Ernst & Young

"I loved working for the profession as a generalist, and following the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand I worked in regulatory affairs and service development in response to major legislative and economic reforms (e.g. Anti-Money Laundering, Auditor Independence and ASX Corporate Governance, Carbon pricing, CLERP 9, Finance Function Effectiveness, Private Equity, US Sarbanes-Oxley, etc). The profession excels at responding to complex reforms and market leaders adopt this tactic to gain the high ground on new opportunities with multiple touch-points across the firm, as well as significantly reduce cost of sales and contain risk around the auditor’s expanding scope-of-service and client messaging. It’s a centralised business function (i.e. your client is the firm) with each campaign lasting 6 to 18 months and I was also Head of Research with a team of equity analysts. At EY I was also an equity partner (i.e. an employer and not an employee) and suffered a work travel injury which left me with permanent radiculopathy, atrophy and pain management. I attempted to return to work on restricted duties, and around the same time against a backdrop of failing Federal legislation my immediate managing partner insisted that I start to deliver fee-paying services (i.e. audit, tax, advisory related services). In my opinion, from experience in regulatory affairs, that would have been a breach of professional standards as all fee-for-service staff must have specific qualifications and experience (and clients) to deliver audit and other services, albeit the profession is largely self-regulated. I was eventually expelled from the partnership and served with a debt even though I was not medically cleared to return to my own occupation, and had to go through the Supreme Court twice to secure access to the EY medical insurance policies. That was a 12-year battle and I never worked in any vocation or employment again as offers were simply withdrawn after a medical assessment. The moral of the story is firstly, if you suffer a work injury make sure that your prescribed work/medical restrictions are recorded at the highest level in the firm, especially if you attempt to return to work before getting medical clearance; secondly, don’t assume that the partnership will “carry their wounded” or even recognise your work/medical restrictions; thirdly, don’t assume that a new employer will take on your medical risk if your restrictions affect a key aspect of your own occupation; fourthly, the partnership can require you to “bend the rules” regarding professional standards which your moral compass might not agree with, but that objection can carry a significant career penalty; and fifthly, the pressure to “fall on one’s sword” is huge in a partnership and whilst family support is hopefully a given, what is essential is a trusted career mentor or two that understand the profession (i.e. culture, APES110, KPIs, etc) including someone not affiliated with the partnership. Good luck - the profession is great but the leadership qualities vary enormously."

"Good work place, flexible work timings, decent projects, very good learnings "

"Culture is heavily dependent on each project and team. It's important for every person to be ready and equipped to be an equitable leader, and while EY has made steps to ensure that, it's an uphill effort for a company in a mostly conservative field."

"Overall great culture and awesome people. Pay is nothing for how much value you bring and hours worked."

"Great flexibility to work around your kids schedules but I often end up working after their bedtimes so make up the work. Also, the pay is not great for non-client serving roles and bonuses are non-existent."