Ernst & Young Reviews

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time for more than a year

Pros – Considerate management and people development focus

Cons – Lots of procedures. Systems are difficult to navigate.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Ernst & Young full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good staff members to work with especially since they are within your age. You also get to learn about many different industries by working on different clients. New environments through client sites can be fun compared to staying in the same office every day. There is room to grow within the company, but the experience you gain can land you jobs within the industry.

Cons – Tasks can become menial. The type of stigma that audit has starts to dawn on you, and you realize you are doing some of the corporate dirty work that no one really wants to do. Clients pay you to audit them, but it does not mean they like having you around to increase their workload. Seniors and above are all looking out for themselves, understandably of course. The hours are godly especially during busy season. Everyone is stressed trying to get work done by quarter and year's end.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time for less than a year

Pros – Learning and exposure to various clients

Cons – long Hours, over worked people and underpay

Advice to Senior Management – Require work and life balance

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Ernst & Young full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – I spent 22 years at E&Y and for the most part it was a great experience. Benefits are excellent. I was fairly compensated and advanced throughout my career based my own merit and accomplishments. There is a defined benefit retirement plan, (which is getting very rare in private business) plus 401(k) with match that are very valuable and the basis of a comfortable retirement that I now enjoy. E&Y had very flexible work arrangements, good vacation policies (3 weeks to start), excellent equal opportunities for women, LGBT and all people. I spend many happy and productive years there and am grateful for the experience and proud of my own success and achievements there.

Cons – Business is business. It is a grave mistake to assume that any large business in any difficult financial environment is concerned about the individual employee, but there still may be policies that are beneficial to all employees and that was very true for E&Y. Financial hard times bring swift cost cutting and reductions in staff. Out large global IT department was significantly reduced in the recession in 2009 and many people were laid off, including very senior people, Directors, Associate Directors, many long term employees and older workers, several categories that I fit into and I was also laid off after 20+ years at over 60 years old with very slim prospects for future employment. That, however, was not specific to E&Y. I am realistic about it and because of their good retirement benefits and my own planning for retirement, I was able to truly retire, which for younger people with young families was not the cast. My advice to everyone: be serious and SAVE FOR RETIREMENT!

Advice to Senior Management – The core business of E&Y is strong and I was not directly involved in it, but supported it. I cannot comment on that. The back office world of IT, benefits, retirement, HR, finance was always susceptible to fluctuation in the larger economy, that in some cases, caused reductions that did not turn out to be very beneficial to the firm in either the short or long term. I recommend taking a long view of the value and contributions and working chemistry of any department before cutting it arbitrarily to reduce current cost.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great newtorking, work with smart people, challenging work

Cons – Work life balance isnt too great sometimes

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Work is challenging and rewarding
Great teaming with others

Cons – Work life balance, lack of focus on mentoring

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time for less than a year

Pros – Great leaders
Learning opportunity
Diversity
Overall great place to work,

Cons – Hours
Health benefit
Working with outsourcing people

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time

Pros – Team members work together really well to acheive the goals. All of the management is very personable and easy to speak with and receive feedback from.

Cons – Technology changes are very slow in coming. Sometimes work life balance is a bit harder to acheive.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Ernst & Young

Pros – good place to start a career

Cons – LONG hours, tough work/life balance

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Ernst & Young full-time for more than a year

Pros – 1) The diversified staffing group. With the DSG, there are two things that happen, that are pretty cool.
a) You yourself know that if you don't like a particular job, you aren't necessarily stuck doing it.
b) Other people for the most part are interested in helping you find a group you like.

2) Great culture for coaching, learning, training, and teaming.

3) For a Big 4 firm, many people are willing to work with you on flexibility.

Cons – 1) Like all the Big 4 firms, the hours become rough at times. Even with work-life balance, there is a LOT of work.

2) With the diversified staffing group, staff and seniors can experience rolling out of one busy season directly into another with no breaks.

3) While compensation is a good solid start compared to most majors, it's not the top in absolute terms, and when you start looking on a per hour basis, it's not very competitive. This is mostly a Big 4 issue, though.

Advice to Senior Management – Find a way to spread the workload better. There are some people who are consistently over 100% utilized (and maybe part of the reason is that they are the most desirable employees), but over-utilization burns people out, and there are other employees to smooth out the opportunities for.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company