Spring Intern Review

I enjoyed the insight programme a lot. It was a fantastic experience despite the fact that it had to be conducted online as opposed to in person (due to COVID 19). In fact, I wasn't expecting to have as much fun and gain as much knowledge as I did given the circumstances- the shift from an in-person event to a virtual one was done seamlessly!

I felt that I was very valued during my insight day, simply because of how interactive and attentive the speakers/panelists were. All my questions were read and answered, I managed to connect with everyone involved on LinkedIn, and each speaker made sure to ask us if we had any other queries at every juncture.

The entire event relied on effective communication of a lot of content, so support was needed throughout. Every speaker managed to provide this support and guidance, making sure that all of us were comfortable and fully involved with the online event. If for example someone had connection issues, these were handled effectively by the speakers.

The insight day has not only provided useful information about the world of EY and consulting, but also a lot of skills and content that will help me no matter what job I go on to do. Aspects such as imposter syndrome and self-reflection on strengths and weaknesses are important ones to understand fully, so these were very well covered.

Brilliantly, especially given the COVID-19 situation disrupting the original office-based insight day. Within 2 weeks, the EY organisers made a swift shift of the event from an in-person one to a virtual one, and we could hardly tell the difference because of how well it was organised. The interactive elements were fantastic and added to the overall event's structure.

People were communicating a lot in the chat box, and all the speakers were lively and interactive. The general atmosphere was positive, inspiring and insightful, which I did not expect would come across in an online event. The interactive elements conducted only added to the general positive atmosphere, and the content was delivered in a very clear manner.

The entire insight day was based around training us to be better employees and applicants for jobs, specifically since being women in the field of consulting is one that has to be encouraged. The speakers spoke a lot about the necessary skillset required for a job in consulting, which was useful for me. We also did several exercises such as one to list our strengths and areas for development, which was a great one for us to understand ourselves better.

The various speakers and talks on personal EY journeys helped me understand how it would be to work at EY, and has encouraged me to apply for their internship and graduate programmes. I really liked the company's values and culture, as well as the specific role I was interested in pursuing.

There were 2 or more sessions set around company culture, inclusivity and diversity. All of these were crucial in helping me understand company culture, such as their work to encourage women and people of a BME background to get involved in consulting roles. Every speaker elaborated on their favourite aspect of working in EY, and for almost all of them, company culture was what drew them to EY.

Being an engineer, consulting is a very different path to what I'd normally apply for. Yet this insight day proved to me just how diverse both the job and the application process is, and I'd love to apply to more roles outside of engineering because of this insight day. The content however applied for any job we would end up getting, as it focused on skills and suggestions on what we can improve alongside the consulting-focused sessions.

Yes, throughout the day we were introduced to several people working in EY. An hour long panel session with 5 leading women in EY was also held, where we got to ask questions and interact with the women directly. I got almost 40 linkedin connections in one day because of the people that I met at the insight day. Of course, since the event was online, it wasn't as easy to network as it would've been had the event been offline (Due to COVID this wasn't possible).

Because of the event being held online, opportunities to network fully were minimal. But EY did the best they could given the COVID-19 situation, and I managed to talk to a lot of the leading women in EY without feeling like I'd missed out on anything. There was only so much that could be done on the networking front seeing as it was held online, but they did a great job of doing the best out of what little they had (due to COVID).

Yes, we did ask several questions on the company's community/social spirit, and we learned a lot about the culture of the company. Individual teams organise a lot of social events, but the company also holds events for employees that help them build their community outside of work. This was great to know about, as it is what many of the speakers valued about EY.

Definitely. It is a lot of hard work to apply and get an offer, but completely worth the effort put in. The insight day was very well structured, and the speakers catered to the various changes to the original insight day in an amazing way. Whether it's held online or in person, this insight day will certainly benefit whoever attends!