Transaction Diligence Intern Review

There were several webinars about EY every day consisting of D&I, sustainability, and learning and development as well as panel Q&As, including one with partners from the service line I was on. There were also several seminars from external speakers about well-being, resilience, emotional intelligence, and more. For most days in each week, we worked in small groups within our sub-service line on a case study that exemplified the work that EY does. In the second week, we presented this to our mentors who were EY employees in our service line. We also met with our buddies once or twice as well as our counsellor who were all EY employees in our chosen sub-service line. There were a couple of virtual social events too.

I've developed several skills including independent working, teamwork, organisation, time management, analysis, communication. These were both via working on the case study in my team and presenting this effectively as well as via the tips and advice given by the speakers who talked to us about resilience, presentation skills, emotional intelligence and more. I learned about which skills are most important for working in a role in my chosen sub-service line, some of which were unexpected.

As the programme was conducted virtually, we were unable to work on any actual EY work so the case study we worked on was very similar to previous projects that EY had done but many aspects were not included, or simplified, as we did not have any actual training nor could we shadow any staff to be able to learn on the job. However, the work we were given to do was very useful in our learning about the sub-service line and helped us understand the responsibilities we could be given as a graduate.

Our mentors, buddies, and counsellors, as well as many other EY employees we met, were always very welcoming and were there to speak to about any concerns or questions we may have had. Everyone offered great advice and answered all our questions. The student recruitment team were also great at guiding us throughout the duration of the programme and quickly solved any issues that may have arisen although there were hardly any apart from technical difficulties occasionally.

The culture and working environment at EY were what initially drew me to the firm and this was confirmed by all the friendly and welcoming employees that we interacted with. We learned a lot about their sustainability and diversity & inclusion initiatives that all employees can take part in when working there. For example, the many networks that you can join which host events as well as the EY Foundation that you can volunteer with.

I loved the programme and despite it being held virtually, the team were absolutely fantastic in ensuring everything ran smoothly. I am very glad I got to meet other like-minded interns and that I was able to interact with several EY employees throughout the 2 weeks. I learned so much about not only the work that EY do but also the culture and equal opportunities that everyone has access to in their learning and development.

Yes

Before applying, read around as much as possible about the firm, their work, their values as well as their initiatives on D&I and CSR. Do as much research as possible on the sub-service line is right for you - there are so many to choose from so it is important to completely understand the work that EY does in that area and if you would be right for the role. Find out what EY employees say about the firm and their role to see if it is the best fit for you.