Ernst & Young Reviews in Singapore, Singapore Area

Pros

friendly environment, transparent policies, good future prospects. the culture there was great; the company seemed to be focused primarily on results and not the level of effort its employees put in.

Cons

mundane; i found the work repetitive after working there for a while. decided to move on to try new things. i regularly got the same client assignments and as a result found myself doing the same things over and over again.

Advice to Senior Management

overall, i thought management was great in the sense that the were fair and always open to new ideas. my quibbles were mainly with the nature of the job and the accounting profession as a whole.

Pros

Good place to learn about your chosen field.

Cons

Little work life balance, no respect from partners and benefits poor compared to other big 4 in Singapore.

Advice to Senior Management

Partners should pay more attention to staff welfare and take home less as many staff are using the firm as a learning place only and will leave as soon as possible.

Pros

Brand recognition in CV. Good nice office + location but it feels like a prison.

Cons

Claim OT, but don't expect to utilize. Job scope = audit senior + PA to managers.

Pros

Time off for overtime still given if you insist on it. Work environment less competitive compared to pwc, less support for further studies compared to DT, and less work hours compared to KPMG. More friendly and less formal in dressing.
Get to work with partners who are big savers in day-to-day living standards, and learn to save from day 1, which helps to cultivate a good way to love - a lot in saving up for big ticket items.

Cons

After sub-prime and some seeming merger/combination with China, for an outsider, it seemed like risk profile of firm has changed, after high profile cases reported on newspaper during sub-prime. Based on media's reporting of a few cases, it may seem like the firm is experiencing more risk, less returns. More money going to only China, not South-east asia region, or for other unknown reasons, firm is experiencing less pay compared to competing firms.

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing. Hire a better consultant, seriously, reconsider long term impact and risk of current strategy.

Pros

Great pay in times of good market since they would want to retain staff and this is the only way they always choose to do it.

Cons

No time for family. So not recommended for women with family/children committments. No time for personal development. There's always the time charging (applies to all big 4 and consultancy firms) where you will always be questioned over why there are all the "inefficiencies". There's generally a lot of negative vibes in such places so unless you want exposure to better career opportunities and $, don't join!

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the voices / feedback of your employees. Don't fill your management structure with layers and layers more of partners!

Pros

Decent name to have on your CV and allows opportunities for developing skills. For instance, being given a chance to lead client presentations and meetings within 2 months of being employed and also being given proposals to complete entirely on your own

Cons

Extremely long hours nearing deadlines due to poor management in the Non-Financial Services Performance Improvement arm. No structured training programme and little guidance while working on projects.

Advice to Senior Management

The leadership needs to take a strategic direction and work towards an outcome. Also, the decisions on whom to employ for positions such as manager and above need to be more critical. For instance, is someone with a Masters in Counselling or a Masters in British Languages going to be able to contribute to a management consulting practice?

Pros

There are selected opportunities for those who are able to work competently. Gd staff welfare like weekly fruits n night snacks sponsored during "peak period". Talented middle management that one can learn from. Equally capable colleagues makes it a competive yet friendly place to work in. Establish global brand name.

Cons

Management tend to overdrive the staff. Average work week is more than 65hrs. Hence no work life balance. Sometimes management have a tendency to not give credit, recognition, rewards (bonuses) as due.

Advice to Senior Management

Current changes in the performance appraisal system is making progress. More ownership of this new appraisal system by the middle management (who r often the counsellors) is important in cascading the culture of coaching in place. 360 feedback for managers n partners are necessary to weed out terrorizing managers who often lead to higher staff attritions.

Pros

EY generally has great bosses and as they preach, there is indeed the "People First" culture. Great opportunities and exposure and the management do listen to your needs unlike the other big 4 i used to work for. On the whole, would still recommend new joiners to join as there is a lot which can be learnt from the partners (they are very willing to share their knowledge and experience!! :-) )

Cons

The recent FEA and administration can be overwhelming. The targets set for employees are also, to a certain extend, UNREALISTIC!

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to understand that unrealistic targets will not help both the employee and company achieve anything.

Pros

A lot of exposure on different sort of projects available, fairly good and transparent career development path, supporting and friendly working environment, united team.

Cons

can be stressful and with some long hours working day being normal, weekend can be involved for work, low bonuses genenrally, low benefit package, low starting pay

Advice to Senior Management

More attractive compensation package to retain staff, work and life balance, more efficient IT and admin department, simplified QRM should be used.

Pros

Good place to learn new things. Bossess tend to be supportive if you need to take time out for xxx reason. Its a good place to meet different clients from different industries. Allows you to "jump" around if you want to change jobs.

Cons

The workload and the pressure to deliver can be daunting. As you progress through ranks , you are expected to deal in both sales and project delivery. Fixed services such as audit may be easier for sales (but harsh for project delivery) while those in the consultancy area can be very tough as you have to go out and secure new deals all the time. However the sales does not translate into commissions.

Advice to Senior Management

There are too many partners and directors around. While it may be to help gain market share, but in times like this , market share is limited.