Company: EY
Date: 2013-09-26
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Awesome place to work - if you know what you're getting into.
Pros: Smart, hard working people. Lots of variety and a lot of different directions to take your career. The caveat is that you have to be smart and hard working as well; some people definitely can't keep up and there is no place for them; the get "counseled out". 

There is enough demand to hold on to talent that you generally get asked what you want to work on, vs. being told and getting stuck on crappy clients. The obvious exception is that if you've demonstrated a lack of talent; prior to being counseled out, you generally get stuck on terrible engagements because nobody wants to work with you (because their 60 hr weeks turn into 80 hr weeks, for having to pick up your slack).
Cons: Technology is fragmented, and sucks quite frankly. It's (slowly) getting better, e.g. I'm seeing more web based tools instead of crappy macro infested spreadsheets. 

Comp is lower than other Big4, and generally lower than corporate exit ops. Work/life usually sucks, despite the cheery words, although leadership seems to genuinely care and make an effort to alleviate that stress. I see my fair share of spot bonuses, steak dinners, and team outings. 

In order to earn higher than average ratings, you can't just excel at your work - you can earn 4s / 5s on your client work, and still earn a 3 rating if you don't participate in recruiting events, don't make sales, etc.