Let us start with the interviews and job openings. I conducted too many interviews for EY but never understood the hiring logic or the planning behind them. And I never met anyone in the firm who understands it. The most important thing that you need to know about EY Ireland is after they hire you, the interview process is actually just starting.
I am pretty sure it is different in other countries but EY Ireland basically operates like a recruitment company such as Hays. I haven't seen them actually being consulted on anything or delivering anything themselves (which was an absolute disappointment for me after I joined), but they simply place resources in their clients' projects. So when you are interviewed or even offered a job, there isn't actually a project or client in their mind for you. They are simply extending their resource pool.
What that means is that you will have to continue to apply for openings and projects in EY after you join, because EY has no control over their own resources in their own engagements and they just present your CVs to the clients. Like they cannot even vouch for a resource to be accepted. All CVs go to the client and it's the same interview process. I myself had two interviews with the client after I joined. That alone is a solid proof to me that they are in the recruitment business, not consulting. Like if EY actually sold their services to the client (if such services exist), and they committed to deliver something in the end (if there is such delivery), why would the client pick every single resource?
I was directly sent to a client as soon as I joined (no onboarding), I worked like their employee, using their systems, their processes, their rules. I had no connection with EY at all. I mean literally nothing, and I cannot stress this enough. For about 9 months I did not even use my EY laptop, because I did not have to.
I did not know these things before I joined and that deeply disturbed me. Because I have seen too many people, especially new joiners being blamed, stressed and their probation extended or canceled just because EY could not find a suitable position for them. And these people were questioned in a quite demotivating manner why they weren't able to find a project yet (as if resource planning is their responsibility). Also even if you start working for a client, they can always ask EY to replace you asap just because they didn't like something about you. As I mentioned, EY has no control over its own resources.
The level of mobbing on the other hand is exactly what you expect. You may be forced to work with an engagement manager who provides no handover, no initiation, no orientation, your so-called career counsellor may not even bother to meet you when you join (happened to me), and if you join one their biggest clients you will probably have to wait for a month to get access to their systems. Without access you cannot do anything. But none of these will be accepted as an excuse and you will be expected to perform 100% or you will be given a PIP immediately.
Your experience may differ but a highly likely scenario is: you will be asked to do perform tasks which are not explained to you at all, or you will be judged by some completely undisclosed expectations and prejudiced opinions. The onboarding and initiation process is almost nonexistent. If you somehow manage to survive like I did, you will probably be given an incompetent person whom you will not be allowed to correct or complain about, and then you will end up doing their work also.
In a nutshell; incompetent engagement manager = your fault, incompetent subordinate = also your fault. (HR is also invisible and technically pointless but it's the same in every company)
Again as you would expect, there is no work-life balance. You are expected to give 110% to the client at all times, but there are also lots of EY training to complete, and you must be very active to participate in so-called 'voluntary' but in reality half-mandatory exercises. Not to mention, you will always be put in competition with your peers regardless of your intentions. I knew that before I joined, so I did not complain about it. But after seeing that hostile welcoming, I intentionally (and proudly) did not do anything extra for EY.
How I survived all this unprecedented and unjustified hostility despite doing nothing for other than client work and completely ignoring voluntary stuff is that
1-) I am good at what I do, so I completely ignored EY feedback and focused on my work,
2-) my contribution was visible to the client and that actually shielded me (which is what I recommend to everyone in this organization).
Finally, a couple of more lifesavers for you which will not be explained to you in the interviews:
Senior Managers are more like Senior Project Managers,
Managers are definitely not managers but could be more like Project Coordinators in PM jargon.
And the rest sends meeting invites, takes minutes, corrects typos in presentations, copies Excel data from one tab to another, does the paperwork etc...
This is also useful information because I have seen people who accepted the offer as 'Manager' and got quite disappointed when they found out sending meeting invites and distributing minutes took 70% of their time.
It's a shame that I joined them hoping to learn something from EY, I was quite ecstatic when I accepted the offer. But all I got from EY is hardened endurance against mobbing. EY unintentionally gave me the strength of not to complain any more, because whenever I compare anything present against what I experienced in EY, I automatically feel content.
