CSD Associate Review

My role includes working on different projects, within different areas of finance, for different clients of EY. I have been employed on a number of projects in which my day-to-day focus has been completing a target number of cases for the client. My day-to-day roles differ depending on what project I am working on.

During my time at EY I have learnt a number of new skills, I have learnt about communicating professionally and maintaining a professional persona, I have also gained skills in specific finance areas such as AML, suitability and cyber security. University has also provided me a number of new skills.

I enjoy my programme a lot as I am always exposed to new opportunities and I am always learning new skills and knowledge. I like that I am working towards my degree whilst also building experience in the firm and I feel that I enjoy this much more than I would doing a full time degree.

My programme is structured with 1 day at university per week and the other 4 working days are spent at EY. This works well for me as there is a consistent pattern, EY are also very considerate with study days and assignments, the 20% study time is guaranteed and is helpful with maintaining a work-life balance.

The amount of support I receive in both work and for university, from the employer, is of a high level. Where I require support I know who I can contact in the workplace and I know there are always people available who will help me. I have a workplace counsellor assigned who I can always speak to about anything and if they can not help they can guide me to the right person.

The support from Northumbria University is dependent on the support I request. One full day a week is spent with the University for lectures and seminars. If further support is needed, I know who I can contact. The level of support depends on who is contacted and what module for.

I can see the correlation between university learnings and my job role however I feel that due to the scale of EY and my low ranking job role, I am not exposed to a high number of things that I learn about - such as finance, budgeting, project planning, technology development, etc. There are some learnings though, which are helpful such as communication and personal development, and I feel that as I move forward in my career to becoming a senior or manager then the things I have learnt at university will help me to perform well.

There are a range extra curricular activities to get involved with in the workplace however due to COVID these are limited. Prior to COVID, and expectedly after, there were a range of groups such as netball and football. There are also a number of different networks to join such as women's, LGBTQ+ and men's.

Yes

I would recommend EY to a friend as the apprenticeship has been a career shaping experience for me so far. I love that I am able to gain experience in such a large firm and industry whilst also working towards my degree in business. The day-to-day work which I carry out is enjoyable and I would recommend joining the firm as an apprentice to anyone.

I would advise others who are thinking of applying to go for it. The application process is hard and I would be happy to help with what to expect and how to prepare. I would advise people that the journey of the apprenticeship requires a lot of hard work, but so far for me, it has been worth it.