Assistant Executive Review

An Assistant Executive working in the Turnaround & Restructuring Strategy team, assisting stressed and distressed businesses through indepent business reviews, contingency planning, options analysis and formal insolvency. On a day-to-day basis the role varies based upon a) the client b) the type of engagement (i.e. IBR, insolvency, etc.). My experience to date includes working on large national-interest insolvency cases, and other smaller pre-pack administrations.

Whilst working at EY, I have developed my accounting knowledge through my daily interactions with coleagues, and being encouraged to work beyond my level (in "stretch roles"). I have also developed soft skills like communication, listening, coaching, presenting through my work and the other training that EY provides its staff.

I really enjoy the work at EY as you work with a variety of clients. The nature of insolvency work means that I have had opportunities to work in different parts of the country at client site, and have worked on some really high-profile cases that you get to see in the news.

The structure of the programme is okay, but could be improved. The student support team at EY can be difficult to engage with and the systems can seem quite messy and unstructured. But generally all have my college dates have been well set-out but this is more on the part of Kaplan than EY.

Every apprentice has their own counsellor (usually a manager from your team) who provide ongoing support throughout the year and review the feedback you receive from colleagues three times a year. You also have an apprenticeship coach who meet with you once a year and, to be honest, offer nothing in terms of progression or coaching - I have never benefited from a discussion with my apprenticeship coach.

Kaplan are excellent at supporting students whilst studying. There is a student support team that is available 7 days a week to answer queries you may have about an exam question - you can choose to speak with them on chat or request a call back which is extremely helpful given the difficulty of the exams.

Although the ACA qualification does not directly cover insolvency and restructuring technicialities, it does provide a firm understanding of accounting more broadly - covering things like audit, tax, business strategy, financial management. It is extremely important in my role to be able to understand a company's accounts in order to provide advise and identify issues.

Within my team we sometimes will go for drinks after work or go on team lunches, but more broadly I have not benefitted from any extra-curricular activities at EY. However, I do know there are networks such as EY Muslim Community, EY Jewish Community, EY Female Community, EY LGBT community.

Yes

My experience at EY has provided me with great career progression and the opportunity to work on some of the most high-profile insolvency cases in the UK which colleagues often describe to me as "once in a lifetime engagements". I really enjoy working as part of my the TRS team, but this is only a small part of a huge organisation.

Be yourself, they aren't looking for a certain type of person. At the assessment centres, work as a team-player and avoid thinking that the other people in your team are competing for the same place as you (as it is often not the case). Do you research on the specific team/service line you are applying to and provide specific evidence as to why you will be suitable for that team.