Assurance Associate Review
at EY
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Accounting
London
Review Submitted: December 2023
Overall Rating
3 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
2/5
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Overview of Role
3/5
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Skills Development
3/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
2/5
Role involves tying out figures to evidence provided by the client and documenting different procedures performed. Occasional client contact when asking for support with evidence provided. Work early-on mainly involves completing forms and setting up excel spreadsheets, which can get very boring but this is to be expected given limited experience.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
2/5
Day to day work is fairly mundane, but colleagues are all kind and hard-working which makes a difference. Hours are long in busy season, but things are much quieter in summer, so the workflow is very uneven. Departments are very siloed which mean there are limited opportunities to network and meeting people not in your service line, so can feel a bit limited at times.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
3/5
Developed excel skills and studying towards chartered accountancy qualification, which is very useful. Most tasks however are centered around agreeing evidence to documentation which is not particularly challenging. Have learned lots of audit related skills, however, such as how to ask good questions when after reviewing evidence. Some opportunity to develop communication skills in client calls.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
Structured into blocks of time in accountancy college and working. EY provides time completely off work for studying which is very useful. Unfortunately, there is limited flexibility of when you can take exams due to the ICAS exam board (with ICAEW there are far more frequent exam sittings which allows you more flexibility of when you can complete exams). Apprenticeship team are supportive, but take a long time to reply to emails and failed to inform us when our college dates changed.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
3/5
Generally supportive. Lots of communication channels within firm. Would be nice for EY to take a more proactive approach in helping to expand your career beyond audit should you so choose. Little to no opportunity to work abroad or in different areas of the business. When you enquire about this, you often face lots of resistance.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
Training provider makes themselves very contactable and available and provide lots of resources. College time is separated from work, so you can focus entirely on studying which makes a big difference. Teachers are always willing to provide extra support when you email them and you can make use of training provider facilities for studying should you wish to.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
Improves knowledge of accounting, which is vital to role. Many of the concepts and different regulations you learn about during studying the qualification are directly applicable in your day to day work. Regardless of base level knowledge of accounting, all new joiners receive same training which ensures everyone is well equipped to work.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
1/5
Each department is very siloed, so difficult to get involved with extra curricular activities if you are in a smaller department. There are sports teams, but I'm not aware of anyone within my department who is a member. There have been no professional networking events during my time at EY. Social activities have very low attendance, and have low budgets .
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend EY to a friend?
No
Why?
EY is a great employer and a great brand to have on your CV, but the limited opportunities for networking outside of your service line, restrictive exam sittings and limited opportunities to explore other areas of the firm mean that you can end up feeling slightly 'stuck'. That being said, if you are very interested in accounting and are sure that audit is the career path you wish to take then EY would be an excellent place to start.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to EY?
Ensure that you can clearly articulate your motivations for applying for EY and your chosen service line. It is important to be able to explain during the interview process why you wish to work for EY specifically, rather than other professional service firms, and why the role both interests you and suits your skillset.
