How to join the famous audit firm EY for an internship? What do you need to know to succeed in the recruitment process? Business Cool went to meet business school interns to answer all your questions regarding recruitment. Victor, student at Grenoble EM and former intern at EY Luxembourg, told us all the secrets of the firm which is part of the Big Four.
EY is considered one of the most prestigious financial auditing firms. It is the third largest firm in the world in terms of turnover. It is one of the Big Four, alongside KPMG, PwC and Deloitte, firms very popular with Grandes Écoles students.
Victor’s journey
Can you present your journey?
I obtained an ES baccalaureate, specializing in political science. I turned to an ENS Cachan prep course which is in a way a hybrid course, since I took half of the courses at the University of Lille 1, in economics and management, and the other half at the Gaston Berger high school in Lille.
Following these two years, I was lucky enough to be admitted to Grenoble EM in the first year of PGE. In my second year, I followed the English Track course in the first semester, where I had all of my courses in English. For my second semester, I opted for the ECAF course (accounting and financial auditing), allowing me to deepen my knowledge in accounting, corporate and market finance, financial auditing, etc.
For my gap year, I did my first internship at EY Luxembourg as a financial auditor responsible for industrial and commercial companies. I subsequently completed my second internship at CIC Lyonnaise de Banque for the position of Large Corporate Credit Analyst. Currently, I am finishing my last year of master’s degree, still in the ECAF course.
Recruitment processes at EY Luxembourg
How did the recruitment processes go at EY?
Recruitment processes may differ from country to country. For my part, I had to go through three recruitment phases. I first applied on the company website by sending my CV and cover letter (in English) to the EY Luxembourg HR team.
My profile caught their interest and I was contacted by HR with whom I had a motivational interview lasting around thirty minutes. She asked me questions about EY, about my motivations regarding the profession of auditor and about my professional and academic career. It is during this stage that HR judges your ability and determination to join their ranks, and whether the company culture is in line with your personality and your expectations.
I subsequently took the online logic tests. Once this step was validated, I was invited to take my interviews remotely, an opportunity for me to prove myself and meet members of the commercial and industrial company sector.
The last step mainly consisted of an interview with an auditor manager who looks more specifically at your technical knowledge. It is therefore important to review the concepts of accounting and finance in advance so as not to be taken by surprise on the big day.
The internship at EY Luxembourg
How did your internship go? Have you noticed a difference between the image you had of EY and the reality?
Before starting my internship, I knew that such a sector required a lot of adaptability, speed, as well as a certain resistance and that audit experiences were as intense as they were interesting. So I was prepared for a fairly heavy workload.
During my six months of internship, I had the opportunity to work on different themes with several seniors (and managers), each with very different management techniques. This allowed me to strengthen my adaptability and my knowledge of sectors that were completely unknown to me (industry, e-commerce, business services, telecommunications, investment funds, etc.).
At the end of my experience, I left having acquired a wide variety of knowledge about different sectors. I was also pleasantly surprised by the cosmopolitan aspect and cultural richness within EY’s Luxembourg offices, which included more than 60 different nationalities.
What is a typical day like at EY?
There wasn’t really a typical day. Generally, I arrived at the office in the morning between 8 and 9 a.m. Evening hours can vary greatly. They mainly depended on the progress of my missions.
Sometimes my days were punctuated by travel. It all depended on the progress of the audit and the clients I was working with. Some preferred that the operational team (assistants and seniors) spend a good part of the week at home, while others opted for remote collaboration.
What were your missions during this internship at EY Luxembourg?
I was able to work for a dozen clients in various sectors (mainly commercial and industrial companies). I was responsible, among other things, for assisting the teams in carrying out audits, from their interim phase until the signing of the accounts. I ensured the completeness and veracity of the documents provided by clients. Following this, I had to extract the information provided and process it in order to carry out an analytical review.
I was also responsible for carrying out interviews with customers in order to obtain documentation, additional information or to carry out process reviews. Finally, I carried out control and transaction tests on the different categories of accounts.
Why did you go to Luxembourg for your internship at EY?
To tell the truth, I hadn’t thought about Luxembourg initially, but it was while talking with alumni from my school that the idea of applying came to me. I have no regrets since I discovered a country with an excellent quality of life and which, for me, is a very good example of “living together” thanks to its cosmopolitan dimension, animated by different cultures and nationalities. Furthermore, the fact of being shared in an apartment of 6 people with 4 different nationalities allowed me to have an excellent time and to interact with people from all over Europe.
Audit professions
Why did you choose the profession of auditor?
Mainly in order to expand my business culture as quickly as possible, while consolidating my accounting and analytical skills. It is indeed a job where you discover different sectors and where you touch on various themes. You also have the opportunity to progress quickly since it is a good career accelerator, where you benefit from continuing training.
Furthermore, audit firms have an excellent digital culture. They work in projects with very advanced tools and are gradually integrating AI.
Advice for successful EY recruitment processes
Any final advice for those who want to apply to EY in audit?
My advice for joining EY is mainly to show in an interview that you like working in a team and that you are adaptable to all situations. You obviously need to have a minimum of knowledge in accounting and auditing or at least an appetite for this world. Another point which may seem secondary, but which is very important, is the fact of mastering and knowing Excel shortcuts well.
My last advice is to first go through an internship before applying for a permanent contract, in order to acquire the audit codes and become familiar with the company’s internal software.
