By Sean Wong

This July/August, I had the opportunity to participate in an internship program through Wits Business School and Ernst & Young.
 
Ernst & Young being one of the big 4 auditing firms, was  ranked this year amongst the top 5 employers to work for in South Africa. Conveniently located across from the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, the head office is ultra-modern, sparkly-clean and open-plan design along with purdy little fountains.  The concept of ‘hot-desking’ and wired hot-spots, means the new, mobile worker able to plug in at any point is utilized.  Ernst & Young have succeeded in creating an environment where people are always willing to reasonably lend a hand; all you need to do is ask.

My internship was structured around 2 months, with rotation being done every 2 weeks to expose us to as many service lines as possible within our time there. The tasks that  I was presented, I did them the best as I could and attempted as much as possible to go overkill on them, and even though I sometimes got it hopelessly wrong, the effort was noticed and gradually more challenging tasks came my way, even as I changed divisions.
 
Involvement such as this is encouraged and monthly socials, as well as special occasions such as Women’s day breakfast are celebrated.  Friendly inter-departmental action cricket is also organized with the IT Geeks/RAS boys taking out the Auditing teams in recent times. Two Months is a very short time but I was glad to have had a positive enough experience to target a permanent post there.  Now just to get through those psychometric tests…
 
For career opportunities at Ernst & Young, check out their website: http://www.ey.co.za