Company: EY
Date: 2013-11-19
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Good starter job, depends on career goals
Pros: After 2 years here I realize that it was really nice to work with young people who are in the same stage of life and are equally as talented.  The social network is great.  There is also plenty of experience to be had if you get above the details every once in a while.  Most of what you learn is PCAOB rules if that's all you look for.  I was lucky enough to get on some jobs where I had plenty of responsibility and my superiors really respected my work.  I think I learned a lot about finance and accounting, which I hope will translate into future jobs.
Cons: If you don't plan to go partner route or jump into industry accounting, this is only a good job for about 2-4 years.  It just depends on how you value your personal time, what teams you get on, how you enjoy (tolerate) the work, and what you plan to do after.  The culture of working long hours just to keep up appearances is garbage in my mind, and I avoided that at all costs.  I also didn't appreciate being the "auditor" -- calling people out on their mistakes all the time.  Most importantly, I hated that most of what I did didn't matter in the end.  Its all regulatory and doesn't add value.  Also, pay is really low in the first years, doesn't pay off till after manager.  Expect to be underpaid by 10-20K compared to your peers with similar professional experience and work longer hours.  Lastly, PCAOB has EY in a stranglehold right now.  Expect more checklists, more useless procedures, more documentation.