EY - From Application Form To Offer

Good man!

Well done on getting the job & fantastic article!

Incredible summary! Thank you!

What an effort! Well done.

As Jexxo stated, AC for Tax & Audit differs a lot.

is the application for internships the same? i have an AC for tax- economic analyst and i'm not sure whether to expect the partner interview. i've been told to get there for 9.30...

They have changed now their assessment to strength based...

I agree I like a really rigorous selection process, as it shows they really are sure they want you and they are not just feeding the machine

I don't know why, but I'm very unsure and nervous about the online application form. I have not yet taken the time to fill it out. How many of the applicants get filtered out at this stage? I am a college student, my grades are relatively fine, english is good, PC skills as well, no relevant work experience so far. I'm at 4th year of my studies, got my bachelor's degree 5 months ago and looking for internship/part-time.
Will I get through the 1st phase screening? Or is it really individual in the sense they read every application and analyse all the answers so this part is crucial? Damn I'm worried, don't want to make a mistake at this stage.

Dear All,
I have found your posts very helpful and would need a bit of your assistance.
My application has been accepted and my online tests cleared, now i have my first interview in a couple of days, for the Graduate Audit Position, i was hoping that someone would shed some light on the questions asked in the first round of interviews?
Looking forward to your kind response

See this thread. Good luck.

http://www.wikijob.co.uk/forum/accounting-professional-services/ernst-young-first-interview

What questions did you ask the partner?

Thanks!

Dear All,
Could someone please help me with the question that how EY diffrentiates itself from its competitors, and what are the challenges currently facing EY?
I would be greatful.....Thanks

Hello,
Can anyone please tell me how to answer those 5 questions in the application form.
I dun't understand what exactly they are looking for. Please give me some ideas urgently. thnks

I'm not trying to be totally unhelpful (but i probably will be), but can you not think of any experience you've had that relates to the questions they're asking? They're not too hard and you should have something. Obviously they're looking for you to demonstrate that you've had varied life experiences and you're able to operate under pressure and learn from your experiences.

Hi,

I am trying to fill out the form for a gradaute position but cannot seem to upload my academic details. Do you have to select 'program' for each GCSE / A - Level?

Also, there isn't am option to choose GCSE or A - Level in the drop down list. It is a rather weird application form.

Any help would be graciously accepted. Thanks.

Hi
Did you have a previous experience before and where from? also from which university did you graduate

many thanks
Maria

Hi
Did you have a previous experience before and where from? also from which university did you graduate

many thanks
Maria

Hi
Did you have a previous experience before and where from? also from which university did you graduate

many thanks
Maria

Hi _Jonny

I applied to Indirect Tax. I am invited to the Assessment Centre. I haven't done the first interview yet. Shall I have to be prepared for an interview on the Assessment day?

Your prompt reply will be highly appreciated.

Regards
Haque

any link to social networks of new EY recruits..... I am getting too excited about EY

Does anyone know if these questions are similar for summer internship app?
Are there 2 stages (AC, partner interview) after the first interview?
I applied for human capital tax and just passed the first stage.
Would love to hear any advice!!

Cheers!

There were people going for summer internships at my assessment centre. They had to do the same tasks as those of us going for the graduate positions.

oh right! thanks! how did yours go greenoak? was the assessment centre similar to what is described above? which one did u apply for?
hope it went well. =)

Cyn: It went really well, thanks :-) I'm now at the stage where I've passed my partner interview and (fingers crossed) will be receiving an offer in the next few days.

My assessment centre was nothing like the ones mentioned in this thread. There is a thread called 'The New Ernst and Young As­sess­ment Cen­tre' that describes perfectly the format of the assessment centre I experienced. It really helped me reading everyone's experiences on there before my assessment centre. Have you got a date for yours yet?

Firstly, just wondering if there is anyone else on here with a start date for March 2011 in Advisory?

Secondly, I found the information on here really helpful so I thought I would share my experiences with you all.

I submitted my application form and completed the online tests back in April for a September 2010 start date. I had my first round interview towards the end of April and there isn’t much more that I can say that hasn’t been said on other posts. The questions that have already been posted up are pretty indicative of what they ask, they are strengths based and you won’t get every one of them. My interview just flicked through the booklet and picked some random questions from each page that she thought were interesting and wanted to ask. But in my experience the interviewer was really really friendly and helpful and just wants you to be yourself. My interviewer called me later that day and explained that I passed and HR would be in contact with me to arrange an AC.
However, because it was quite late in the recruitment cycle, there was only three available AC dates, all of which were right in the middle of my final exams in May. So I had to withdraw from the application process at this stage. Luckily, once they re-opened the vacancies for 2011 start dates, I sent an email to HR & asked if I could be put straight on to the AC stage because I had already previously passed the other stages and they were happy for me to jump to that part of the process and arranged for me to be on an assessment day on the 2nd of Sept.

Again, the posts on here cover lots that go on at the assessment day, so read them for more info! I was quite surprised thought that there were only 6 of us on my day, thought it would be a lot more, in fact, two of the people there were for summer internships.
But here’s how the day went:-
Firstly there was a meet and greet where we were introduced to our assessors and had a little chat over a mini breakfast buffet. There was then a really brief presentation by the HR lady who explained why we were here and how good it is to get to this stage etc.
We then went round the room saying who we were, what we've been doing and the most exciting thing that happened to us recently, an icebreaker really.
Then the day properly got under way and they split us into two groups of three and put each group in to separate rooms with two assessors with each group. Each of us was given a personal timetable which outlined our tasks for the day and what time we will be doing them.
The first task was the same for everyone in both groups, the group discussion regarding the pre-research we had to bring with us. One thing I will say about this is that there is really no need to bring pages and pages of research or spend hours and hours working on it at home. As long as you have some key discussion points and ideas, as well as a few figures and examples to back them up, then you will be fine. The group work was really straight forward where we each had to go round and explain what we found and then discuss ways in which our manager could put them into a presentation and the structure we would use. Remember there is a timetable to try to get everything completed by the time you are meant to. The two assessors would chip in with questions and pick up on points we mentioned to discuss further, such as “what things are there to consider about the audience” & “how would you present your ideas to your manager”.

After the group work, we had to view our timetables and do the assigned task. Mine was the correction telephone interview situation where you have 15 minutes to go through a ¾ page report made by an intern at EY and then give the intern feedback over the phone. There are spelling, formatting and grammatical errors which you need to highlight. You will also need to fill in a sheet with three headings, I can’t remember what exactly they were, but it was something like ‘what do you plan to cover in the phone call?’ ‘How will you plan to go about discussing it with the intern’ & ‘what do you want the outcome to be’. Again this is pretty straight forward.
When the time comes to make your phone call, you need to go to the room instructed in the brief and make the call. For me, I spent literally 30 seconds discussing what was wrong with the report and instead spent the majority of time finding out why this was happening and offering advice and support to an intern who was having a hard time.
After the phone call, one of the assessors will give you a ‘self-assessment’ form where you need to fill in how it went, the outcome and anything you would have done differently, just be honest! They are looking for honest self-assessments, there is no point saying it went great if it didn’t.

My next task was the company analysis. Here I was given a 6 page report or so about a recycling company and a brief from my manager asking me to pick out the key points and condense it into a two page document. You are a bit pushed for time, but the headings in the brief from the manager should be used to structure your report. There isn’t much advice I can give on this other than try to complete all the headings and things required in the brief, there is no point in completing a quarter of it really well, just be concise and pick out only relevant information by highlighting the report as you go along.

We were then given a break where lunch was served, the group was bought back together and more graduates from EY came down to talk to us and mingle. It’s quite interesting here just to pick their brains and get some good info about the service line you may be applying to.

After lunch, we were taken for the tests, it’s pretty much the same as the ones you would have done at application form stage, and the only difference is that there are 8 questions in each section instead of 6.

The next task should have been my partner interview which they are now doing on the day, however, myself and another candidate were told this morning that our partner had been called away this morning and so we would have to come back to have it at a later date. Therefore, this was the end of my day.

The next morning (Friday), I sent an email to HR asking to arrange the partner interview and they called that afternoon and booked me for the following Monday. I came on here and checked out peoples experiences and prepared for questions such as, why EY, why Risk, why Advisory etc. However this is where my experience differs from most of the stuff on here, the partner did not ask me a single question about this, in fact he did the majority of the talking. He gave me tons and tons of info about the company and graduates starting out. He only really asked me three questions that people have mentioned in other posts; how did the assessment centre go, have you enjoyed what you’ve seen of the company so far, and, give me two examples of when you have done something differently to solve a problem or issue. The rest of the interview was quite industry focused talking about economics, risks and the financial crisis and climate, quite intimidating when this wasn’t what I had prepared for. The partner was really friendly but not personal like other peoples experiences, he didn’t ask about me and my life.

I got a phone call on the Wednesday from the partner with a job offer.

Wow this turned out to be a lot longer than expected but I hope it helps!!

I had the same topic as you, I think they rotate it every few months or something.
Basically, I just had some of the key points written down, I.e. Potential to open up new markets, understanding a diverse customer base, skills etc. They asked us to go round & explain our findings to the group & lots of discussion came out of that. EY didn't give much extra info, the brief was similar to that of the one on the email, the only difference is that the people watching ask you questions. Firstly they asked, if u were making the presentation, how would you structure it? So we had to come up with a plan of how the presentation would go & where our ideas would fit. They also asked how we would present our ideas to claire. There was a few other questions but I think they related to what we had said so it depends on the stuff your group comes up with.

Hope that helps.

I think this site is great and it definitely helped me in getting a job with EnY in AUS and knowing what to expect.

After logging my application i received a call about a week later from EnY asking me why i was interested in doing Risk (this was like the first stage phone interview with only one question, caught me totally off guard btw), i told her i have always been really interested in Risk and could really see myself enjoying it. After that i was invited to attended a written exam in person at EnY. At no point did i have to do an online exam.

At the written exam two amplitude tests were assessed, Numerical and Logical (true, false, cannot say questions). The Logical test contained 15 Questions in 18 min and the Numerical had 36 questions in 30min. These were very simular to the SHL questions that you can try for yourself online, and i highly recommend doing them! The Numerical exam was a mixture of some easy some hard questions. Best to just work through questions as quickly as possible and do not get stuck on one, move on!

It took about 2 weeks until i finally got the phone call telling me i passed (they had to wait till the application date had closed before they were able to contact me) and was required to attend the final "recruitment day" stage.

At this stage we had a brief overview from HR about EnY then straight into individual interviews. The questions asked in the interview were very simular to the questions on the forums and the interviewers were really friendly which made it allot easier. After the interview we had a tour around then building then we went into group exercise. This involved the discussion of a hotel chain and a case study. We were then given the opportunity to mix and mingle for about an hour. The whole process took about 5 hours and was very pleasant and comfortable. About 3 hours later i got phone call informing me that i had got the job.

Do you guys have any tips on the briefing exercise? I'm really bad at those types of summarisation exercises.

Its really quite straight forward and nothing for you to overly stress about...

The memo you get outlines a basic structure for you, so if you just use those four areas as headings and write six points or so under each one then you should be fine.
The points for each heading are again relatively straight forward to find from the company document they give you. It contains an article about the industry, an online blog about the companies involved in that industry and then a bio of the company you are writing about.

good luck

Dear All,
First of all, thank you all very much for posting all these invaluable materials on the web which are extremely useful.
Having past AC today and wish to share some of my thoughts. I will not go through the details of the process as this thread has already explained extremely well! Just few person thoughts.
1) I know there would be pressure to be the best amongst all the candidates; however, the group exercise in AC is about if you are a team player and whether you can work with others efficiently or not. Therefore, do not fall into the trap by thinking that if you talk the most and the loudest (i.e over other candidates’ voice) then you will impress. Please show your respect to other candidates.
2) During the group discussion, if for example your research points have been mentioned by some other candidates, please do not feel discouraged. You can support other candidate by expand the point slightly or even better, using figures or data to support other candidates if you had the same idea but different data.
3) Asking questions, be talkative is of course encouraged. It shows that you are interested, enthusiastic and confident. i.e. during lunch break or when have some time with one of the HR or department personnel’s. However, please make your questions sensible and meaningful; do not ask questions just for the sake to ask. If you start to asking a manager what auditing means ( when you applied for auditing ) or ask what professional exams do E&Y offer then you are leaving the obvious impression that you don’t know what heck you are doing.
4) When talking to the “Sam” the intern, I think someone mentioned this, if you think suitable use the “sandwich” approach. i.e say something positive, then the critics and then something positive again. Do not fall into the trap that you must be critical and harsh and splash all the wrongs onto Sam. Be structured, friendly and supportive.
5) Company analysis, again, as mentioned by everyone, time is critical. Stick to what you have been request by Claire,you can be creative and add few species in if you have more time but if you managed to get everything what Claired wanted then you are there!
6) Last one, a bit cheese, but KEEP POSTIVE even if you feel that you might have muddled one or two tasks up seriously. You will not be judged down just because you did not get a perfect score on one or two tasks.(but of course it does not mean that you can just go through everything light hearted, be focus ) Keep smiling and shine!

Good luck and best wishes for everyone!

Could anyone recommend the best site to prepare the online assessment test for EY?

Could anyone help me with the career path in E&Y London office. What position do you start with and how long does it get to become a Manager, Partner? I did not find this information on EY web-site. What is the Assurance Executive role involves? Is it a Senior position? or the one you start with?

Personally I am not from UK, thus I don't know what position match our positions!

I will be very grateful for your help!

Thank you!

Has anyone waited for more than a week to hear back from the final interview? It's been six days and I still haven't heard from EY, does that most probably mean I haven't gotten the job? Thanks!

Hi Guys

I have an AC with EY - Assurance this Friday. I have been asked to carry our research on the benefits of a diverse work force. I was hoping someone could clear up a few things for me, would be extremely grateful;

1) the tests that we sit at EY - are they SHL, PSL or Kenexa orientated? Also does it involve completing a numerical, verbal and logical reasoning (diagrams?) test?

2) Company Analysis - I was wondering what the company analysis involves and what is the best way to tackle it? Is there a Q&A?

Thank you for all your help above. Wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Topcat22

Hey Topcat - I'll try to clear some things up for you.

1) The tests you sit at EY are exactly the same as the ones you have already done online. It's verbal, mathematical and logical. 8 questions in each section, 6 minutes to answer each section. People say that they are a bit harder than the ones you've done online, but I did not think so. If anything, the logical ones seemed a bit easier even! Oh and from what I gather, they are not as strict on these tests - the pass mark is not very high.

2) The company analysis is the trickiest bit for most people (certainly was for me), but it's not too bad if you structure yourself well. You will be given lots of information (like a newspaper article, a memo on a company, etc) and you will be asked to summarise the information you read under 4 headings. Just try to think what are the main points - there will be lots of data that is either too technical or just not so important. There is no Q&A.

One more thing I can advise - definitely go through all the posts on EY AC on wikijob - there are various threads and the information they give is crucial for passing the AC.

Good luck!
R.

Hey guys,

                  I am slightly confused on the application form and I would be really glad if you could help me out. On the Education and Experience Section there is a part where you fill in your work experience details and achievements. 

"Please provide any recent work experience and or positions of responsibility that you have gained, providing details on the nature of the role and the responsibilities, including any additional information relevant to your application. Please note there is space for up to 3 positions of responsibility and or work experience if needed."

I was wondering whether it is the same thing or what have other people used in this case. Thanks in advance

Ando

Hi Ronin

Thanks for your help - I didn't actually see your message prior to the AC but I still managed to successfully land a place for the 2012 graduate scheme in September. Most of what has been said throughout the forum covers everything you need to know for the AC but if anyone would like any specific details, I am more than happy to help.

Kind regards,

Topcat22

Hi! Congrats on your offer!

I was wondering how your partner interview went because that's my final stage left now! Im applying for audit fs but I'm stuck on why fs?? Was there any commercial awareness questions?
Any help would be really helpful

Hi Marlino3

Thanks for your kind words.

I recently had the Partner Interview so it's fresh in my mind. There were four of us that had a Partner Interview and there was a feeling going round that they were quite different in terms of what they asked. What I recommend is whatever questions you face, you display the utmost enthusiasm and genuinely come across as a person that would fit in with the EY culture. My Partner Interview took place at the London Office - the Interview lasted 45 mins in total. The Partner began by mentioning a number of skills I displayed throughout the AC and wanted to know where I have applied such skills in work/life situations. Other questions were;

Tell me about yourself?

Why EY?

Why Audit?

What are you proud of?

What are the challenges you believe you will face if you were offered a role at EY?

Once I answered these questions, I then went on to ask him a number of questions. Make sure you have a lot of questions prepared - the more the conversation is a two-way thing, the better.

This is stark contrast to the other Partner who asked questions like;

Why FS (Financial Services)?

What is happening with the Euro?

What can be done to improve the Euro's position?

As you can see from above, the questions asked by each Partner were varied so I would like to stress that you should make sure you cover a range of issues.

Hope this helps.

Topcat22

Thanks Topcat22! That was really helpful and by the sounds of it you can't really predict what's coming up!

I had a first round interview last week and pretty much everything that was already listed on here came up. The only other additions that I can think of were:
Name a time when your job role has been ambiguous?
How would you befriend new collegues?
What would you do if in a room with people who you had no common interests with.

I also had a technical interview because I applied for operational research which is apparently a specialist stream so if anyone wants to ask any questions about that feel free.

How long does it usually take for EY to get back to you hearing people are hearing back on same day? Had my interview on monday is that a bad sign or is it irrelevant?

Does anyone know if the positions for Assurance in London have been filled?