are scheduled well in advance and the professional qualifications team co-ordinates with the resourcing team to ensure that my work schedule doesn't clash with my college schedule. There is also a 'learning path' which aims to deliver structured training during the first 3 years.

I receive a good level of support from my employer. EY has a flexible working policy which enables me to work from home if I need to. There are also resources available to support mental health and wellbeing. The firm is also flexible about annual leave, allowing me to buy and sell annual leave when I need to. However, they have recently started to reduce the number of days that we get to spend at college, instead preferring that we study for large portions of our exam from home. This isn't helpful from the student's perspective and is clearly cost-driven.

A good level of support (when EY actually sends us to college). The quality of the tuition is excellent and the tutors provide their email address and phone number to contact them if we need additional support. The provider also has some helpful video and text resources available on its website.

My qualification (ACA) is somewhat helpful to have for background knowledge but I would not say that it has been crucial for me to perform my role. The majority of the knowledge and skills that I need to perform my current role have been picked up while working in the team, rather than from the ACA exams.

Yes, there is a large variety of extra-curricular activities to get involved in at EY. EY has site dedicated to all of these activities. There are many sports teams, and professional networks available to everyone in the firm. My team also has regular socials where we will go out for meals, drinks or to perform activities.

Yes

The level of training is good (although more time at college would be preferred), the culture is friendly and inclusive, the salary is competitive, access to good benefits such as 6% employer pension contributions (which is better than the minimum percentage), opportunities to work for different teams and travel to other countries.

Be as sociable as possible. When you first join, make an effort to get to know everyone in your team by setting up informal coffee chats and try to sit at a different desk every day to get exposure to as many people as possible. Also make sure to attend all of the team socials.