WANT A GROWN-UP JOB WITH AN UN-STUFFY FIRM? READ ON!
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We like EY (formerly Ernst & Young). First, the professional services firm came out to support fair pay for interns. Next, we realised they are way ahead of the curve on complex and sensitive issues like diversity, social mobility, disability and mental health.
They’ve just opened their graduate scheme, so if you’re interested in a grown-up job at company that’s ‘proper’ but un-stuffy, check them out. They welcome graduate with all degrees, from all backgrounds. And you needn’t be box-fresh from uni this summer – they accept applications from those who graduated a few years ago too. Graduate Fog spoke to Julie Stanbridge, EY’s Head of Student Recruitment, to find out what her team looks for in applicants for their graduate programmes…
Graduate Fog: What does EY actually do?
Julie Stanbridge, EY: We help the world’s most high profile companies and organisations through our four service lines: Advisory, Assurance, Transaction Advisory Services and Tax.
We’re sort-of with you… What can graduates expect if they join EY?
Don’t worry — we know it takes a bit of time to get used to the language. Our four service lines are quite different. Build a career in Advisory and you be helping clients across a range of industries improve their performance and solve complex business problems. It’s a fast-moving, high growth area that reflects the challenges and uncertainty of today’s world.
Choose a career in Assurance and help play a vital role in the world’s economy. We provide companies and regulators with a reliable voice about their financial status or processes, and we help clients make decisions about environmental policies, management systems as well as investigating fraud.
Our Transaction Advisory Services team shows businesses how they can raise, optimise, preserve and invest capital. We perform strategic, commercial and financial analysis of companies’ involvement in a variety of transactions.
A career in Tax means you’re helping your clients navigate the myriad of tax regulations across international borders. We help companies to balance competing priorities, ensuring they maintain compliance while enabling growth.
What qualifications do graduates need, in order to apply to EY?
The exact qualifications you’ll need depend slightly on the programme you apply for. However, most of our graduate vacancies require at least 300 (24) UCAS points or equivalent (obtained in the same year, excluding General Studies and re-sits), Grade B or above in GCSE Mathematics and English Language and a 2:1 honours degree (predicted or obtained).
In exceptional circumstances, we’ll accept applications from people who don’t quite meet our academic benchmark. So, if there’s a good reason why you just missed the mark on any of the requirements listed, we may still consider your application.
So graduates don’t need to have studied business, finance or accountancy?
No. Only a small number of our positions require a specific degree, and for the majority of our programmes, we welcome applicants from all degree backgrounds. It’s your intellectual ability and natural strengths that matter to us. Some of our highest achievers have studied subjects totally unrelated to the work they do.
What are ‘natural strengths’? Do you mean skills and personality?
Yes. We look for people who are curious about business; are willing and able to offer a different perspective; can work well in teams as well as individually; and can also demonstrate a high work ethic. High performing teams are diverse, so we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
We aren’t only looking for high academic achievers. We also want you to demonstrate leadership through extra-curricular activities and community involvement. We look for evidence that you are good at listening, learning, sharing, developing and working with others, including those who are different from you. We want you to have a clear sense of personal and professional accountability and to show you are committed to doing the right thing.
We also look for people who recognize the value of different backgrounds and points of view. By respecting these differences, we enrich our perspectives which helps us to build strong relationships and enhance the services we provide to our clients. And we want you to be passionate and excited about the opportunities at EY and what your future holds.
When and how should graduates apply for your graduate programmes?
Our graduate vacancies open on 1 July every year. You can find more details about all our programmes on our website, which is also where you apply. You needn’t be a new graduate — we are very happy to accept applications from individuals who graduated a few years ago too.
What stages does your application process involve?
The first stage is an online application form and an online strengths assessment. The form is your chance to tell us about yourself and your achievements to date. The strengths assessment will ask you to read a series of scenarios and then choose how you would respond in each scenario. The questions will require you to select one response, or rank your responses in order. Try our sample strengths test to get an idea of what to expect.
And if a graduate gets through that?
Providing you are successful at the application stage, you will be required to complete an online psychometric test which tests your verbal, numeric and diagrammatic reasoning ability. Next, you will be invited to attend an interview that will ask you to demonstrate your strengths and your motivation for joining EY. We want to get to know you, so relax and be yourself. The final stage is an assessment centre. Here, you will take part in various activities such as a team meeting, a written report and an interview. This will give you a better feel for EY and helps us learn more about you.
What if a graduate needs extra support or time?
That’s no problem. We encourage applicants to tell us about their disability and any reasonable adjustments they may require throughout the recruitment process and / or in the workplace. This will enable us to provide sufficient and appropriate support to candidates throughout the process.
Do you respond to all applications, whether successful or unsuccessful?
Yes, we do. We don’t have time to respond with verbal feedback to everybody as we have over 20,000 applications every year, so this would take up a huge amount of time as you can imagine! But we do respond to every applicant and provide personal and specific feedback at certain stages of our recruitment process.
“High performing teams are diverse,
so we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.”
Julie Stanbridge, EY’s Head of Student Recruitment
Any tips for standing out at application stage?
We look for applicants who can demonstrate that they have gone above and beyond. Examples of leadership are welcome but demonstrating positions of responsibility of any kind. Whether it’s leading the charge on raising money for a local charity or organising an event at a summer job, these can all help at the application stage.
What wows you in an interview?
A graduate who is passionate about a career in business and believes in themself and what they want to achieve. Also someone who can demonstrate focus, ambition, energy and enthusiasm. Before your interview, learn as much as you can about EY: who we are, our services, strategic direction and our vision for the years ahead. Make sure you can articulate how your strengths and career goals are aligned with ours, and why you think you’ll succeed in our organization.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was first published on Graduate Fog in 2014. Since then, some small or very specific details may have changed, so please double check them on EY’s own website before you apply. Thanks – and good luck!
What’s more important — knowing the right answers or handling the questions well?
Handling the questions well. No-one has all the right answers all of the time. That’s why we focus heavily on the value of team work — the ‘two brains are better than one’ idea. We work with some of the world’s most complex businesses so dealing with challenges effectively and solving problems dictates our success. Try to relax and remember that we’re interested in the real you: Our interviewers are trained to get the best from you. We know interviews can be stressful, but we want you to enjoy it. Listen carefully to each question and take time to think about your best answer.
What is a great question for graduates to ask at the end of their interview?
Don’t just have one question, prepare a list! Remember that for us, the recruitment process is two-way so this is your time to decide if we are the right employer for you — are we the right place for you to launch your career? Ask us about our organization, our clients, the opportunities we can offer you and what you can expect from us. A question around business strategy is always a powerful and insightful question too. Knowing where the business is going is important and how you might fit into that.
Any tips for impressing at assessment centres?
Be clear on the task, listen to others’ views in group exercises, offer opinions and — most importantly — be yourself.
What’s the most common mistake graduates make when applying to EY?
There is no real pattern to the mistakes graduates make. I guess one simple piece of advice that sometimes graduates don’t take is to read up on and to understand what the business does. Graduates need to understand what an organisation’s main competitors do too so they grasp an understanding of the wider market place and challenges that a business may be facing within that industry.
Where are your graduate jobs based?
Our proximity to our clients can be critical to the service we provide them. That’s why we operate from 20 offices across the UK. When you apply for a graduate programme, you’ll choose a location where you will primarily be based. However, depending on client needs, you may need to temporarily relocate for projects so we ask that you be flexible.
What salary can a graduate expect?
We offer a competitive salary in line with expectations for a graduate job in the industry. However we also offer a variety of perks and benefits including:
– A graduate loan: up to £7,000 interest-free, repayable through your salary over 48 months
– Holiday: starting at 25 days a year
– Interest-free season ticket loan
– Personal accident insurance
– Life assurance
– Illness pay and prolonged disability insurance
– Leisure facilities (at some offices)
– Subsidised restaurants (at some offices)
– An online discounts and concierge service
As well as other flexible benefits such as a pension scheme, travel insurance, private health and dental insurance and bike and health and wellbeing benefits.
What is the best thing about having a graduate job at EY?
It’s got to be the exposure to working on the most demanding business challenges, with some of the world’s biggest companies — which may even give you the opportunity to work internationally. You’ll get to ensure we provide the best possible service for our clients share your thoughts and ideas with other talented and motivated individuals and to contribute your ideas to. We are also committed to your personal development throughout your time here, with learning and coaching support to hone your business skills and to help you succeed in your career.
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Click here to visit the firm’s careers website
I don’t understand this magical 2.1 mentality, other than a lazy way of filtering graduates. Not only this, now going back as far as UCAS points! What happens if you’re an older graduate like me from the days where you didn’t take more than 3 subjects? I’m never going to have ‘enough UCAS points’ I chose my particular subjects because I found them challenging and interesting, not to get an ‘easy’ degree. Nor should I have to explain difficulties I had whilst at uni.
I also have a Masters, which according to the officially accredited government qualification scale, outranks any degree 1st, 2.1 or 2.2 in terms of how ‘qualified’ I am.
It doesn’t necessarily reflect on whether an employee is going to be good at their job or stay. Not all degrees/unis are equal. Whilst some will inevitably work harder than others, I don’t think its fair to write off people solely on what final degree classification they received.
*Bachelors degree
I agree. UCAS points aren’t meant to be used in this way, surely the government should crack down on the practice.
EY like all consultancies (recruitment or otherwise) feed on banks and other businesses. EY poach directors from these organizations (usually when fired for incompetence), hand them a fancy title e.g Managing Director (and a consequent end-of-year bonus) with the firm giving them business that would be otherwise too costly to perform in-house (consultants are contractors and are not reported on a bank’s balance sheet). That’s how contracting works. These MD’s then hand out the work to Cheap as F#### graduates on £18-25K in London! Try to live on that in London! Others (who have years of experience) are able to fare better and negociate at the market rate! Best to approach the firms directly cutting-out the middle-man! Consultants, like recruitment agencies are leaches…
Dear Julie,
I was strongly considering applying to EY because I like the value it places in its people.
However this changed rather abruptly recently. I had spoken to two individuals over the summer who work at EY in different locations. They both had praise for the firms flexible working, however both of them had noted they were being paid below the average salary for the area.
It is quite hard to justify this as a ‘competitive salary’ do you not think, Julie?
Also, when I compared it to other similar finance jobs, for example corporate finance roles in banking, the salary is astronomically different. The standard banking salary is £45,000 base per year (usually a bonus on top). I have seen that the highest EY salary in London is £27/28k, even for corporate finance roles.
Although you may throw in the argument that banking careers will command longer hours, it simply does not seem proportionally scaled down. And they are not greatly different roles. It seems a bit insulting to be valuing the new grads at below market wage rates.
Does EY intend on adjusting their salary in line with other graduate salaries? If not then I might aswell go for banking. At least I can eat that way.
Thanks for all the comments everyone!
@JC – This point came up before, as IBM ask for a 2:1 too. I think it’s really interesting. In fairness, EY say they will still consider applicants who have missed the mark, if they can show that there were exceptional circumstances. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I don’t quite see why this selection criteria is so controversial. If you work hard to get a 2:1, then isn’t it only fair that your should gain some benefits from that, which you might not have had if you’d got a 2:2? Of course grads with a 2:2 can still be excellent candidates, but the ‘top’ firms (like EY and IBM) are offering top training (and top salaries), so isn’t it up to them to pick their grads based on whatever selection criteria they choose? Although as I say, I may be missing something, so please explain further if I am!
@JC and @Neo – The UCAS points thing, I understand more. I agree that they were never designed to be used as selection criteria for graduate jobs. However, you could argue that some non-graduate jobs might ask for “3 A levels at A-C” or similar, so is this any different? Again, sorry if I’m missing the point here, please do explain further!
@Nicolas – I’ll leave that one to Julie to answer! Although I would say that a lot of grads would say that £18-25k is a usual graduate salary these days, and many do live on that in London, although I know it isn’t easy, particularly on a salary of less than £20k.
@Stan – You make some good points, but I can’t help thinking that the banks are over-paying, rather than EY under-paying? Many of Graduate Fog’s readers are doing unpaid (or expenses-only) internships or minimum wage shop / bar work – so I think the might challenge your idea that it would be difficult to ‘eat’ on the salary EY are offering (£27-28k), which sounds pretty good to me. The banking salary you quote (£45k + bonus) for a graduate job sounds huge to me – I’m 35 and I’ve never earned that much in my life! 🙁
Older graduates and non-graduates alike are able to negociate their daily market rate (because that’s what contractors are paid) based on their last hourly rate or annual basic salary. EY acts as a conduit, that’s how it works. Just like Reed and other recruitment consultancies. There is nothing great about working for EY more than there is for a bank! All the same.
After 5 years work experience in the City, a 2.1 or UCAS points makes no difference. It’s laughable, really. It never did matter unless you have been lucky enough to dig a decent graduate management role in your final year. 15 years ago, in banks, good, solid staff were promoted internally from the bottom-up irrespective of academic credentials. Since the advent of New Labour, we have had hordes of ex-consultants in IB, Ds and MDs who managed to make their way into the industry whilst totally clueless on operations, technology etc. They usually last a couple of years and either find their way back into consultancy or moved around internally by the bank if incompetent.
On salaries, you cannot live reasonably on less than £20k a year in London. Having already worked for 4 years in Bristol on £13K, I started on £26K in London in 2004! And that was hard enough! With no pay rise or bonus (reserved for Ds and MDs at EY, Deloitte etc.), flat-sharing will linger well into you mid-30s. Unless parents help out. What then was the point of going to university crippled with debt?
@Tanya
Its not an objection I have per se to the 2.1 requirement, if you don’t work hard then you don’t get. But, what if loads of other employers start doing that? Basically, that would mean if you had less than a 2.1 you were shafted! Also, my mitigating circumstances were depression. Despite that, I battled through and got my degree- incidentally, just short of a 2.1. Quite how I’m supposed to spin that without alarm bells ringing with the employer, I don’t know!
If all degrees were equally assessed/standardised (like A levels/GCSE’s) then this wouldn’t matter either. But they are not. I did pretty intensive science based subject with lots of contact hours, assessments and labs/field studies ongoing etc. Some of which, I was not permitted extenuating circumstances for.
My biggest annoyance though, is that I went on to further study despite the 2.2. I have a Masters, this is higher than a 2.1 Bachelors on the national qualification framework, aaaaarghhh. (tried to explain that before)
Anyway, at this stage in my life its experience employers are looking for- which I can’t seem to get. So I’m trying to go self employed.
@Tanya, following on from your comments to JC
I firmly believe that academic excellence has NO BEARING on career success.
Let me illustrate the problem with a thought experiement:
Let’s say you’ve got a position available in banking. The degree criteria states “Any degree 2.1 or above”, but it is a pure banking position.
There are two candidates:
* You’ve got John, who graduated with a 2.1 in Equine Studies.
* Then you’ve got Jane, who graduated with a 2.2 in Banking and Finance.
Based only on the information available:
* What is your gut instinct as to which one of those candidates wants to work in the banking industry?
* What is your gut instinct as to who will perform better in that banking role?
* What is your gut instinct as to which one of those candidates will be better “aligned” to work in the banking industry?
I think the answer going through your mind is “Jane”, because she has demonstrated through study a commitment to a particular industry and subject matter. Though this does not indicate they will be better in the role, it’s definitely a huge head start. Unless John had significant work experience in banking — and a damn good reason why he didn’t choose to study it — then as far as I’m concerned, he is NOT a suitable candidate for that job.
The 2.1 criteria opens the door for unsuitable applicants to apply to positions they are unsuitable for SIMPLY because they are open to them, meanwhile leaving the position closed to candidates who are probably far more suitable.
A winning strategy is to hire candidates on their attitude, organisational fit, and long term goals, not on their how well they did at University.
@CostaDel
I see what you mean. So we’re saying employers should take the degree subject into account, and balance that with the degree class gained?
@JC So you wouldn’t feel comfortable telling EY that the reason you got a 2:2 was because you had a depressive period during your studies? I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, just asking. I know it’s a really difficult decision, when / whether to disclose that kind of information to an employer, and many do have a long way to go in understanding the issue. That said, EY do more than any other firm I’ve seen to talk about mental health in the workplace, so if anyone is going to make an allowance for this, I’d say it was them!
@Tanya
I’m sure some firms are more sympathetic than others (perhaps because the founders, MDs etc can empathise as they went through it)
But, not sure I would want to bring it up. Although firms are not allowed to discriminate against candidates with mental health issues, what’s to stop them at interview stage? How would I prove they rejected me on those grounds?
Most employers would probably not want the hassle or risk of expense if I have to take time off
@CostaDel
Exactly right! Talking to one of my friends after applying for a grad scheme, he said they knew of someone, and I quote, ‘Got onto that and was bored after a few months’!! How irritating was that? I bet hundreds/thousands of other grads would have loved the opportunity that individual denied them after months of application processes they went through!
@Tanya:
I’m saying that it’s short-sighted to look at classification as the first barrier to application. The first barrier to applications should really be “Do you *really* want to work in this industry?”, “Do you have the right subject, or matching work experience, to work in this industry?” and “How do you fit into our organisation’s culture?” because those are far better determinants of longevity in a position than classification.
@Tanya and JC
I don’t believe “exceptional circumstances” are an employer’s business.
I could have got a 2.2 because my mum died, or because my girlfriend left me heartbroken, or because I suffer from depression or bi-polar, or because I decided to work too many hours in my part-time job so I could eat and live.
Which of those are exceptional circumstances? It’s such a subjective term: Why should an employer have, essentially, the power to turn you down because your tragedy wasn’t good enough for them? I find that immoral.
And when it comes to conditions like depression, or bi-polar, there’s a positive obligation not to discriminate on those personal attributes. But, employers are human, humans are fallible, and, regardless of the fact that people with depression, or bi-polar, or another condition of that magnitude, are normal people like me and you with the ability to lead normal lives, there is still a negative association with those conditions. It’s wrong, and although it is no doubt an “exceptional circumstance”, those kinds of circumstances should not be in the recruitment process. Ever. Full stop.
@JC:
I totally agree on the boredom thing. There are so many hardworking graduates, who may not be academically gifted, who would have loved and excelled at that position. What a waste!
Who would choose to work in finance anyway? Boring as heck.