EY Behavioural Questions Flashcards
why this company?
- Spoke to Karun Gautam, strategy partner at firm
- covid, 20% paycut
- demonstrated through action what kind of culture EY builds
- mentioned how the culture was the very thing that attracted himself to the organization, and EY is known for its collaboration across firms
- experience is what you make it, ambitious and want to accelerate my career
why business and people consulting
1) interested in working with business leaders
2) interested in solving problems
3) enjoy dynamic environments
Speaking to consultants, value of sitting in these huge meetings and soaking in the knowledge is a priceless experience
Want to learn and contribute to problem solving on the largest scale
Retail worker and experience
EY Core values
1) People who demonstrate integrity, respect, teaming and inclusiveness.
2) People with energy, enthusiasm and the courage to lead.
3) People who build relationships based on doing the right thing
why risk consulting
1) interest in problem solving
2) interest in helping others
3) enjoy dynamic environment
Coaching soccer games, constantly adapting to new environments as tactics and formations evolve throughout the game. Creatively find solutions in a fast paced environment and work with your team to push through and adapt
Give an example of a time when you had to make a difficult decision. How did you handle it?
s: two internships one in Calgary where I grew up, one in Indy where my family now lives
t: needed to choose
a: hungry for knowledge, decided to choose badger as the organization knew me from the year before and entrusted me with more advanced work
r: satisfied with decision, feel more comfortable tackling problems I haven’t faced before
Share an example of a career goal you had. What steps did you take to achieve it?
s: wanted deans list
t: failed first year needed something to change
a: implemented strategies, deep work, detailed calendar, journal, office hours etc
r: made deans list, landed TA positions etc
Describe a time when you were responsible for a task you didn’t receive training on and were unsure how to complete. How did you handle it?
s: create a formula that can read through over a hundred unstandardized p and l statements and pull relevant information
t: didn’t know how to start, wasn’t as simple as just using a vlookup or xlookup because the p and ls were unstandarxized and line items weren’t all in the same place, not to mention that it would take over 150 of them
a: researched different formulas, eventually stumbled across
r: eventually created a hybrid indirect/ x lookup that was able to pull all the different sheet names for different p and ls, identify certain information located across all the different sheets and pull it to one single sheet
Describe a time when you used your leadership skills to motivate your team or colleagues.
s: coaching, one player was feeling demotivated and under confident in his abilities
t: wanted him to feel rejuvenated and fall in love with the sport again
a: related to my own experiences with confidence, offered him personalized training to help improve his game
r: scored in the very next game and had a huge smile on his face, parents came up to me to thank me personally for my efforts
Tell me about a time you took the initiative in your career. What was your motivation for doing so?
s: wanted to coach, was deemed to young
t: looked for ins to become a coach, frequently chatted with leaders at the organization, decided to give me a chance at a very young age group
a: excelled in the environment, was entrusted with my own team
r: led team to championship undefeated, a feat only achieved very few times at the entire organization
Describe an occasion when you failed at a task. What did you learn from it?
s: failed Econ 101
t: improve study habits
a: created new systems, prioritized studying in morning, prioritized deep work, attended office hours
r: deans list
Describe an occasion when you had to manage your time to complete a task. How did you do it?
s: last year managed school, job, extracurricular and internship applications
t: needed to find time to fit all of these things and also make time to spend with friends girlfriend and family
a: practiced the art of deep work, woke up early in the morning spent a few hours in deep focus and found that the time I spent studying was cut in half
r: more time with family friends and doing what I enjoyed while landing two internships, making deans list and excelling at work and extracurricular
Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work. How did you resolve the problem, and what did you learn from your mistake?
s: While working at DSW, was working at register, left shoe tag on, customer came back annoyed and manager initially blamed coworker
t: could have easily let it slide but i owned up to my mistake
a: realized the inconvinience customers faced by having to travel all the way back to the store and but in extra effort to ensure it never happened again
r: mistake was never made in the future
Give me an example of a time you had a conflict with a team member. How did you handle it?
s: team member not puling weight on group assignment
t: needed to communicate this effectively, ideally without getting a professor involved
a: sat group down, approached conversation gently and was honest about work split
r: teammate apologized, we discussed how we could split work better and teammate worked hard
