Ernst & Young Reviews in Chicago, IL Area

Pros

THE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE. I guarantee you it does not get better than at E&Y, great culture and work environment.

Cons

Takes forever to get promoted, not a meritocracy, pay is low for the comparable hours you put in...that being said, partners make a fair amount for the amount of hours they work

Advice to Senior Management

The model doesn't compensate junior people for the amount of work they put in which is why I moved to another job with a higher pay and similar hours

Pros

Benefits are good. The people here are actually respectful and professionally polished. You learn a lot about professional polish. As a young professional, I was exposed to business issues/contacts that most people in private industry are not aware of. Great learning experiences. Putting this job on your resume is definitely very marketable.

Cons

Hardly any work life balance. Because of the high turnover rates, you're expected to work at a level that is very unrealistic (both due to experience and time restrictions). Most people here work 50-70 hour work weeks every week, regardless of rank. Deadlines can be pretty unrealistic and tight. A lot of high intensity and pressure in this field.

Pros

A very cohesive team environment
Learning curve is very steep
Flexibility in work and outside of work to engage in other activities

Cons

HR is slow at times to react and therefore there is a possibility to lose the best talent to competitors

Advice to Senior Management

Continue emphasizing the flexibility offered to employees and do some more research in competitor compensation, especially in advisory areas to ensure employees are fairly compensated.

Pros

There are ample opportunities to grow and continue learning at Ernst and Young. I have never had an issue when needing to take time off.

Cons

The hours are horrendous even for public accounting standards. Management can either be supportive or can make your life harder - just depends on who you work with.

Advice to Senior Management

Management should be more grateful for all the amount of hours and stress that those below them put up with, especially because sometimes the stress is caused by them and is unnecessary.

Pros

Flexible work environment to balance out long hours (depends on the team you work for).
Endless opportunities to transfer geographically and across departments if you perform well.
Lots of extracurricular activity: affinity groups, social groups, sports teams.
Steep learning curve and plenty of fun trainings.
Great high profile and small clients. Chance to interact with all levels from day one.
Per diem for traveling and team lunches/outings.
Collegiate environment with strong mentor/counselor programs.
Always striving to be a "best place to work"

Cons

Potentially long and even longer hours. Don't be afraid to push back within reason.
Can be very political depending on which group you're in.
Seniors and up aren't always held accountable for developing staff.
Sometimes more talk than walk and offices aren't consistently implementing same ideas.
Pressure to maintain high utilization or hours.

Advice to Senior Management

Hold people accountable for developing others and create a meaningful performance management system. During busy seasons make time for people to write solid reviews to avoid rush of compliance deadline. Be upfront about all issues and don't reward high performers based solely on technical competence.

Be a trailblazer in developing initiatives rather than reacting to competitor firms.

Pros

- the people are friendly, and smart
- the senior management is open to fresher ideas from lower staff

Cons

- a stronger communication between technical people on the background of system, and the users of internal systems could benefit the company.

Advice to Senior Management

- a stronger communication between technical people on the background of system, and the users of internal systems could benefit the company.

Pros

average compensation is a bit more lucrative in public accounting and a very clear career progression because the ladder of promotions and corresponding pay raises will be laid out right in front during annual reviews

Cons

Post Busy Season Stress Disorder and loss of work/life balance

Pros

Global firm, lot of exposure, knowledge sharing and resources, very professional.

Cons

Not objective in performance reviews, promotions not always based on performance, lot of appearances without actual substance.

Pros

Good company, lots of opportunities to try to new things. Flexibility is promoted and they're open to different types of people.

Cons

A lot of hours, can get very clicquey, stressful. If you don't do well, you won't get fired but your comp/raise will suck and that's how they weed people out.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more up front about performance. If someone is doing a bad job, tell them to get their act together or they'll get let go. Don't not say anything and then hope they'll leave. Coz that's what makes the good people who stick around bear the burden of picking up the slack.. and eventually, the good people leave.

Pros

Benefits, work life balance, very friendly atmosphere from the top down, lots of socializing for younger staffers, flexible working arrangements (work from home or multiple offices), top notch technologies available for employees to utilize, best on going training I've received.

Cons

The worst thing I can say about E&Y is that I sometimes felt frustrated because some of my colleagues doing my same job did not pull their weight. Other than that, EY was by far the best place I have ever had the fortunate experience to work at.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the great work. It was my pleasure working at EY! I cannot say enough great things about the company, I had such a wonderful experience.