Joe W.

Executive
Happy to mentor
Happy to be contacted

About me

Joe W.
Physics
Physics
Undergraduate
Alcuin
2011
United Kingdom

My employment

Executive
EY
United Kingdom
Finance and consultancy
2011

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A day in the life of a Executive in the United Kingdom

How I found out about the job

Times Top 100

The recruitment process

The first stage is online psychometric tests and application form. This is not too bad, and is usually to check that there is nothing obvious that shows you would not fit in the organisation. Next is a face-to-face interview with a Senior Manager, which is to determine your fit for the job and your overall strengths that you could bring to the position.

Finally is an assessment centre which includes a partner interview, a group task and a written exercise. EY assesses your strengths rather than competencies, so that is not only attributes which you are good at but also those you are passionate about and enjoy. The process is relatively intense, but feels like the firm really wants you to do well.

My career history

I have worked at EY since I graduated, firstly taking a position as an Associate in the Audit service line. I have since advanced to the Executive level, leading 10-15 juniors on clients and working directly with the Partners at EY and the senior management at my clients.

Courses taken since graduation

ICAS - Chartered Accountancy

Where I hope to be in 5 years

My intention is to work towards the Partnership, the highest level at EY and the owners of the firm. I have already progressed quickly into a managerial role, and I have been lucky enough to build a strong network of mentors and supporters at the firm that I will continue to use to develop my skills. It is possible to develop your long-term career plan quite quickly at EY.

My advice to students considering work

Start looking early, but don't narrow your options too much. If possible get a summer internship at the end of your first year. Most students don't think about their career until their second year or last summer vacation, but it is important to gain some experience to help guide your decisions.

Also, take every opportunity to meet employers. Many representatives are graduates of York. At events, I am just as keen to give back to students as I am to recruit the best, and I am always impressed by students who make an effort to talk to me, so take the opportunity to ask your questions.

Accountancy is increasing its graduate intakes, but a Big 4 firm like EY is always competitive. Get involved early, meet us at events and try and get an internship if you can. But York is a strong University and we have a number of high-performing York alumni at EY, so don't ever assume you can't make it!

My advice about working in my industry

Accountancy is increasing its graduate intakes, but a Big 4 firm like EY is always competitive. Get involved early, meet us at events and try and get an internship if you can. But York is a strong University and we have a number of high-performing York alumni at EY, so don't ever assume you can't make it!

What I do

As an Assurance Executive, the basic part of my job is working with clients to ensure that their financial reporting is an honest representation of a client's business. One of the misconceptions of audit is that it is largely adding and ticking numbers, however on a day-to-day basis my job consists of speaking to clients, training juniors, and drafting reports for my seniors. I spend quite a lot of time discussing judgemental factors, and meeting with clients to understand how they run their business and advising them on how their thought processes can be improved.

Skills I use and how I developed them



Extracurricular skills:
I use a combination of analytical, people and project management skills. I developed the analytical skills through my Physics degree, allowing me to identify trends and anomalies in data, vital skills for an auditor.

I manage and coach a number of junior staff on my teams, as well as build relationships with the client staff. Through this I have developed strong people skills, supported by managers who have greater experience in this.

Project management skills are also important as I work with several clients on several teams at the same time. This is a skill I initially developed in my degree, but the experience gained at EY has helped me significantly improve my skills in this department.

What I like most

I love the variety and the people exposure. I work with several different clients and am never in one place for long. I work with a lot of different teams, so you are always meeting new EY people, and I spend about 70% of my time at client sites so I am always working with the client personnel. I speak daily with everybody from the client junior staff to their board of directors, and get to meet people with a vast range of experience, and I think this opportunity is rare for a new graduate. Not many newer graduates get to speak to the CFO of FTSE100 companies on a daily basis!

I also enjoy the speed of development and progression. At EY you can be promoted every 1/2 years and the expectation is for you to make Senior Manager within 7-8 years of joining the firm. You can very quickly take a lot of responsibility.

What I like least

Perhaps that junior members of staff at clients assume that you are there to check up on them as an auditor, and think that you are there to find their mistakes. This can sometimes to them being less than helpful until they understand you are there to work with them.

Next steps...

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