Has anybody done an E&Y interview?

My first round with EY is a paper-based numerical test, which was informed results within 2 or 3 days. Just get their email that due to the extremely high season, the AC for EY this year will start from the end of March (if my memory is ok) the earliest. By the way, i applied for Audit, and I heard the HR mentioned financial auditing during the paper test. Not sure about other lines. Hope it helps.

hey cindy. i was wondering if you had attended your AC day yet? i got through my first round interview and now i'm just trying to glean as much information as i can about the AC day! i applied for Business Advisory.

anyone else got any ideas?! thanks

hi i'v just booked my paper based numerical test. Any advice you can give me. Maths under pressure was never my strongest point, and I believe I answered around 14 of the 20 questions given for the online one and passed. What was the paper based one like? (i.e Similar to the online one). Any hints or tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hi,

I don't want to alarm you but the paper based test was much harder than anything I had done online.

Like the online test, the paper based test is multiple choice with 5 questions based on the same series of tables of graphs (usually 2 or 3). Don’t quote me but I think there were around 50 questions and the test was time pressured so you will have to choose your questions wisely.

For me, the test seemed to get harder as it went on so try to get as many correct as you can early. It is likely that no one will finish the test and those who do are either maths pro’s, have guessed the answers or are lying.

In a way this is good and is why the test is set in the first place - you are not expected to get them all right. If you have a particular type of graph/table which you find hard to understand or know prior to the test that you struggle with, just move on to another question. I attempted around 75% of the questions and know for a fact I did not get everyone right but I made sure to read every question.

Basically there are 3 types of questions and you usually tell which box each question fits into within a few seconds of reading it.

1) Questions that you think you can find the answer to quickly – these questions should give you 60% of your mark and are questions that you must attempt so make sure you have a look at every question before you finish.

2 ) Questions that you understand but can see from the graphs/tables that they will take you a little while to work out. These should make up around 30% of your mark and should be attempted after you are confident that you have answered all the quick and easy ones.

3) Questions that you do not understand or know you cannot calculate without delving much deeper into the graph/tables. These answers make up the remaining 10% of your mark and are usually an educated guess at the answer from a possible 2 or 3 which you realistically think it could be.

For the life of me I can’t remember if the test was negatively marked but I presume this was why I only attempted 75% of the questions so if this is the case don’t risk any group 3 questions unless you have the time at the end to get your head round them. Read the first question in each section before looking at the graph to see if you can spot a quick answer as sometimes it can simply be a case of taking a value from the graph or adding a few numbers together.

There were also a few questions which were deliberately deceptive so be careful. For example, the first graph in a question may go in chronological order from left to right whereas the graph below which you are making a direct comparison to will go from right to left. Always make sure you have read the information on the graph/tables correctly. Sometimes the values are in thousands or millions so remember to scale up your answers before ticking the box.

Make sure you get the easy ones right and check them at least once - they will have multiple choice answers included which pick up on common errors such as decimal place scaling or questions where an incorrect value can be easily but mistakenly used in the calculation.

I didn’t see the people that rushed through the test at the next stage so just stay calm, pick up the easy marks and play your own game – don’t worry how far through the test the person next to you is because they might have them all wrong.

does anyone know the pass rate of the paper-based test please?

how should people dress for the paper test, business suits and ties?? what is the difference between formal and casual business dress?? :confused:i really do not want to be over-dressed, and equally too casual. can anyone explain? many thanks.

Hey,

I'm not 100% sure that casual business dress would be ok for this. I would have thought not. Call up HR and ask them what i suitable - yes, you can do this if they haven't specified. If HR aren't too specific, err on the side of caution, and wear a smart business suit + tie.

Usually, if you're not sure what to wear, then you should be wearing a business suit with tie. You can't go wrong by being a little too formal, but if you turn up in casual attire when everyone else is in business suits, you'll look out of place and very stupid. Not good!

Formal business dress is: smart suit (black, dark blue or pinstripe) with smart shirt (white is best, or white with a subtle stripe) and tie (blue shows confidence, maturity and intelligence - don't go for anything too garish). It goes without saying that your shoes also need to be smart, black, and polished.

Casual business dress is: smart cords or suit trousers (dark colours, possibly grey/light grey) with smart shirt (pastel shades are ok - you can be slightly more daring than business dress, but only slightly) and no tie. A simple v-neck jumper is fine, or a navy blazer/suit jacket is a good touch. Your shoes also need to be smart, clean and polished but could be dark brown - as with shirts, you can be a little bit more daring than you would with a business suit, but I really do mean only a little bit.

I would suggest that everyone turn up for everything in Accounting, Law, IB and Consulting in a smart suit with tie. You need to create the impression that you're set to do business with clients from day one. Don't turn up looking like a student. You won't get hired. Turn up looking like you are an Accountant/Lawyer/Consulting/etc.

Find more information on the wikis, here - General interview advice - WikiJob - feel free to add to this as you see fit.

Good luck - let us all know yoru experience of your tests/interviews. We are interested!

Ed

Point of Note Focus and BBBOBO - your posts should really have been made in separate threads - BBBOBO, you might get more luck with replies is you repost as a new thread, FOCUS - you might get some more luck too.

Thanks guys,

Ed

hi, Ed
Thank you for your reply. That is a really detailed and helpful explanation!!
I will definitely share my experience for paper test/interview once I've done them. Good luck to everyone.

Hi,

I am applying for Birmingham Office, Business risk service.

I had my first round interview with EY. It is one hour competence-based interview.

Questions asked:

1.tell me a time when you worked as a team? what was your role?
2. What is your biggest setback?
3.Tell me a time when you influence someone?
4. What is your biggest achievement?

If the manager was interested in your example, they may aske further questions about your answers.

Then career motivation:
1 What do you think EY differentiate from others?
2 Why business risk service?

Very standard interview. No commercial awareness questions. But it is better to prepare some business stories before interview. Just in case.

Hope it helps:D

Good luck

Hi,

I applied for the business risk service, Audit & Assurance Group.

I am wondering how to answer the question 'What do you think you will be doing in your first year?'

I have searched the Ey website, but not so much information there. Can someone shed some light on it please?:p

Thanks a millions!

I think, if they ask me, of course if they, i would say.

I will be on trainings, will be floating among other departments, basicly, 3-4 related departments.

You will be:

• Studying for exams
• 'Ticking' and 'bashing'

'Ticking and bashing' refers to the checking of accounts- it is the most mundane, arduous form audit work, always given to the audit juniors.

You WILL NOT be floating between departments (contrary to what londonbloke just said). It works that way in investment banking but not in accounting.

poor me, i have had that opinion until today. what a surprise. have not been to big4 environment. interesting to know. thanks chrism

Thank you so much. :p

My KPMG interviewer told me that she shifted around about 4 times in her first year.

maybe she did but u dont want to say tht at interview as it doesnt show commitment to one area and that you dont reali know what u want to do.

Thegreatdebate is exactly right. You need to show that you have a passion for the job you are applying for, not that you messed around working for a bit, leaving, getting another job, leaving, not having any idea what you wanted to be...even if this is true!

The way she phrased it was that she was able to gain a lot of experience of different environments very quickly. It wasn't that she wanted to change, but that she was given the chance and she took it.

hi,

I have my first interview with E&Y tomorrow for corporate tax. As far as I understand, it's a competency based one, where i will be asked examples of skills such as teamworking, leadership and so on. Also questions about career motivation and why tax will be raised am sure.

I am just wondering whether there will be questions as to commercial awareness in the first interview.

Any help or advice on the first interview will be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot

I did an EY tax interview last week. I wasn't asked any commercial awareness questions at all, nothing on recent business issues.

40%, i was told.
Not sure if wrong answers are marked down.
Not sure if 40% means right answers out of the whole questions, or as compared to a group of people.

The paper test I did had 32 questions for 30 mins (PSL, I think). I did not even get a chance to read the last 3 questions as they are very long (like passages in the verbal test). The test itself is getting harder and harder. I also left two unanswered questions as not sure how to do them.

The key challenge was sometimes you have to seek imformation from 2 or 3 graphs/tables in answering one question, quite different from the online tests or SHL practices.

i think the tests you have to take at Graduate Program selection process are more or less like GMAT tests. would recom. to go through GMAT Official Guide 11th edition. they have numerical and verbal sections. good luck

Hello everyone!

I posted a topic a few days ago, but i guess it got deleted during the forum change. No harm done though.

Wikijob is an excellent site. The forums are great and so are the people that offer advice that is priceless to newbies like me.

I applied for tax in EY.
I got invited to the assesment centre and after that to the first round interview ( i guess the procedure is a bit different than the one described in another sticky).
Before the first round interview i discovered wikijob and i can't tell you how much this site helped me. With everything i read i felt confident because i knew how the interview is structured and what kind of answers you should provide ( including tha STAR and CAR technique - i prefer CAR :)). And the interview was more or less what wikijob said it was going to be. A lot of different questions, but the main one's were the kind of questions that are described on wikijob as competency based questions. Halfway through the interview i relaxed completely as i saw the interview is going fine and that wikijob saved me a lot of nerves and improvising. Good preparation really is the key!

A day after the first round interview they set me up via phone for a partner interview. I've asked in the topic that got deleted what comercial awereness questions are likely for tax, especially: "what significant factors have affected the industry in recent years?". 2 people replied, one of them was Redsuperted, the other one i don't remember, sorry. I got a hint at the EY EU tax publication. Thanks to both for replying in such short time. You calmed me down :).

On the scheduled day i got interviewed by a partner and a manager together. They didn't have a clue about what was being discussed in the first round interview. But they were very friendly and the interview was more of a chat about how EY is great , why i should work for them, what it's like for the first few years, and why as a lawyer i didn't apply to a law firm. They also asked why EY.
And a day later i got offered a job. And i'm accepting it:). I'm delighted:).

I wanted to share my experience as a thank you to the site an the comunity that helped me so much. I hope someone will find this useful.

Greets

MrG

Hi,

Hope you're all well and on the way to capture your ideal job. I have applied for Corporate tax, and have an assessment centre coming up in the next few days. Has anyone here been to a tax assessment centre? The tips provided for interviews are great; yet I was hoping someone could guide me through the assessment exercises i.e case study,client meeting, group exercise. If anyone could shed any light on the following, I would be truly grateful. Merci!

Did you have a look at Ernst & Young interview questions? No personal experience of E&Y assessment but others might be able to help!

congrats Mr G i think you would be the best person to help me plz will you /.....
Hi
i have applied for graduate recruitment with Ey in corporate tax. i have through my first round and i have my assessment and final interview tommorrow ... would some body please help regrading the report writing exercise . and what they will ask in group meeting and partners interview.....

would some body help me please

thank you
Miss.laddu

Hi Guys,

I have enjoyed reading the great discussions so far. I am set to attend my first round interview in three days time. I applied for audit and assurance. Can someone please tell me how E&Y differs from the other big four firms? What sort of questions should I ask them too? I need some other tips. I need to pass this interview. Please help?

Thanks very much!

Hi Everyone,

I had an interview for Audit last wednesday and had all the typical questions mentioned on the site (why Ernst and Young? What do you think youll be doing for the first 3 years? An example of teamwork?) but also some more unusual questions like:

Do you think there should be more hours in the day?
Do you speak the same with your friends and when youre in work?

So maybe think about what youd say to those questions. There was alot more questions than my KPMG and PWC interviews and it was quite impersonal actually which i didnt really like. They were very fast at getting back to me, they phoned about 2 hours after the interview telling me i had passed and they would be in contact to arrange the assessment day.

Hey,
I had my first round interview for tax yesterday. It lasted about 50 minutes and involved lots of quite quick questions.
Some of the questions i got asked were:
Why tax?
What have you done to follow up/learn about tax?
Should there be more hours in the day?
Tell me about your groups of friends?
Do you talk to different groups of friends differently?
Is there a company/brand you admire and if you could ask them some questions what would they be?#
Do you enjoy working in a team?
Have you ever wanted to quit something?
Have you ever put the needs of a team before your own?
Have you ever done something differently second time around?
Have you ever build a relationship with anyone?
Do you prefer starting or finishing?
When have you persuaded someone?
Do you prefer quick action or careful planning?
How do you know your strengths and weaknesses?
Why would you be better than other people?
How would a lecturer describe you?
Would a friend say you are organised?

There was no why e&y and no commercial awareness questions really. Similarly to Hagiz i thought it was quite impersonal and they got back to me after about 2 hours to let me know i was through to the assessment centre.
If you have any more questions do get in touch with me!

hi,

I will be attending the assessment centre in London next week. I'm from the States and really have no idea what to expect during this assessment day. Any advice? Should I be prepared to sit for a numerical test? Thank you!

Have you seen the E&Y interview profile? - Ernst & Young - this is helpful for finding out what to expect.

hey i have completed the written test for tax analyst.that was my 3rd round of interview i have two rounds left. what could be the qustions asked

Hi All,

This discussion has been very useful so far. I am just curious as to how many interviewers are there in the first round of interview at E&Y?

Cheers

Sam: Just the one, and it's quite relaxed. Just to add something more to the thread, I think the new format is 30 base questions and 18 more optional questions to fill up any remaining time. I'm afraid I don't remember which questions were part of what section.

Thanks Mugicha,

30 questions in an hour? so that means approximately two minutes for each question. Hmmm interesting :D

It's actually an hour and a half.

when they ask for when you have persuaded anyone, is there any key words/stages they are looking for?

i mean i highlight the benefits of my proposal, listen to reservations they have, evaluate the options together? but not sure what else to put even if it was for a hypothetical anwser

hey, i just got news from E and Y that i am through to the assessment centre for TAX. So if anyone has gone through the assessment center before, please give us your pearls of wisdom or any advice on what to do e.t.c I would be very grateful.

Thanks folks! Very interesting and helpful discussions so far.
I also passed my first round interview for audit. I am to attend the assessment centre soon.
Can some one share some experiences? I've got to grab this job.

Thanks for your help!

Hey

I have my EY assessment centre next week. I applied for the Business Advisory Service. Could someone please run me through what happens on that day. My first AC. Also, how hard are the case studies? and are the Partner Interview primarily competency based or technical?

Cheers :)