EY Leading Women Intern Review

I have really enjoyed my time as a Leading Women Intern. It has been amazing to shadow senior female women and further understand Assurance at EY. This is an opportunity I would recommend to any student who is applying/seeks a career in a professional services organisation. You gain so much exposure and understanding.

Throughout the week you mainly spend time and get support from your 'Buddy'. However, you also get to shadow 2 female senior women. You feel valued because of the time people are willing to spend with you to understand their role and EY. Overall, you feel valued as employees make the effort to give you tasks and responsibilities and take you to meetings.

As mentioned you get support mainly from your 'Buddy' and 2 senior women. However, during the week as there are other Leading Women Interns you have support if needed from their buddys and also other colleagues. You receive tasks (depending on your preference) and you have your buddy (if you would like) sitting next to you to give you any guidance/support you need

The Leading Women Intern allowed me to develop my skills (communication, attention to detail, networking etc) and allowed me to improve my accounting knowledge. This will help assist me with my further career when I undertake an Accounting and Finance masters and for a graduate scheme. This opportunity allows you to be fast-tracked for EY's student programs.

The structure was really good. The first day consists of a bit of admin/intro to EY and then some Buddy time. Days 2-3 you shadow your first senior female and Days 4-5 your second. It was really well structured. There are times when you are not as busy but can always find something to do or research online.

The general atmosphere is supportive, collaborative and excellent. The support you are given and the culture you work in is excellent. The atmosphere supports you to ask questions and gain real insight into Assurance at EY. The culture at EY is amazing and the hot-desking allows you to sit with others and network across the organisation.

As I was here for a week it is hard to talk about the training an development. However, the firm did invest a good amount of time in training and development. This includes a IT Training session on the first day. Development opportunities discussed at a Career Consultants call and more.

The Leading Women Programme gave me a good understanding of the firm and of the role as a Graduate at EY. The Insight Week as reiterated that applying for the Graduate Scheme at EY would be amazing and is something I would like to do in the future. Very strong opportunities as well because you can get fast-tracked for the different opportunities.

Throughout the week, I was able to move around in the different Assurance areas (BCM, W&AM, I). You therefore get to experience different floors and see further the culture that exists at EY. The culture is collaborative, supportive, hard-working and interesting here at Canary Wharf. A culture that this Insight opportunity has made me believe I can fit into.

The content especially when I had the opportunity to check client financial statements was interesting. This is one of the tasks you do directly as a graduate and is something I would like to do in the future here at EY. The experience has been rewarding and interesting and is an area I would like to explore again in the future.

Throughout the week you are here roughly 7 hours per day (6 hours work, 1 hour lunch). You are paid an hourly rate for the 6 hours you work each day throughout the week. You are paid adequately for the work you do and the experience you gain here at EY.

There are many opportunities for networking and meeting other employees with the hot desking. Also because you can move around for example I had 2 senior females one in Insurance the other in Wealth and Asset Management and my buddy was in Banking and Capital Markets. Therefore, a good opportunity to network with other areas.

Throughout the week the social event planned was 2 Lunches with all the Buddy's and Interns. This was a good opportunity to network in an informal environment. The networking opportunities increased with this event because you were able to talk with the other Buddy's at EY to gain further insight into the work completed.

Outside of work there are a number of different opportunities including joining an Employee Network, or example the Winning Women Network. There are other opportunities/activities that employees can get involved in for example Diversity and Inclusiveness. This is where BME, Women and other groups run events which any employee can sign up for an attend.

I would definitely recommend this insight to my friends. It was a good opportunity to gain some understanding of EY and Assurance. You get good opportunities to network and dive in to a couple of small tasks. It is a good opportunity if you would like to then do longer Internships or Graduate Schemes.