When it comes to your future, do you really want to waste time? From July 1, Ernst & Young are accepting early applications for our placements, internships and insights days.

A different approach

At Ernst & Young, we provide assurance and advice to companies ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to major multinationals. But what makes us so different isn’t just the size and scope of our global business; it’s the value we place on the strengths and abilities of the people we recruit. Our goal is to help students find careers they’re suited to; ones that they’re naturally good at. We developed the Strengths Factor game to give students an innovative – and interesting- way to find out more about themselves and what working with Ernst & Young is really all about. It’s interactive, fun and only takes a few minutes to finish.

Our game is a starting point that tests your ability to organise and multi-task as well as your persistence, mental agility, awareness and logic. The result is a profile of your strengths – which can help you look at your career options in a new and positive light.

Looking for potential, not just achievement

When you’re at university, you spend a lot of time focusing on a particular discipline or field. Your achievements are important, but finding out you have other abilities can be refreshing. We want to introduce you to opportunities you might not have thought about, or even just dismissed outright. At Ernst & Young, your strengths can help you start a career with us now.

Visit us and try out the Strengths Factor game. Don’t forget you can apply to our internships, scholarships and insight days from July 1.

To find out more and to apply from 1st July, click the button below!

Ernst & Young Placements and Internships

We are all aware of the high levels of graduate unemployment and the rising costs of attending university.

It’s not all bad though!  An article in Personnel Today discusses how important undergraduate work experience is, both for students and employers. Maria Floud, senior graduate recruitment manager at accountancy firm Grant Thornton, states that the increase in university fees is making employers reflect on their schemes and realise how important it is to attract students from an earlier age.

“The internship model used as a key pipeline to the graduate programme is very successful. We recently won the ‘Best Placement and Internship’ award by Rate My Placement, due to the focus we put on ensuring this programme to find great talent earlier on.”

Congratulations to Grant Thornton and thanks for our mention – hopefully this will give employers and students the oomph and encouragement to undertake a placement or internship scheme  :)

If you’re a student there is still time to grab a placement or internship this summer so check out the opportunities on http://www.ratemyplacement.co.uk/search

We are also interested to hear your thoughts so drop us a line with your comments below.

Thanks,

The RateMyPlacement Team

Bi-monthly, the Financial Services Skills Council ask employers, professional bodies and trade organisations to respond to a question which has been asked by careers practitioners.

January’s question focuses on what a student should do if they have been unable to secure an internship within the sector, what type of skills building activities would employers want to see on their CV, which would enable them to compete for graduate jobs vacancies equally against other students who have completed internships?

If you are interested in the finance sector..these hints and tips from the likes of HSBC, ACCA, and ICAEW may well be worth a read!

It is certainly true that more people that have done an internship are successful in getting a graduate role. However what is important is the student demonstrates that they have the essential underlying qualities: - Experience of dealing with customers- particularly in solving their problems - Experience of working with others and leading a particular task - An ability to talk about the sector’s challenges – and evidence of reading any quality paper. John Morewood, Senior Graduate Recruitment and Development Manager, HSBC Bank Plc -www.jobs.hsbc.co.uk/14-en/HSBC.aspx

At RSA we would like to see students take part in activities that: - Enable them to develop their team building skills, so they can demonstrate how their individual effort made a difference - Help them to understand their learning and leadership style, so to demonstrate self awareness and how people react differently to situations - Support them in developing skills to overcome objections, so to demonstrate the ability to listen and identify the issues - Enable them to practice their communication and assertiveness.Taking part in activities which enable students to develop and put skills into practice will support students in competing for a graduate role even when they have not obtained an internship. Libby Morgan ACII, Chartered Insurer, Personal Lines Trader, RSA - www.rsagroup.com/rsa/pages/careers/careershome

There are many different activities a student can take part in to help build key skills that need to be demonstrated during interviews with employers. Key skills vital to a successful career as an accountant, or indeed in any business role include; communication, commercial awareness, team work and co-operation, numeracy, leadership and self management. As well as these key skills, employers are also looking for a number of other personal attributes. The following will be useful to think about when planning your applications and preparing for interviews; personal motivation and commitment, creativity and flexibility, planning and organization, and problem solving. If you are unable to secure an internship in the sector, you can demonstrate your understanding of these skills by taking part in activities such as business games run by the professional bodies or employers at your school or university, or by taking an active role as a member of a student society.. There are also many employer workshops on offer, which cover everything from advice on how to write your CVs and applications to developing your presentation skills, these are not only a great way to find out more about the employers and professional qualifications on offer, but a chance to enhance your communication and presentation skills. If you have travelled, taking a gap year or planning to take a gap year, think about the life experiences that you are gaining and how some of these are relevant to your future work career, or if you have a part-time job you should be able to show your commitment, time management and communication skills whether it’s retail or bar work or office based roles. Participating in activities such as Young Enterprise are also enhancing skills and business knowledge. The ICAEW also offer qualifications such as the Certificate in Finance, Accounting and Business (CFAB) which can act as an entry route to the ACA. CFAB is open to all, regardless of academic background or experience. The things you will learn are highly relevant in many business sectors. CFAB provides an essential understanding of the fundamentals of finance, accounting and business. CFAB can be completed in less than 12 months alongside your university or school courses. The modules include: business and finance; management information; accounting (compulsory); law; assurance and principles of taxation. These modules also make up the knowledge exams of the ACA qualification, so you can go to an employer being part qualified for the ACA. All of these activities will help you to stand out from other students, think about the relevance of your experiences and how they apply to the roles you are considering. Louise Mason, Marketing Manager, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – www.icaew.com/careers

In the current economic conditions, it’s important to maximise your employability skills and being commercially aware is a skill that all graduates, regardless of degree, need to achieve. When you go to interviews or assessment centres, employers want to test your knowledge on a range of things including the job you are applying for, the organisation and its operations, the business sectors and competitors that operate within it, and your general understanding of the business environment. ACCA has developed a series of articles and podcasts that focus on the elements that make up commercial awareness and how to apply this to different employment sectors. You can download the podcasts from our website at www.accaglobal.com/graduates/media/commercial. You should also try to demonstrate an interest in your chosen career or profession by joining a student society at university, such as Bright Futures, and participating in graduate promotional activities. Joining ACCA’s Accelerate Lite scheme is a good way to stay ahead of the competition and develop the knowledge you need to show employers that you’re serious about a career in accountancy. It’s free to join Accelerate and as a member you can access a range of services designed to keep you up-to-date with accountancy news, trends and graduate jobs. These skills building activities will not only help you get that first graduate job, but they can also help you understand more about the type of career you may want to embark on and the kinds of organisations you want to work for. Laura Murphy, Head of Student Business Relationships, ACCA – www.uk.accaglobal.com

If you have failed to get an internship for this summer – don’t panic! As you can see there are other options out there!

Bi-monthly, the Financial Services Skills Council ask employers, professional bodies and trade organisations to respond to a question which has been asked by careers practitioners.

If you are interested in the finance sector..these hints and tips from the likes of HSBC, ACCA, and Citi may well be worth a read!

There really is one mistake that candidates make: insufficient preparation. These can be broken down into: 1. Lack of preparation; Interviewers want to know how well you are going to fit in to an organisation. Applicants need to think of examples which demonstrate this. 2. Prepare examples which are in 3 parts – describe the situation you were dealing with, what you did and what the results were (try to quantify results in terms of task, team and individual). 3. Candidates should think of examples where what you did didn’t go so well; the key thing is what you learnt from the process. John Morewood, Senior Graduate Recruitment & Development Manager, HSBC BANK PLC, www.jobs.hsbc.co.uk/14-en/HSBC.aspx

Applying for jobs is hard work, so once you get that first interview it’s really important that you make the most of the opportunity to show how capable you are in person. Unfortunately, some candidates let themselves down at interview. There are many reasons why this happens, but the top three mistakes made in interviews – and how to avoid them – are: 1. Failure to Prepare – you must undertake some research before the interview and show an awareness of the organisation, the business sector and current issues, and the role you are applying for. 2. Poor Communication – you need to answer questions concisely and succinctly, prepare for the difficult questions and respond to them in a positive way, and ask your own questions to find out more. 3. Lack of Personal Branding – you should be smartly dressed, use appropriate body language, and ensure that everything you say and do is individual to you, authentic and consistent. Once you build up experience and confidence in these areas, the standard of your interviews will improve and so will your chances of getting that job. Laura Murphy, Head of Student Business Relationships, ACCA UK – www.uk.accaglobal.com

The three key mistakes which candidates make in an interview situation are: 1. Insufficient preparation – not researching the organisation in any depth. Company websites make doing this research easy. 2. Not being sufficiently business focused – in dress and in approach to the interview conversations – there’s a need to show enthusiasm, engagement and drive. 3. Having no questions when it comes to “do you have any questions” time or having ones which are only focused on career advancement possibilities for themselves or the social side of work. Gillian King, Director of Education & Trustee Development, The Pensions Management Institute – www.pensions-pmi.org.uk

The three key mistakes which candidates make in an interview situation are: 1. Lack of knowledge of the organisation as a whole and in particular the role; little if any research undertaken which would assist preparation for the interview 2. Inability to provide specific answers to competency based questions. Prior to the interview, thought requires to be given to their existing skills /experience and occasions when they have displayed the behaviours required for the position 3. Arriving with incomplete application form/documentation – for successful individual this can delay the recruitment process. Tricia Crooks, Resourcing Consultant, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, www.rbs.co.uk

The three key mistakes which candidates make in an interview situation are: 1. Lack of preparation for the interview: Look at the job advertisement and make sure you understanding what the key requirements of the role are. These could be building relationships, planning and multi-tasking, producing reports etc. Having notes and examples from your experiences ready to draw on in these key areas if asked by interviewer will make a positive difference. 2. Poor or lack of candidate questions: This is the time for you to show off. The type of questions you ask the interviewer indicate not only the level at which you operate but your understanding and research that you’ve done into the role or the business. 3. Poor timekeeping – lateness! Make sure you know the route, and even do a trial run and be sure of where you need to get to! So many candidates get lost or arrive late. Of course employers are sympathetic to those who have genuine problems and don’t make it on time, but it always pays to check the route! Jo Hussey, Nationwide, www.nationwide.co.uk

From a Citi perspective, the most common mistakes that we see are: 1. Candidate’s lack of research regarding the position they are applying for or about the organisation to which they have applied. 2. Little preparation for competency based interviews. Candidates often struggle to come up with examples of situations they previously dealt with that show their competency in a particular area. 3. A general lack of preparation for questions that they themselves want to ask the hiring manager 4. Negative comments of previous employers and why they left the organisation 5. There have also been occasions when some candidates have been inappropriately dressed for an interview. Michelle McManus, Assistant Vice President, HR Site Head, Citi – www.citi.com

As you can see – many of the mistakes made are picked up by each different companyand in most instances it’s down to basic common sense; good luck for your next interview!

A recent article in The Independent by Kate Hilpern details how the Management Consultancy Industry is seeing its biggest upturn in recent years. If you have the right skills, you may be able to take advantage of the aggressive recruiting in the graduate market. Perhaps a Placement or Internship in the sector could be an invaluable experience to set you apart from the rest of the competition…

Kate writes “If you’d mentioned wanting to become a management consultant two years ago, you’d have seen more than a few raised eyebrows. Post-crash, the industry saw a decline in personnel to the tune of 8,000. But although the economic downturn is by no means over yet, the demand for new management consultants is up again – to the extent that the Big Four are battling over top talent.”

“There’s always churn in this industry, but we saw a sharp decline in numbers that is picking up rapidly because the marketplace wants to be well positioned to take advantage of the upturn,” says Alan Leaman, chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA). “The upshot is some aggressive recruiting in the graduate market, along with a lot of career changers coming in.”

“Even Josh Lewsey, who won the 2003 Rugby World Cup with England, has joined the profession, recently starting with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).”

“While there’s still a strong role for the generalist, there is a big demand for people with a high level of technical skill, says Leaman. Areas of specialism include business strategy, manufacturing and businesses services, marketing, human resources, quality management and environmental management.”

Would you be interested in a career in Management Consultancy? Feel free to comment and check out our Industry Zones for more information.

To read the full article click here.

The results of this years Universum UK ‘ideal employer’ poll are in and according to Ri5 the results are as follows:

This year’s top ten ideal employers for Russell Group business students are: 1) PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2) Goldman Sachs; 3) KPMG; 4) Google; 5) Ernst & Young; 6) J.P. Morgan; 7) HSBC; 8 ) Deloitte; 9) BBC; 10) Apple. (This contrasts markedly with the top three national choices of Apple, Google and the BBC).

The top ten for Russell Group engineering and IT students are: 1) Google; 2) IBM; 3) Microsoft; 4) Apple; 5) Rolls-Royce; 6) Shell; 7) Intel; 8 ) BAE Systems; 9) BMW; 10) Ministry of Defence.

What do you think? Any surprises? Or just as you would expect?

Never ones to shy away from the camera, Oli and Ali recently went on the record to chat about Internships and Placements with Career Players, Rob Wescott…

To catch the video in all of its glory, click on the picture below! Hope you find them useful!

We have recently teamed up with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to offer you some insight into the complex world of Accountancy; here the ICAEW talk about the different areas you have to choose from and the ACA training programme. For more detailed information visit www.icaew.com/careers.

There are many different areas of accountancy to choose from:

Audit and assurance - Auditors carry out activities including risk analysis; getting to know the clients business; building client relationships, and checking items that appear in the financial statements.

Business recovery -Business recovery experts guide businesses through difficulties and towards a successful future.

Business insolvency -Insolvency experts guide businesses through insolvency, selling off the business’s assets and paying creditors.

Corporate finance -Chartered accountants working in this field are involved in company mergers, acquisitions and ownership changes. Working in corporate finance requires dealing with finance providers, lawyers, researchers and other professionals.

Financial accounting -Chartered accountants provide the everyday accountancy services that make businesses run smoothly. They support the development and implementation of corporate strategy. They also prepare financial statements and reports for investors, owners and other key business stakeholders.

Forensic accounting -Forensic accounting is about the integration of accounting, information technology and investigative skills. Forensic accountants enable lawyers, insurance companies and other clients to resolve disputes.

Placements and ACA training vacancies

Visit our ICAEW at careers fairs on campus for a hard copy of Training Vacancies. This can also be found in your university careers library. Alternatively you can search online.

Have you got what it takes?

To embark on the ACA programme you will need to secure an ACA training contract with an authorised training employer (ATE). Employers require graduates with a proven academic track record, in addition to a 2.1 or first-class degree in any degree discipline. Only 11% of ACA trainees are accountancy graduates and students enter the ACA from all degree disciplines; from engineering, science, languages to the history of art. A minimum of 280 UCAS points are normally required by employers, as is an A or B in Maths and English GCSE or international equivalents. Our authorised training employers look for employability skills so evidence of voluntary work, part time jobs, sporting activities or student society involvement is great to include in applications.

About the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)

Competitive salaries, international travel and a range of exciting career choices, are just some of the rewards available to chartered accountants. The ICAEW is a world leader of the accountancy and finance profession with 132,000 members in over 165 countries.

The ACA qualification is an internationally respected and prestigious professional business and accountancy qualification, designed to equip graduates with the knowledge, experience and skills needed to become a professional business adviser.

A topic that is frequently discussed within Graduate Recruitment is that of supply and demand and the issue of graduate skill sets being appropriately moulded for the world of work…Never has it been so important to have relevant work experience and transferable skills, as well as a good degree classification in order to gain a position within a relevant field.

The CIPD’s latest ‘Focus on Graduate Jobs’ calls for government policy to concentrate on “understanding and meeting the real skills needs of employers” in addition to providing better information about the “realistic” employment and salary prospects available to graduates.

In this climate, arm yourself as best you can and take up as many opportunities as possible. Whether that’s through a part time job, work experience via an Internship or Placement or getting involved with your student union. Plus, be realistic about what is actually achievable!

As always feel free to comment

Want to know what is involved in a career in Accountancy? What areas are there to specialise in?

This article from GAAPweb.com is a great insight into the industry.  Have a read to see where you might like your career to head….

click here