Bright Network member Shaheen recently secured a Graduate Audit Associate role at Big Four Professional Services firm EY. We caught up with her in a break from studying Maths and Economics at the University of Leeds to find out about the assessment centre.
At the EY assessment centre there were a number of different parts, including group tasks, individual tasks, numerical and verbal tests and finally a partner interview.
I had already done an internship with EY over the summer in the Audit department, plus had met them at various campus events during university. Having that experience of the company made it a lot easier for me to explain exactly why I wanted to work there and also gave me a greater understanding of what EY were looking for when it came to my assessment centre.
On the day
For me the individual task was the toughest part of the day, which involved reading a booklet of 25-30 pages then writing a report and email about it. We only got 40 minutes to do this, so it was incredibly time pressured. You just had to trust your ability and go for it.
On the other hand, I actually really enjoyed my partner interviews as they were with really lovely people. I was made to feel very comfortable. The partner interview was even more relaxed than the phone ones that I had done previously!
Being myself
Before attending the day, I made sure to brush up on everything I knew about EY and also any news in the industry that would affect Audit. From that point on, it’s important to be genuine and confident in your own ability.
I really wanted to work at EY and I knew this is what they were looking to see at the assessment centre. They already know you're good because you've got through the online application and telephone interview, so they're keen to find out what you're like as a person.