Where Should I Work: Deloitte or Ernst & Young?
Deloitte and Ernst & Young (EY) are considered two of the “Big Four” accounting firms. Along with KPMG and PwC, the Big Four naturally attracts top MBA talent looking to put their degrees to use in a variety of tax, accounting, and consulting services.
For candidates with nascent leadership skills, both Deloitte and EY offer plentiful opportunities to not only make contributions to recognized innovators in the field but to grow immensely during the process.
Deloitte and EY each have unique strengths so we opted to take a closer look at both companies to help you determine which culture might suit you better.
Deloitte or Ernst and Young: Internships and Interviews
Deloitte offers an array of internship positions within audit, consulting, advisory, internal services, and tax services. Internship opportunities exist for both undergraduate and graduate students in 8-10-week increments. These opportunities emphasize hands-on experiences working with clients, engaging with mentors, and attending professional development conferences.
Ernst & Young internships run six weeks. The first week focuses on training, coaching, and technology onboarding. Interns conduct internal control reviews on audits or assist in tax planning as they develop writing, presentation, and networking skills. The EY program culminates in the Futures 2020 global milestone celebration.
According to Glassdoor, only one-third of online applications receive follow-up requests for an interview. That said, 71 percent of candidates who managed to interview at Deloitte said they had a positive experience.
Deloitte offers tips on impressing their team at an interview:
- Prepare by doing research
- Dress to impress
- Be confident
- Ask follow-up questions
- Sell yourself by promoting your skills and abilities
Much like Deloitte, roughly one-third of online applications to Ernst & Young make it to the interview stage. About 73 percent of Deloitte interviewees said they had a positive experience. EY utilizes behavioral interview techniques that focus on knowledge, skills, and abilities backed by specific examples.
Here are some tips to impress the team at EY:
- Articulate your interest in the position
- Tell your story
- Research the individuals interviewing you
- Come in with questions
- Demonstrate confidence in your conversational and body language skills
Deloitte or Ernst and Young: Compensation
Management Consulted took a look at compensation packages from both Deloitte and EY:
Deloitte Undergraduate/Master’s Salary
- Base: $79,000 (UK: £33,000)
- Performance Bonus: UK: up to £1,650
- Total Cash (sum of above): $79,000 (UK: up to £49,050)
- Retirement: 150 percent match for individual contributions
EY Undergraduate/Master’s Salary
- Base: $75,000 (Canada: CA$65-70,000)
- Performance Bonus: None (1.5x overtime pay instead)
- Total Cash (sum of above): $75,000-plus, overtime
- Retirement: 6 percent match of base into 401k
- Signing Bonus: $3-7,500
- Relocation: up to $2,000
Deloitte or Ernst and Young: Culture
Reviews on Glassdoor indicate that working at Deloitte entails long hours, making a balance between work/life more challenging. However, former employees gave the Deloitte culture an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, due to it emphasis on inclusion, collaboration, high performance, and opportunity.
Ernst & Young was ranked 95th on Glassdoor’s 2019 “Best Places to Work” listing. EY received a 96 percent approval rating with reviews indicating an unusually high ranking of EY’s CEO performance. Similar to Deloitte, working at Ernst & Young means long hours. Former employees gave EY an overall 3.7 out of 5 stars for its culture and values.
Deloitte or Ernst and Young: Career Development and Recruiting
Career Development at Deloitte is centered around training and a culture of continuous learning. Deloitte employees are encouraged to attend training at Deloitte University within the first year. Training and development at Deloitte focus on first-hand experiences, exposure to networks and peer/mentor relationships, as well as resources and tools that reinforce a learning environment.
Similar to Deloitte, Ernst & Young has a strong focus on formal learning. The average employee completed 51 hours of formal learning in 2018. EY offers personalized and supportive initiatives on career development: EY Badges build employee skills in areas such as analytics, data integration, information strategy, and data visualization.
Deloitte and EY recruit on-campuses at a rate of 38-39 percent. Deloitte has a multi-step recruitment process that includes an initial screening, an interview process with several rounds, assessments/testing, and pre-employment checks prior to an offer of employment. According to Indeed, the multi-step interview process at Ernst & Young can take 1-2 months to complete.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
