Intern Review

I was apprehensive before, but was immediately put at ease upon arriving. The scheme was challenging and stretched us, without being an uncomfortable learning curve, and was incredibly rewarding. The people there also really contributed to the enjoyment.

It was very clear how much EY had invested in us, and they consistently asked how we were finding the course and how they could help up. They never forced EY on us, but we all feel a strong affiliation to the company now due to feeling like we deserved our places on the academy, and were respected by the EY workers and group leaders. They were quick, also, to say that we had all put in a very strong case to get onto the leadership academy, which can be argued to be more difficult to get onto than an internship, which was a real confidence boost. They also said that because of this, they wanted to keep working with us as long as we wanted to work with them in the future.

The actual academy is run by an external company, outside of London and offices, but supported by EY workers (facilitators), which meant that we had specialists in the leadership field and also access to the world of EY. Some people were able to organise work shadowing through these EY workers, and put us in contact with other EY workers in different departments.

I learnt a lot about reflection, which is a key skill for studying, and I had to be open to potentially negative feedback. I also learnt more about where my strengths lie, and what I find challenges me, and also I can lead a lot better now, which I feel will be a strong skill, but also learnt how to lead from the "back seat" too. I'm also much better at conflict management now, having worked intensely and under pressure with people who I had never met prior to the course.

We were never misinformed, but due to the fact the external company and EY were working together, there were moments where there was a lack of communication between the two, so we were temporarily confused, but these were usually resolved quickly.

It was unlike anything that I had ever done before; there were incredibly motivated and likeminded individuals, who really wanted to learn, and therefore pushed you to learn more about yourself. The EY workers were also enormous amounts of fun, during activities and during down time, which made it feel very informal at times.

A lot of time was set aside for each of us to talk us through our strengths and areas for development with both a facilitator (EY employee) and course leader, as well as with our peers. EY facilitators were also very happy to continue to talk to you beyond what was required of their roles.

The point of the leadership academy is not to sell EY to us, and although the facilitators were more than happy to talk to and explain their roles to us, and help us to set up placements, that was not the focus. However, the company values are clearly displayed throughout the leadership academy, in ways that are subtle and never outright selling EY.

The facilitators were able to give us very honest answers to our questions, and also enjoyed socialising with us outside of work, which is reflective of how EY allows them to operate. Additionally, the running of events such as EY displays not only the level of organisation, but also the level of personal care and attention that exists, which continues into the heart of the organisation, as our facilitators explained that there is a mentoring system in place for them at work.

I have not yet got a point of reference with another industry, but I was certainly very impressed by EY as an organisation, and was able to learn a lot about my strengths and areas for development here. Without concrete experience of working for EY, I can't be certain of a career path, but it certainly has improved my idea about working accounting and potentially for EY in the future.

We didn't need to pay for accommodation, but travel was all reimbursed.

There was a partner dinner on one night, which allowed us to meet someone from a different dynamic, and beyond that, all of the facilitators enjoyed mingling with us, so we were able to learn a lot about how their work. The partner dinner also featured a number of graduates and existing workers at EY, so we had a huge variety of people to talk to.

Apart from the dinner, it was all very informal, which meant they were really enjoyable. The dinner was also really interesting because we got to meet a variety of people from different areas of EY, and had to be a bit more professional, which was not something that we were necessarily used to.

We learnt a bit about the charity side of EY, but not a lot beyond that, although that wasn't really a focus for a lot of us.

If anyone has any interest in leading a team in the future, I cannot recommend this highly enough.