Student Review

I really enjoyed my time in London on the insight weekend. We were made to feel extremely welcomed, encouraged to make friends and were treated to a lovely meal! The information we received on all the service lines was invaluable and helped us make informed decisions on what suited us best and if we would fit in well with the company.

I felt very valued during my time with EY, and we were told throughout how much EY were pleased to have us for the weekend! The ratio of staff to students was very good so we were never ignored, and were always welcome to ask questions or input suggestions. The student recruitment staff were all lovely and provided lots of advice when wanted!

When sectioned into small groups, each group always had a staff member available to them so we were always receiving support for the tasks at hand, and never felt silly asking questions. Throughout the two days we had a plan of events which all of us had access to so we all knew where we were supposed to be and what we were supposed to be doing, so we all received a lot of guidance.

My degree is in the arts, so in terms of accounting information I learned I didn't gain much relevant to my degree, however in terms of client pitching, feedback, personality and group work I have learned so much that will be useful to me in my degree and in the work place. The information I received regarding EY culture and job info will also be very useful for me for my summer internship next summer!

The event was well structured, incorporating lots of breaks in between giving us the opportunity to talk and get to know our peers/staff and make sure we weren't overwhelmed with information throughout the day. There was also a healthy mix of participatory activities and talks form staff members to ensure we were never bored/tired.

The atmosphere was lovely throughout the time we spent there and I have made some great friends through the event that I intend to stay in touch with. The staff were welcoming and kind, especially Marie! The highlight was the meal, as all had a chance to get to know each other in a more relaxed setting, and eat some delicious food!

In terms of personal training we were given lots of information of basic accounting practices such as SWOT analysis and everything as given at a simple level to benefit those of us that hadn't had any knowledge of accounting and we were never made to feel stupid. In terms of development we were given lots of information on our own behavioural traits from a quiz and how best to use these strengths and weaknesses to our advantage in the workplace.

We were able to speak with many different members of staff at the company at many different levels of the firm, so we were able to get an understanding of what is typical of a working day for them all and know what we would be doing if we were to later be employed by the company. We also saw lots of slideshows giving us plenty of information on all the job roles so I got a good understanding of what a full time role would be like with the firm.

Through meeting lots of staff members we got a sense of the brand of the firms and the culture within it. We were able to find out a lots about the firms values and what they stand for and how they incorporate that into their working day. I also got a sense of whether I would fit into the firm or not by the end of the two days because we had such a great level of exposure to the firm, working within its main building with real meetings going on around you.

It was very valuable. I am now pursuing a career in indirect tax, which is a service line I had never previously considered, however through interacting with staff and reading lots of information about this service line I was able to tell that this suited me well,. I also decided that I really liked the culture of EY and would want to work for them in the future.

I was reimbursed expenses up to the value of £150 for my journey which is a large amount for those living nearby to London and plenty, however it didn't cover my expenses as I had a seven hour journey, and perhaps the firms could consider increasing this amount for those travelling further and incurring personal expense in order to make it accessible for everyone.

We were given plenty of time for breaks to get to know other students and were heavily encouraged to network with each other as well as staff members. Then throughout the two days we met large amounts of employees from all service lines at nearly all levels and got the chance to chat with them, whether it was over a working lunch or at a coffee break where they were more than happy to talk to us,

We had lots of coffee breaks/refreshment breaks and given the opportunity to socialise with people we met including staff members then, but additionally we were able to talk at great length at the meal out on the first night. Some people even went out into central London that night, so it was a very enjoyable social event. We were split into different groups throughout the two days for different activities to increase our exposure to multiple people.

We were briefly told about some groups within EY such as the parents group and a sports team, however we weren't given much details regarding out of work activities.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend, as I had such a good time! I met some lovely people, did some wonderful things including the group meal out, and received lots of information on service lines and the company and its culture. For only two days, we packed a lot into it and I gained a lot of knowledge in the process,