Business Academy Student Review

I am a business academy student at the Leeds Office for EY. I have been working on a project for most of my time, so that's what I've been doing most days. This has involved a considerable amount of online research as well as speaking to various different EY staff for this. I also have had discussions on some days with EY staff about graduate opportunities and the workings of different departments.

I have learnt how to work the internal email and meeting planning system. I have also improved on my ability to have face-to-face meetings with people and provide intelligent and well considered responses to what they have to say. Also I have improved my research skills and my ability to condense down a large amount of information into a coherent and interesting presentation.

I have very much enjoyed my programme as it has allowed me to get a great insight into how a firm like EY operates and specifically what goes on in my service line, which was tax. I have enjoyed working alongside professionals from different aspects of the tax department as they have been very friendly as well as providing me with a lot of information about working at EY.

I feel as valued as I could be by EY, being a Business Academy student that was only there for a week. The fact that people were willing to take the time out of their busy days to speak to me about my projects is something I am very grateful for and that I believe shows that I am valued by EY. People have been very courteous and conversational with me over my time here and they seem to take an interest into what I had done with my life thus far and my plans for the future.

The programme was very well structured. We spent almost the entirity of the first day on how to operate within EY, which was extemely useful. We have a mentor system in which we have a buddy and a counsellor, both of which provided a lot of support. Because of my proximity to them in the office, one if not both of them were always on call if I had any queries or issues which was very useful for me.

As said before, EY has a system in which there is a buddy and a counsellor for each Business Academy student and they were able to provide considerable support throughout the week.

I have complete access to the internal management and Skype communication system at EY which means that I can speak to a anyone for support and advice, which I did. EY put support at the centre of their ethos and so at no point did I fell as though I was lacking access to help.

I was not expecting to receive a salary when I applied and so this was a pleasant surprise for me. As a minor, I live with my parents and so I do not have my own costs to cover so the salary was a bit of a bonus for me.

I have only been with EY for a week and so naturally I have not been any major out of work events. However, on four of the five days I have been here, I have been out for a lunch paid by EY which was also a pleasant surprise.

Yes

It has a brilliant working environment in which you can have access to many different opportunities and an amazing support system.

Preparation is key for any application process so look on the websites to see what resources they give for you.