Leadership Academy Review

A very enjoyable 4 days. The EY team challenged us with long hard days, but also gave us time to be social and relax in the evenings. The food was delicious and we got to use the gym and the pool.

I felt extremely valued during my time at the Leadership Academy. EY seemed very keen to provide us with the best opportunities available and we now have fast track privileges.

The whole program was very well structured, with the group being separated into 4 teams of 7, each with its own facilitator. There was a good mixture of guidance and opportunity to showcase what we had learnt as a team.

During the program, I learnt more about being a leader than I had in my whole life prior. The skills I learnt will be vital for any future team based university work or when I go into the workplace.

The structure of the program was fantastic. We started by getting to know each other and making hypotheses on what makes a good leader. We then conducted team challenges, taking it in turn to fill certain roles. We also conducted a group task that was filmed and so could reflect on our performance. The program culminated in a individual presentation on the final day's group work.

The general atmosphere was work hard play hard. Taking in new ideas from Mary and Karen (who were brilliant) was serious time but we then got to go outside and conduct team challenges which were great fun. I think all the students were quite surprised by how fun the program was and by how good the accommodation facilities were.

EY invested hugely into the program. Mary and Karen who were experts in personal development ran the program and were fantastic. It seemed no expense was spared and we even got free hoodies and water bottles!

At the partner's dinner we got a chance to speak to a current EY partner who told her story of rising through EY and what it was like to work at each stage. We could also talk to the facilitators (current EY employees) at any time.

Very helpful. EY seems a forward thinking, modern company that is striving for equality and keeping to its set company values. Their staff seemed very happy to work there.

The program did make me think on what I wanted to do and having done the program EY does appeal to me. However, this wasn't really the aim of the program and so didn't occur too much.

Reimbursement was very generous and the accommodation they provided was free and fantastic. We were treated as if we were partners in the firm.

At any time we could speak to current employees. A dinner was even arranged where recently graduated employees were invited to network with us students and a partner even attended who we could talk to.

The social events were great fun, great food and beverages were provided and the networkers who were invited to attend the partner dinner all seemed really keen to talk to us.

Many employees play football or Netball for EY and because it is a global firm there are matches and tournaments against each division.

The whole 4 days were a fantastic experience. I made some great friends, had fun and learnt a lot about myself. Would absolutely recommend.