CASE STUDY
STUDENT RESOURCE
Gatsby Benchmarks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
My apprenticeship at one of The Big Four
Alice Neville is an audit associate in the Business Apprentice programme at EY – one of the largest professional service networks in the world and a ‘ Big Four ’ accounting firm . She is based in Cambridge and has been in her role for two years .
I first heard about EY at a ‘ What Career Live ?’ event , full of university and apprenticeship opportunities . At this point , I was unsure what I wanted to do so it was great to get a chance to talk to some EY employees at the stand they had at the show .
You need three A levels to be eligible for
EY ’ s Business Apprenticeship programme , in any subjects ; I studied business , psychology and maths . At the time of applying , I didn ’ t know which service line I wanted to join as I wasn ’ t sure exactly what each of them entailed . There are four : Assurance , Consulting , Strategy and Transactions , and Tax .
I chose
Assurance , as I saw it as a broader area and a chance to gain insight into different areas , as you work on different accounts . Assurance is broken down into Audit , Financial Accounting Consulting Services and Forensic and Integrity services , providing insights and technical knowledge across geographies .
I didn ’ t expect my managers to be so approachable
I joined in September 2018 on a level 7 apprenticeship that runs for four-and-a-half years . I ’ m currently an audit associate and my role is to check companies ’ financial statements in order for us to provide an opinion on them . So I work with clients to gain information and support for their accounts , often using EY analytics tools which help us perform certain tasks more efficiently when working with large volumes of data .
I have a variety of clients as I work from Cambridge , in a regional office — some are global , some are smaller . I really enjoy being at different client sites and meeting new people . I ’ m always working with different teams at different places and I like having the opportunity to network with a mix of people at all levels .
Of course , due to coronavirus , a lot of our people are working from home ; we ’ ve always had flexible working at EY , but we use Microsoft Teams for video calls . We are able to go to client sites sometimes , but a lot of activity has been put in place to make sure all of our colleagues are safe .
So , what does a professional services firm do ?
Professional services firms exist in many industries , helping clients to manage , support and grow their businesses , by providing accounting and advisory services . The Big Four accountancy firms ( Deloitte , PwC , EY and KPMG ) offer
audit ,
assurance ,
taxation ,
management consulting ,
actuarial ,
corporate finance and
legal services to their clients .
My first day
On my first day at EY , I had yet to be assigned to a client , so I was around the office doing a variety of different tasks for colleagues . I found that they were all welcoming and willing to answer any questions I had . When I then had my first day with a client , I met my team , who were all so friendly and explained the work that was expected from me and what we were doing .
What surprised me most was how welcoming everyone was ; they really made me feel part of the team . I didn ’ t expect my managers to be so approachable . Going in as a business apprentice , I have a lot of support from other apprentices who have been at the firm longer and can advise me about exams and other concerns . I didn ’ t expect them to be such a close group .
Learning so much in my first year means I can work more independently on the jobs I ’ m allocated , and I know how to do it . I ’ m now also given slightly more complex tasks that I haven ’ t seen before and don ’ t know how to approach , so I ’ m constantly learning .
There are also other opportunities such as moving between offices or secondments which give you the chance to work abroad
Next career steps
I ’ m looking forward to passing more exams on my way to becoming a qualified chartered accountant , and to learning more and more as I continue to progress in my career and improve my skills . We are constantly working with different teams and with seniors , assistant managers , managers and senior managers , so we can see clear career paths . There are also other opportunities such as moving between offices , or secondments which give you the chance to work abroad . You can also change service lines .
EY is a great company to work for and is recognised by other companies within the industry , so it could help open other career doors in the future . To anyone else considering a job here , I ’ d advise doing as much research as possible to really try to understand EY as a company – what they ’ re about and whether it ’ s the right fit for you .
My advice to my younger self would be to try harder to understand what audit is ; at the time , I found it difficult to find out what the actual job was about , but I could perhaps have done more research into different service lines .