Company: EY
Date: 2008-06-24
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former

EY - a great place to start your career.
Pros: As a new college graduate in accounting, you probably will not get better experience than working for one of the big 4 accounting firms. While all the firms offer virtually the same experience for the accounting graduates, what differentiates E&Y from the other firms really is the people who you get to work with. In my experience, the people at E&Y were not just smart and driven, but they were all really cool and down to earth kids who wanted to have a good time. On the career side, the client base you have can access is very strong and will position you to get valuable experience should you decide to leave the firm and make the transition to a career in private industry. You work with very bright people who will challenge you and as a result contribute to your professional growth - things that in my experience in industry, are not as prevalent. You will also be shocked to see how many of the people you work with actually become some of your best friends down the road.
Cons: The only down side in working in public accounting is the hours. You will not have a social life. There are times when I worked for 45 days STRAIGHT and pulled 85 to 100+ hours per week. You need to go in knowing that this will be the norm. But this is the case for ALL of the big 4 accounting firms, its not inherent to E&Y. You could be lucky and have a great client load where the hours are not demanding, but just be prepared to work the hardest you've ever worked in your life. However with that being said, I don't regret the hours or work I did. It definitely contributed to where I am at now.