It was a cold January morning, precisely 16th of the month at 6:45 AM, when I woke up to finish my economics presentation, which is scheduled at 9.30 AM. At the same time, the much-awaited moment which was running in my mind all over the night i.e. Interview with Ernst & Young scheduled at 10.00 AM. All I am thinking is when the clock will tick 10. After a hasty presentation, I was just making myself comfortable.

Since I am a fresher and the only student with a fine arts background in the batch, it was a challenging task in front of me to convince the panel who is looking for a pure finance role. All I had to say to myself is, “you have crossed enough, one step more, just do it”.

As my interview got started, the recruiters furnished a broad picture of what they are expecting from us. I was clear with my thoughts and analysis and marketed myself well in front of the panel.

It’s been 2 days since the interviews are over, and the only thing runs in mind is.. (Of course, you knew it). Who knows a boring accounting class becomes a roller-coaster of emotions. A WhatsApp notification tells you that you been selected for a summer internship at one of the big 4 auditing firms on the globe, EY. Finally, it’s party time!

After a month, I received an email mentioning my joining date as 1st of April at Ernst & Young, Banglore office. So, with lots of aspirations, I landed at the EY office on the morning of the all-fools’ day. Finally, it’s Banglore, I was telling myself and Banglore is very busy with traffic.

A brief intro about the organization, service lines and organizational hierarchy started in a splendid way at Evoma Hotel, Banglore. A 2-day introduction session ended with EY staff handing over the ID card to me at the end of the day. (Not really sure of sharing that on WhatsApp status).

After 2 days, collecting a pack of work accessories, we got our desks to start our job. (Oh yes! It was an amazing experience). All the interns were assigned a mentor to guide the whole 10 weeks long internship period and help us in finishing the projects. My mentor, rather I would like to call him a good friend, guided me in a nurtured way through the entire internship period.

EY, those two letters had created a great impact on my life. The level of exposure, work-life balance, handling pressure, and extraordinary work culture helped me a lot to improve and redefine myself. Though I am not a good fan of mathematics, the kind of guidance I got at EY actually made it easy for me to complete 2 exhaustive quantitative financial models in a stipulated time. After mid-presentation, I started feeling a little lighter as I am moving a little closer towards finishing up my assignments.

EY was exceptional in every aspect, not only providing a friendly work environment but also creating a big platform for self-learning through various resources. While the Lok Sabha Elections in Karnataka heated up the outside environment, I took a cool break with free Udemy courses to access provided by EY.

It’s a lot about work, will take a break! Apart from work, we as a team had a great fun experience at EY. Coffee chats, snooker breaks, chai-point discussions, bowling tracks, Phoenix mall everything cherished the 2 months of work experience at EY.

Finally, we reached the final steps of our journey and its final presentation time, and of course this time one obvious thing fully occupied my mind (ha-ha, if you guessed it then it's correct, PPO!). A 30 slide deck, a screen, a whiteboard, a blue marker, 10 panelists ready to bombard me with questions and 1800 seconds is all I have to impress them. After a pre-planned and well-executed presentation (I really feel it went good!), one statement i.e. “A well-structured, crisp and perfect presentation” by my senior manager made my day and landed me in nearby McD.

It was a great journey for me at Ernst and Young. The interactive sessions with top management leaders, productive classroom training, excellent resources, friendly work culture, and great support from the moment I step-in till the moment I step-out, everything helped me to become a little more perfect, confident and more ambitious.

Every single day, every employee at EY, working towards exceptional client service by putting their best effort and EY as an organization putting their best to safeguard their employees in every aspect. A happy employee means a happy client. In this way I feel really proud to be part of this wonderful organization for a few days and take immense pride to say, this organization is really working towards "building a better working world".

Umesh Kumar

With EY, a step towards building a better working world!