EY

Accountant Intern

June - August 2021 • San Jose, CA

What I liked

Great culture, supports and encourages asking questions and striving to grow

What I wish was different

Less emphasis on hierarchical corporate structure

Advice

Get connected with as many people outside of your immediate field of work

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Business Consultant

June - August 2021 • Chicago, IL

What I liked

The culture at EY is like no other. Everyone is willing to help you grow and everyone genuinely wants each other to succeed. I created great bonds with some of my peers in such a short amount of time.

What I wish was different

I wish it was longer. I really enjoyed my time there. I also wish I had more time in each rotation to get more in-depth with the work they do.

Advice

"Be a sponge" is something I kept hearing, meaning take in as much information as you can.

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enterprise risk consulting intern

June - August 2021 • Los Angeles, CA

What I liked

The people and all the resources provided to gain more knowledge and succeed in your career.

What I wish was different

N/A

Advice

Reach out to everyone and try to get put on different types of projects

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Financial Audit Intern

June - August 2021 • Los Angeles, CA

What I liked

My internship experience started with a welcoming first week of introduction, ice breakers, and lessons meant to help me better understand the work that we do at EY. The first week felt like the first week at school where I get to meet my colleagues, get to know the work that we do, and guide me towards a successful experience at EY. It was a great introduction to the following week in which we got to work on real teams and serve EY’s clients. I was assigned to work on FOX Corporation which turned out to be the best audit team and an amazing start to my internship. Marlena Radic was one of the staff’s on this engagement. She was the most helpful and valuable asset I had on this engagement. She would always be on call for me to ask questions, assign me to work, and guide me through the engagement. In fact, the team was so incredible that I had a chance to hear the partner on the engagement speak about the structure of FOX and their business as well as actively pose questions on the business and discuss its sustainability. I had the opportunity to always participate in team meetings and I felt valuable at every stage of the audit. Learning audit in school was one thing, but experiencing it in real life was a completely different thing. I had the opportunity to observe the stages of an audit I have learned on paper, in a large company such as FOX, and gain a completely different understanding of financial statements. I confirmed the importance of our accounting foundation in the real-life audit because every small document we analyzed was founded upon the most basic concepts we learned in the first class of accounting. Auditing in my experience was like solving a big equation of accounting information and comparing whether this equation held true in our case. Put in the simplest words we performed analyses across different documents of information and ran simple equations to see if the numbers balanced. This all wouldn’t make sense to me at the beginning hadn’t I asked questions and used the knowledge from my accounting classes to understand why. The important lesson I learned during my first week is to always ask questions that start with why, before asking questions starting with how. This lesson helped me understand the interrelationships between cash flows and income statements. This ultimately led to my understanding that all of the financial documents depend on each other for accuracy and that the big equation from Econ 3a must always hold true: Assets equal liabilities plus equity. Everything else is merely an expended equation of this, always circulating net income back to equity.

What I wish was different

My second week at the firm was a little tougher because I haven’t had the same opportunity to ask why. I was staffed on a small private company developing games on phones. I ended up doing a lot of how’s without forming much understanding of the work I did. The engagement was understaffed and the lack of teamwork on this engagement showed in my lesser understanding of the work I did. However, it is always important to take lessons even from our bad experiences. I learned that a lack of teamwork leads to a less productive engagement, which can quickly turn the work we do into repetitive motions that become the motions of boredom that all accountants dwell upon. This is why it was important for me to take my time when doing the work and try to understand it for myself. I specifically remember the large 15-tab, 1000-column, and 200-row deferred revenue schedule I worked on the first few days. It felt like a prank with an endless amount of unnecessary numbers and information with no end in sight. However, working on this document from beginning to end lead me to understand the whole cycle of analysis we perform in the audit. The vouching and tracing concepts from my auditing class were finally put into practice. The endless documents quickly turned into a large equation of grouped numbers leading to a simple balancing solution between the supporting and the working documents. Bad team communication and unclear assignments have forced me to learn how to work on my own and have made me more comfortable with making mistakes in the work that I do. This has ultimately lead me to become more confident in relying on the knowledge that I possess and the research that I do.

Advice

I think of success as a simple pyramid which foundation is founded upon one’s motivation. I truly believe that any one of us can obtain the same amount of success if we have the motivation to do so, but success is abstract. It isn’t the same for everyone. It all depends on the underlying motivation that inspires us to become the best version of ourselves. One can be successful in creating a happy family, while the other can be the CEO of Google. We define our success and choose our career paths and are successful in our own beautiful ways. Personally, I am highly motivated to get to a point in my life where I can truly make a difference. Somewhere, where my voice can not only be heard but can also make a change. This path leads me to the next step in my pyramid of success which is work. The amount of work I put into something depends on my motivation to succeed in that area of my life. Therefore the last step in the pyramid is my desired level of success or my ultimate goal in life. The level of success only depends on the amount of work put towards my goal, and the amount of work I put into something depends on my motivation. This internship has proven to me that my underlying desire for success is backed with a valid underlying motivation. All of the hard work I have put into school and my previous jobs have led me to this moment. An internship at a big four accounting firm, and a full-time job offer from this multinational company. During my two-month internship, I have gained an enormous amount of experience and knowledge. I have learned invaluable skills and lessons on my engagement teams while networking with successful professionals, and working with world-known clients around the world. I have improved my understanding of audit work, and have revisited important concepts learned in class. I got the confidence to perform research and use my knowledge to contribute to the engagement team. I learned to always ask questions starting with “why”, before the ones starting with “how,” as they are the ones that will benefit me in the long run. I learned to effectively network and communicate my passions to my colleagues and supervisors because they can only help me achieve those if I am vocal about them. I finally understood that they are there to support me and help me achieve those wishes and passions, because only then can I be the most productive asset to them and the firm. Following this experience, I feel confident, motivated, and ready to continue working hard, and look forward to starting my full-time career at EY, where I know I will be able to constantly learn and grow, and achieve these extraordinary goals I have set for myself.

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Consulting Intern

March - June 2021 • San José, San José

What I liked

Was very interesting working in such a large, corporate, bureaucratic firm with many procedures and trainings and with branches around the world.

What I wish was different

Was a very boring internship. Entry level, mostly excel.

Advice

Any experience with a firm with a big name is going to be helpful in your career aspirations.

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Technology Consulting Intern

June - August 2020 • New York City, NY

What I liked

Work-life balance

What I wish was different

More diversity

Advice

Start the application process early

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Enterprise Risk Consulting Intern

June - August 2021 • Boston, MA

What I liked

The people are very nice and really willing to help you succeed. I learned a lot and was able to gravitate towards things I liked more or wanted to learn more about. I was also able to complete strategy coursework in my free time, but there were several different options to choose from with certificate opportunities.

What I wish was different

It was hard coming out of COVID to have an internship. Many things were remote and networking had to be done by setting up meetings with people instead of casually meeting in the office. Ultimately there were a lot of challenges all companies had to face, and EY did it pretty well.

Advice

Network as much as you can!!! Everyone has a different view on the company and the roles they work in and it will help you find what you like or don't like. People are very willing to talk and help you so you should utilize it. In a remote working environment, you have to try extra hard to make those memorable connections.

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Launch Intern

June - August 2021 • San Francisco, CA

What I liked

Good people and a lot of good programming on being a good employee. Nice exposure to business lines.

What I wish was different

Advice

Be ready to learn and try and meet as many people as you can!

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FSO: Launch Intern

June - August 2022 • New York City, NY

What I liked

I loved how EY treated their interns as full-time employees. The firm provided excellent coursework to enhance soft and hard skills. It offered numerous networking events.

What I wish was different

I wish the internship lasted a little longer.

Advice

To take advantage of every opportunity and to try to participate in all the firm has to offer.

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Quantitative Consultant

June - August 2022 • San Francisco, CA

What I liked

Culture, pay, and opportunities.

What I wish was different

Nothing, it was a great experience!

Advice

Go in with an open mind and a fun attitude.

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Forensic and Integrity Services Intern

June - August 2022 • New York City, NY

What I liked

I really enjoyed the company culture and everyone I met while interning! I could tell that the partners and experienced staff actually enjoyed meeting us interns and talking about our experiences and the job as a whole. We were hybrid this summer, so I was able to choose when I went into the office which was super nice (I ended up going about 2-3 days a week!).

What I wish was different

As much as I love the hybrid environment, I wish some of the more experienced people were in the office more. Everyone is assigned a peer buddy and counselor to help them out, but both of mine were fully remote which took away from the amount they could really help me. I wish that this was planned better to ensure everyone has someone in their office to turn to!

Advice

You don't have to know how to do everything on the first try! It's most important to ask questions and be open to new experiences as there will always be people around to help you with technical questions.

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Structured Finance Consulting Intern

June - August 2023 • Houston, TX

What I liked

The workplace culture was amazing. EY Structured Finance did a fantastic job making sure all interns felt supported and had a variety of people ready and willing to answer questions. I got to see the entire course of a transaction cycle and contribute to live deal work at different points.

What I wish was different

Sometimes the days were slow, especially work-from-home days when there was not a lot of deal flow.

Advice

Be curious and unafraid to ask questions. There is a lot to learn!

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CBC Intern at Ernst & Young

June - August 2021 • McLean, VA

What I liked

The welcoming environment, counselors keeping up with you, the perks, the company paying for expenses (food, internet, cellphone), the fact that I had a Senior who I could talk to freely at any point.

What I wish was different

I wish it had been tailored to the sub-service lines I actually wanted to explore.

Advice

ask lots of questions and always update your seniors!!!

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Launch Intern

June - August 2022 • Jericho, NY

What I liked

They treated us like real staff, and if you do a good job you receive a return offer. The internship was made really fun and personable. EY does a great job taking care of their interns and making them enjoy what they want to do as a profession. Great work life balance

What I wish was different

Nothing, it was really good.

Advice

Be a great listener, and ask questions. What you learn during the internship is super valuable because the people you work with are who you want to be like in the future.

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Accountant Intern

June - August 2021 • Richmond, VA

What I liked

I enjoyed the opportunity to meet other students and experience several different service lines such as audit, tax, and tech risk consulting.

What I wish was different

I would have loved to have had an extended experience to gain a better feel of the company and build meaningful relationships. It took some time getting used to but once I got the hang of it, the internship came to an end.

Advice

Try your best to socialize and don't allow fear or anxiety to control your voice. Everyone is learning and developing. You aren't chosen because you know everything but because you are teachable and willing to learn.

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Launch Intern

June - August 2021 • Boston, MA

What I liked

Outstanding work culture and people. Also learned how to use platforms such as Canva and Atlas.

What I wish was different

In-person format.

Advice

Ask questions, be engaged, and check-in with your manager constantly. They understand you're new and don't know how to do certain things.

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Auditing Intern

June - August 2021 • Boston, MA

What I liked

Hybrid work environment of my on line and in person work. Very welcoming culture

What I wish was different

I wish I had more exposure to different engagements

Advice

Make sure you ask plenty of questions

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Consulting Intern

June - August 2022 • New York City, NY

What I liked

Lots of opportunities for growth and great mentorship

What I wish was different

I wish there for more networking events

Advice

I would recommend networking within the company as much as possible during the internship

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Transaction Diligence Intern

June - July 2022 • Madrid, Madrid

What I liked

I loved the teamwork inside the firm. Everyone was open to helping me if I had questions and every task was very well explained. As I had to work n a big firm and department, people who weren't part of my team also helped me even if my teammates weren't available. I wasn't aware of the importance of working in teams until I worked here. For this reason, I now understand the importance of working in groups in class.

What I wish was different

I wasn't assigned to a team or project when I first entered the office. Therefore, I wasn't introduced to anyone working in the office and felt a little bit useless. Even though I had a bad start, I started to do my own networking within the office and made good connections before knowing my team. Moreover, I also did a lot of training sessions that were very useful for my future tasks.

Advice

Don't be scared to ask if you have doubts. If you have doubts about anything assigned to you, even though it may sound stupid, stand up and ask for help to your team members. They understood that I was not a professional and they helped me a lot when fulfilling a task. Also, when I asked about my doubts and they were resolved, that was when I learned the most from this experience.

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Account Auditor

May - August 2021 • Philadelphia, PA

What I liked

I loved the flexibility and experience of the job. I was treated like a real staff and then offered a position when I came back. Everyone was so nice and always offered to teach me new things. It was a welcoming environment and they paired us with advisors.