Discover EY - Digital Disruption Review

Overall the placement was very informative, at times too informative, due to speakers talking from multiple areas: advisory, tax, assurance.... often one after the other. However, they did open the floor to various questions which gave a more personal touch, and panel discussions often gave tips and fun anecdotes, making it entertaining!

Something EY prides itself on is its inclusivity, and this is reflected from the top to the bottom levels of the company - all the recruitment team and grad helpers were extremely welcoming and approachable if you had any concerns. They all had our interests as their priority, and Welcomed asking them “as many questions as we can think of”:

One of the tasks we were given on the insight was a group project, where we had a graduate assessor explain the task and observe. While this was less of a supporting role, their feedback at the end was extremely helpful, and can be applied to a wide range of scenarios, particularly for future applicant assessment days.

Regarding my degree, I did improve various soft skills; networking, team work, communication and time management - which will all be extremely useful. The best skills developed were those used in a group project, which accompanied with useful feedback will be extremely useful for future interviews, applications and assessment days.

The insight had a clear structure that was very easy to follow and clearly cohesive. The one slight complaint would be due to a lot of talks consecutively, however, this is inevitable when EY offer a wide range of activities in just a two day period, and the talks themselves were extremely informative making them worthwhile.

Despite a very diverse group of people, everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming. EY even booked various leisure activities such as bowling and virtual reality for a social, which further improved relations amongst the group. EY provides a different seating plan for each day, enabling you to network with as many people as possible, which is extremely useful.

EY offered exclusive access to a fast-track scheme for attendees, significantly improving our chances of getting a place on a summer placement and hence a grad scheme. As well as this, the feedback given, and contacts gained through networking will be extremely useful in all areas of work and all future applications, not just those within EY.

The insight was very useful into understanding what life would be like on the graduate scheme, as the main contact we had was a graduate on each table that we were sitting at. However the opportunity to network and ask questions with managers, senior managers and partners was useful into giving an introduction into their day life, although inevitably, this was less detailed.

As part of the insight we had a talk on diversity and inclusivity, which is a key part of EY’s philosophy, and it Became clear that they strive to achieve these two things. As well as this, many panel speakers / employees we networked with, praised the friendliness of their colleagues, and the flexibility of working there, which was extremely appealing to me.

For me, it was extremely useful, as I went in to the programme not knowing exactly what I wanted to do as a career. The programme provided an introduction into many different fields that EY offers, and those that didn’t appeal to me were just as appealing as those that did, in helping me get a better idea of my future career.

EY covers travel both to and from the event for all those attending, up to the value of £150, (which is sufficient)and offers accommodation to those who travel over one and a half hours. The accommodation was extremely high quality, in a very convenient location (the same venue as the first day, in fact).

There were many opportunities for meeting employees, through various forms - graduates sat on each table and were happy to answer questions, while there were panel discussions and question and answer sessions with seniors, managers and senior managers from a wide range of fields. There was also a speed networking session on the second day, with even more employees from even more fields.

The networking events were extremely useful. I particular enjoyed the speed networking sessions, where in small groups we were able to have a more personal question and answer session with a wide range of employees. EY also provided a social, where we went bowling and did some VR, which was fun, and nice to make more contacts with the people there in a more informal environment.

Yes! There are a wide range of sports teams- football, netball, dodgeball, basketball... As well as this, EY also advocates a CSR scheme, allowing employees to do voluntary work and help give back to their communities. Some employees also get involved in things like student recruitment, mentoring, and the EY foundation.

I would recommend this insight, as I found it very informative. It can both help you work out what appeals to you, and what does not - both of which are crucial to know as a potential applicant. I really enjoyed my time, and there were always people around to answer any questions I had, work related or not!