I am leaving Ernst & Young
Today, I resigned from my position at Ernst & Young, LLP. For the last 2 years, 8 months, I have been working as a Manager in Ernst & Young’s Financial Services Advisory practice.
It has been a phenomenal experience, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people I have had a chance to work with. During my time with EY, I have worked on client engagements at:
- 3 of the top 5 US banks
- some of the largest and most successful hedge funds in the world
- some of the largest mortgage companies in the world
While working on those projects, I have enjoyed working with colleagues who were consistently:
- brilliant
- well informed
- people focused
EY offers great career opportunities
I heartily recommend EY as an amazing career opportunity, especially for people hoping to add what is effectively a turbo boost to their career. In the worlds of capital markers, hedge funds, mortgage companies and large fund managers, I can now tell you exactly how the best and the biggest companies in the world get the job done. For many projects and initiatives, I can draw on that range of experience to help you know what approaches work, what approaches do not work, and how to tell the difference between the two.
I joined EY from Wells Fargo Bank. During my first two years at EY, I felt that my personal pace of learning was somewhere between 4 to 7 times faster than at the bank. Wells Fargo is an amazing company, and very well run. However, if you work at Wells, you generally have one job for at least 2 years. In 2 years at EY, you could be staffed on 10 to 12 different projects. And, on each project, you would be working on issues at generally a higher level.
Why am I leaving?
The pace of learning within a firm like EY does, however, start to slow slightly as you head into your 4th year with the firm. In my experience, it is generally at the 3 year point when people make a decision between pursuing a long term career in advisory / consulting work, or deciding to leverage their experience into a new career path.
I have chosen to pursue on a new path focused on web and Enterprise 2.0 technology. I will write about my next steps in more detail in a few weeks.
My interest in Enterprise 2.0 has developed over the last year as I have written this blog, written white papers such as The next phase in productivity tools: Web Office and Turning Knowledge Managers into Innovation Creators, spoken at conferences including Office 2.0, CTC Boston 2006 and the Longworth Ventures Annual Conference, where I had a chance to speak on a panel moderated by Dr. Andrew McAfee, and including my fellow Enterprise Irregulars Jeff Nolan, Ismael Ghalimi and Zoli Erdos.
To EY’s credit, I have been free to pursue my interest in these technologies and to write my blog as an outside hobby. For example, I never had any trouble planning vacation time off so that I could speak at conferences.
To help facilitate that, I have tried to make it clear that “The comments expressed here on Innovation Creators are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer.”
Wishing EY Continued Success
I have every confidence that EY will continue to be a valuable and useful resource for all its clients, as steady and as stable as ever. I wish the firm and the people I have worked with there all the greatest continued success. I thought it would be fun to conclude with one of the many photos I took out of an airplane window during one of the 120+ flights I took while working at EY. This is a photo taken just as we were leaving John Wayne.
Wishing you all the best. I look forward to catching up with you soon.
Rod, the way you talk about E&Y is very respectable - I feel the same about my time with Deloitte a decade ago.
Yet it’s high time for you to move on: you’re far too entrepreneurial to be “wasted” in a large firm:-)
Congratulations!
Can’t wait to see what you have planned. I bet it’s going to be good.
If you don’t have plans, get in touch!
Looking forward to seeing what’s next!
Rod,
All the best. If there’s anything I can do to help, say the word.
J
Let freedom ring! You have friends all over the world, Rod. Keep up the good work, and don’t forget the camera at E&Y.
Well said, congratulations on the move!
Sounds like you’re off on a terrific adventure. I wish you every success. If you need a friend in the UK, you can count on me.
Rod,
Looking forward to seeing what you have in store…
Best of luck, and if you need anything from starship enterprisey let me know.
Thomas
Great move, commuinicated in the best possible way. Who wouldn’t consider EY after that write up?
Rod, whatever you choose to throw your energies at I am sure it will be a success.
Great Move Rod. Looking forward for some interesting stuff from you. Good Luck.
Well good luck sir!!
Rod, I wish you the very best of luck and I will miss seeing you around the office. Keep in touch and congratulations on the pursuit of happiness and entrepreneurship.
I first knew of EY through a friend who worked for them at the L.A offices in downtown. It was an impressive environment. He was working his way up and worked long hours. Last time I called him he told me he was no longer working there; that he was exploring entreprenurial options. It seems that EY makes a very good work in developing the entreprenurial spirit of its employees. I know Rod will continue to thrive. We’re proud of you, Rod.
Hi
I was googling and came across this post. I am with Ernst & Young, India. You are right, it is a great place to work in. In my case, they allowed me to continue with my monthly column in a leading Indian newspaper. All the best to you.
Nice to meet u!
I am newly graduated from school and had been currently employed as a staff accountant in aabs Shanghai Office.And i am very eager to meet my colleagues and start a new career. And wish u a great success in the new career!
nice blog sir, iam joing e&y shortly
Wish you all the best!
I am looking to expand my employmnet tax experience. How would I contact one of the Big Four firms?
I am looking for more tax employment experience, how do i Contact BIG 4 Firms. I am Inter CA.
Hai…. I’m Chethan.. Doing my MBA in Finance in Christ college Bangalore… Today i had an Interview in EY Bangalore for Finance Analyst profile (night shift). Yesterday when i saw this site for the first time i was very much motivated to join EY… BUT i came out of the
process with disappointment. The only reason for is the COMPENSATION. They are offering a package of 1.5 lac/annum (May be 10000 on hand).
Great learning… Work culture… Social Responsibility… Entrepreneurship.. all these are ok but where is the true reward for the job.
I left a govt job of agriculture officer after my degree where i was offered a salary of 2.4lac/year
and came to MBA.. what is the value for the value addition i gained here?
I stay in a flat where my building owner pays 8000 for the 18 year old uneducated security guard with accommodation.
I agree that I’m a fresher… I cant expect hefty package but is this job paying for my effort?
When i received the mail it was boldly mentioned that SALARY IS NOT A CONSTRAINT. What is the irony behind that? what kind of quality they can expect?
We don’t work only to learn from it… If there is any job which says i cant pay u enough… my answer is GOOD BYE for it. I did the same to EY
What is your say on it?
hiiii, this is priyanka here, i hv am jst an eco grad, and i certainly abide by ir decision, listenwork experience and compensation ia allright, but when it comes to self development, we need to take tough decisions. though it hurts, but stiil. everything comes with a cost!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
god bless u!!
all the best!