Women in Assurance Review

This insight was enjoyable because it was very useful. There was opportunity to get involved and participate and the way the day was structured meant the sessions were short but informative. Due to COVID-19 this insight day had to happen virtually, however they managed to still make the day exciting and encouraged participation.

This insight day, aimed at Woman in Assurance, did make me feel valued because of the emphasis on encouraging more women to work in Assurance and helping women realise their potential. There were sessions run on Diversity and Inclusiveness as well as Building Confidence, which encouraged us to recognise our strengths and remember what we’ve achieved and the support systems we have around us.

This insight day is all about supporting women and giving guidance. All the speakers have specific advice and everyone was very clear that they were very happen to answer questions. Advice was given on how to impress during the summer internship, what support you have in the workplace and how to access that support - particularly the Women’s Network.

The information I received during this insight will most definitely help me beyond degree studies. There was a lot of advice on how to conduct yourself as an intern and what qualities they look for. Beyond this, I also found the building confidence session and the diversity sessions useful for my degree studies, and general life - these sessions taught me how I can feel more confident overall.

The insight was very well structured with an agenda explained at the beginning of the day. The timings were kept to and the way it was structured (with short but informative sessions) kept it interesting. They also managed to cover a broad range of information in just one day which I think is down to how it was structured.

Since this was turned into a virtual event, it’s quite difficult to judge atmosphere within the workplace. However, throughout the insight day I did feel like there was a general friendly atmosphere and almost all speakers talked about the support they received at work, which indicates a supportive and friendly atmosphere.

Even though this was just a one day insight, I was really thankful for all the speakers giving up time in their day to talk to us. It really shows that people are willing to help new joiners and students. They also helped us a lot with giving us advice and tips on how to develop and how to get the most out of an internship and also our university experience.

Because of the wide range of speakers I really feel like I understand what it would be like to work at this firm, in a variety of roles. There was also a lot of detail given on career progression and what career progression looks like at EY, especially from the graduate scheme.

Throughout the day different speakers talked about the culture within EY and how they feel supported. There was also a large section dedicated to discussing the Women’s Network, which indicates a culture dedicated to supporting women and helping them realise their potential. Many of the speakers talked about the buddy and counselling systems and how they feel supporting by them.

This event was dedicated to helping us decide our future career path and making sure that Assurance is something we want to work within and whether we want to work at EY. There was an entire session dedicated to career planning and how we might be supported in the workplace. It’s also useful to listen to people working in Assurance to see if it really is something we want to pursue.

Since this event became a virtual event, there were no expenses to reimburse. However, when the event was going to be in person EY offered to reimburse all expenses.

Throughout the day we were able to hear from many different employees, going from people on the graduate scheme all the way up to partners. They also encouraged us to add them on LinkedIn after the event, as well as giving tips on how to network effectively and how important it is to network.

Since this was turned into a virtual event and was only one day, there weren’t any specific networking/social event opportunities, however they did give tips on networking and talked about the social event opportunities that are available at EY if you’re an intern, on the graduate scheme or higher up.

They talked a lot about opportunities outside of work. This included the Women’s Network which holds lots of events, including a International Women’s Day event. They also touched upon charity work that EY is involved with and how you can get involved with this right from joining and even whilst being an intern.

This insight was great. It was very informative and varied. I also thank them for still managing to run the event, despite not being able to do it in person, but still finding a way for us to experience this event and receive lots of advice from current employees. This is a great way to learn about EY as a firm and Assurance and whether it’s a career you want to pursue.