EY New Zealand Graduate Programs & Internships

What it does: One of the ‘Big Four’ global professional services organisations  

Staff stats: 300,000 spread across more than 700 offices in 150 countries

The good bits: Opportunities to learn, network, grow and move around within a huge company

The not so good bits: Long hours, especially during busy periods, bureaucracy

Hiring grads with degrees in: Business & Commerce, Engineering, Maths, IT & Computer Sciences; Finance, Accounting, Economics & Business Administration; Law & Legal Studies; Sciences; Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences; Medical & Health Sciences; Property & Built Environment; Teaching, Education & Human Welfare.

The EY story

EY started off in 1849 with the founding of Harding & Pullein in England. Since then, EY has gone through several iterations. In 1989, Ernst & Whinney, a descendant of Harding & Pullein and the world’s fourth-largest accountancy firm, merged with the world’s fifth-largest accountancy firm, Arthur Young, to create Ernst & Young. (In 2013 the name got shortened to EY).    

EY’s main service lines are Assurance, Tax, Strategy and Transactions, Consulting and Core Business Services. In contrast to its three major competitors, EY is not centrally managed. Rather it is organised into four regions: EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa), Americas, Asia-Pacific and Japan. Each region has the same business structure and its own Area Managing Partner. EY believes this arrangement allows it to more effective service its global clientele. The company has annual revenues in the neighbourhood of US$40 billion. 

Globally, EY has more than 300,000 clients and annual revenues in the neighbourhood of US$36 billion (NZ$55 billion). In New Zealand, EY has offices in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. 

The culture

EY believes that “diverse perspectives, combined with an inclusive culture, drive better decision-making, stimulate innovation, increase organisational agility and strengthen resilience to disruption”.

It lives up to that lofty rhetoric, having won a trophy cabinet worth of awards for being a great place to work from publications such as Forbes, BusinessWeek, Fortune and ComputerWorld. It’s also been lavished with recognition for its initiatives to further gender equality, disability inclusion and LGBTI advocacy.

Social contribution

EY has a well-earned reputation as a good corporate citizen. It backs programmes such as Entrepreneurial Winning Women and Strategic Growth Forum that, respectively, provide encouragement to female entrepreneurs and facilitate entrepreneurs from around the world meeting up to share their experiences. In 2019, EY invested almost US$113 million (NZ$170 million) in community-strengthening projects. In the same year, EY employees spent 745,000 hours working on community and charitable activities. 

The recruitment process

EY seeks to recruit talented people from diverse backgrounds. Ones who possess passion, curiosity and drive, that can help its clients navigate the complexities of this transformational digital age.

You’ll require a bachelor degree in an appropriate discipline with at least a pass average. EY recruits students from many different disciplines, including accounting and finance, business, commerce, economics, engineering, IT and information systems, law and science. Those with psychology and HR degrees are encouraged to apply for the People Advisory Services team.

The process begins by going to the company website to fill out an online application and undertake cognitive and behavioural testing. The next step is to attend an assessment centre to undertake a group activity and interview (expect to have to deal with case-study scenarios and demonstrate industry knowledge).

Remuneration

Remuneration is on par with the other ‘Big Four’ graduate programmes, with salaries in the $50-70,000 range. There are attractive leave arrangements, including generous parental leave, the ability to purchase up to six weeks of extra annual leave and the option to take three months’ unpaid leave to enjoy a ‘career break’. There are flexible working arrangements and discounts on an extensive range of goods and services. EY will pay for or subsidise training and professional memberships. It also has a well-resourced health and wellbeing program that includes free flu shots and cheap gym memberships.

Career prospects

Unlock your potential through customised learning, experience of the latest technologies, and receive the personal support you need to reach your career goals. Globally, EY invests US$500 ($NZ758) million a year informal learning programmes for its staff. EY wants to be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution. To achieve this, it’s doing everything possible to facilitate employees acquiring “future-focused skills such as data visualisation, data science and AI”. 

Rather than annual performance reviews, EY managers provide “ongoing feedback that fuels meaningful dialogue about your career, development and performance”. 

Given the size of the business, there are always job opportunities coming up both domestically and internationally. EY sees its greatest asset being “high-performing teams”. If you’re a high performer and a team player you can expect to rise through the ranks from staffer to senior to manager to senior manager to partner to director.    

After a few years’ service, you can apply to work at EY offices across New Zealand and throughout the world. 

The vibe of the place

Being one of 300,000 people in one of the world’s largest businesses means you have to deal with bureaucracy. That noted, EY does what it can to make its people feel valued, in particular by providing the training and coaching they need to advance their careers. It’s a high-performance culture but teamwork is encouraged and most people find the workplace friendly and supportive.

Overall satisfaction rating among grad employees: 3.7 stars

From the Employer

Why choose your organisation?

We're change agents and entrepreneurs. Performance improvers and problem solvers. Data scientists and game changers. Risk managers and confidence builders. Disruptors and visionaries of tomorrow. We’re 300,000 global perspectives ready to welcome yours. 

Here at EY, you’ll build a legacy. You’ll grow your skillset and expand your mindset. You’ll ask better questions to get bet answers. You’ll focus your intelligence and imagination on the most crucial, complex issues facing business, government and society today. And every day you will help build a better working world. With access to on-demand learning, formal training, coaching and real time feedback to help shape your career and prepare you for the future.

The EY exceptional experience. It’s yours to build.

Career Compass Programme

How can undiscovered opportunities help you discover your best self? Discover your direction with the EY Career Compass Programme. During our structured learning sessions, you’ll learn how to evaluate your career options to make smarter decisions for your future. The Career Compass Programme experience is designed to give you a first-hand experience of EY, so you can find out as much about us as possible about EY people, culture, how EY teams operate and provide services, and most importantly, how we can help you to build your future. Demonstrate that you’re a high achiever, and you may be invited to interview for the EY Internship Programme.

Internship Programme

You want an internship that’s more than a line on a resume. You want an experience, a challenge and a launchpad for lifelong relationships and career growth. You can find that here. 

Throughout the programme, you’ll hit the ground running with dedicated on-the-job training, coaching and technology onboarding. You’ll work alongside EY professionals on real clients – right now. You’ll get the opportunity to be immersed in EY culture, network with EY people, and experience the transformative work done for EY clients. Plus, the best bit is, if you impress us, we might offer you a permanent position after you graduate.

Graduate Programme

Where do you start if you want to change the world? You start right here. Join us full-time as a graduate and we’ll help you achieve your career goals with continuous support, learning and experiences. We’ll propel you forward so you can start to build the future you want immediately. You’ll enjoy early responsibility, expand your network and build your skills. Just imagine the confidence you’ll gain through new experiences with leading clients in different industries. You’ll get to work with experienced professionals who’ll guide you to be your best. After all, we want to help you be the best you can be, because when you shine, we do too.