Careers in Financial Services

 Tell us about your role at EY

I am currently leading our cybersecurity team in the Netherlands focused on the financial services industry. My team consists of approximately 30 people, working across a range of cybersecurity and privacy topics. My role focuses on helping clients to manage their cybersecurity risks while meeting their business strategy needs. I also work to support my team to reach their goals.

How has your role developed at EY?

I joined EY as a senior, just as the team had started up. I was one of the first to join the team and we had the goal to build up our cybersecurity practice focused on serving the Dutch financial sector. Since then, my role has evolved from supporting on projects to building and leading a team, as part of our ongoing growth as a business. As I grew, I gained opportunities to explore different fields and understand my core strengths.

What do you enjoy the most about your role?

In my mind "culture eats strategy for breakfast" therefore, I place high importance on driving an inclusive but transparent culture across my team, bringing them on the journey and ensuring everyone’s voice is heard. We are like a big EY family working toward one goal.

Have you been able to fulfil your professional and personal purpose at EY?

When I started my career, I had a purpose in mind that was to make an impact. As a cybersecurity professional, I am ensuring a safe environment for the organization and for our clients on a daily basis. Working in cybersecurity enabled me to fulfil my purpose.

What’s your advice to someone who wants to join cybersecurity at EY?

Ensure you have done your research and have the right understanding about a career in cybersecurity. You don’t need to come from a tech background, but curiosity, communication and willingness to learn new skills are the kind of traits we are looking for! It is a fast moving sector, so showing your passion and interest in the sector is important.

Tell us about your journey at EY

I joined EY as an intern in our Bristol office in 2019 during my second year of university. Currently, I am a senior consultant in the UK financial services actuarial team. I spend quality time in the field of sustainable finance and believe that financial services have a huge role to play in combatting climate change. I chair the technology actuarial team, which highlights the biggest technological trends to our clients, helping them establish their corporate strategies. I am also leading the EY muslim committee's charity arm responsible for fundraising activities.

What attracted you to EY?

I always wanted to begin my career in the financial services sector. One of the key reasons that attracted me to EY is the work culture and diversity. Another key reason is the work EY is doing to help refugees with their relocation, equipping them with the skills to empower them.

How has EY helped you to develop in your role?

EY encourages me to learn and explore new skillsets to develop my career. Our EY badges programme gives me the opportunity to explore a whole new world of learning. I get to select the suitable courses which will be beneficial for my career growth and to build my knowledge bank.

Why is working in your area of the business at EY an exciting place to work right now?

Right now, its very exciting to work at EY as the actuarial team is developing its niche skillsets. We are exposed to all the new and topical trends which help us to stay relevant. I get the flexibility to explore new and multiple things at the same time and learn simultaneously. I think this is very useful for someone beginning their career as they will be more well-rounded and learn incredible values.

How has your role evolved during your time at EY?

I started my journey with EY as a fresh consultant with limited knowledge of the financial world. Over the past 2.5 years I have gained so much additional knowledge of the financial services sector. EY encourages me to mobilize others to achieve our bigger goal. I also get the opportunity to work with big clients and senior stakeholders. Outside of work, I’m also passionate about sharing my knowledge. EY encourages me to pursue my passions and that led me to launch a podcast series focused on climate change. I am constantly growing and improving, which is an important value for me. EY cultivates an environment that is very conducive to growth, which I enjoy a lot.

Have you been able to fulfil your professional and personal purpose at EY?

EY fully supported me when I was selected to attend COP26 through my work with the future leaders network. I negotiated with 19 other young leaders to devise a set of priorities for young people to the leaders of the world; in particular, the areas I was pushing for the most was a holistic, mandatory climate education and the implementation of green youth bonds. Following some highly successful work where the G20 considered and adopted some of our priorities, I led a team of delegates to COP26 in order to research how meaningful the engagement with young people at COPs are. We then wrote a report detailing our findings and our recommendations for future COPs. It was a privilege to represent the UK and lead a team of truly inspirational young people to COP26. This was very much aligned with my personal focus on combatting climate change and sustainability more widely. I was also encouraged to share my experience internally to further build the knowledge of our colleagues. This reflects the focus that EY places on this area, from leadership but also across our organization too.

What advice would you give someone trying to begin a career at EY?

EY is a great place to work as it gives you a lot of opportunity to learn and grow in your career. You are encouraged to work flexibly. I would also suggest doing a lot of research about EY before joining, and ask questions to ensure you can make an informed decision on the right area of the business for you.

Can you introduce yourself?

I work in the Strategy and Transactions (SaT) service line within UK financial services. As part of this team, I sit within the Transactions and Execution business area, which is part of EY Parthenon brand. My role is to advise businesses that are looking to acquire other businesses, divest all or part of their business or restructure to adapt in a changing business environment and position for growth. My area of specialization is Value Creation where I help clients improve profit margins through either cost reduction or revenue enhancement. I am an MBA graduate from Warwick Business School and live in South West London, with my wife, Barbara and my sons Louis and Theo. My wife and I are originally from Kampala, Uganda, although interestingly, we met in London!

How did you find your passion?

It took me a while to find my passion. I started my career as a telecoms engineer more than a decade ago after completing my BSc in electronics & telecoms engineering and MSc in satellite communications. I worked in the telecoms industry for nearly five years and made some great achievements including designing network components for all the leading European telecoms companies and leading the design of the UK’s first 4G Trial network.

My knack for process automation and improvement however led me to become involved in a number of internal consultation projects within my previous company, which consequently encouraged me to pursue a career in mainstream management consulting. I knew then that I had finally found what I wanted for the rest of my career.

I have been in the advisory field since then and over nine years spanning more than 60 transactions. I have also had leadership experience at both strategic and operational levels across financial services. Having previously worked for other big 4 organizations, I was lured to EY by the fact that it specialized in financial services. This is an industry that I was keen to build my career in.

What do you enjoy the most in your area of business and your role?

The market for M&A is hot right now, and we are supporting numerous interesting transactions. In fact, M&A tends to be busy through all economic cycles. When the economy is good, there is a high volume of deals as companies look to grow through acquisitions, and when the economy is struggling, we tend to get involved in disposals or divestments and restructuring. Due to the nature of our work, we get to advise on some of the most critical programs on the CEO’s agenda; and we typically get to work with the C-Suite.

Often businesses are looking to enter into a market or exit a market, or operate in a different way this has an impact on the company, employees, clients, competitors and many times, the industry at large. I quite enjoy our role in orchestrating this change.

Have you been able to fulfil your professional and personal purpose at EY?

When I had just started working at EY, it was a lot about me working hard to demonstrate my abilities and competence. However with more experience and responsibility, it is more about working with others in my team and providing an environment in which they can bring the best of themselves to work and deliver great results. We have some great talent in my team, at all grades, who are amazing at their work and my personal success is linked to how successfully I can help them deliver in their respective roles.

Having been born and raised in Uganda, spent three years in Tanzania, studied and worked in the UK and travelled extensively, I have been exposed to many forms of diversity. It is something that I value immensely and promoting it is indeed a core value of mine. I have had opportunities within EY to get involved in activities in support of D&I, mostly from a racial diversity perspective, through my involvement in the SaT Black Network (SBN). I have also stayed connected to a number of D&I communities along the pillars of religion and gender. Throughout the course of my career, there have been moments where I have felt under-sponsored, and I am therefore keen to support or mentor others in order to ensure that they make the most of their career journeys.

What advice would you give to those who aspire to join EY in your area of business?

For those who are new to the consulting lifestyle, I would say that it is invaluable experience, particularly in a global organization like EY. If they have worked in consulting before, I would say that EY is a friendly place. Due to the way in which incentives are structured, there is a lot of collaboration across service lines which minimizes internal bureaucracy and allows an employee to make the most of firm-wide opportunities. Transactions is an exciting space to work in, and while it is helpful to have some M&A experience, it is not mandatory, and we have seen many people transition successfully from other consulting roles or industry.

Can you give an introduction to yourself?

My name is Cheryll Ruiter and I live in Hoorn, Netherlands with my dog. Outside of work, I have a passion for interior design but at EY, I currently work as a senior consultant in the data & analytics (D&A) team. Our team focuses on five key areas: data management, business intelligence, data engineering, data science and intelligent automation.

Currently, my role focuses on business intelligence, where we provide our clients with helpful data insights to support their business needs.

What attracted you to EY?

EY has such scope and you're part of a bigger network of people. This means there is always a colleague who can help, from learning to knowledge sharing.

Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in technology?

I've always wanted to do something related to data which used my math skills. I began my journey at EY within the actuarial department. But given it's broad scope as an employer, I explored data analytics in detail. Seeing the growth and investment capability at EY, I explored ways to shape my career in a more technology focused role.

Do you need to come from a technology background to succeed?

My role needs a variety of skills, both hard and soft skills. The range of technical expertise can change from low to high. People with a less technical background can find their area of expertise and happiness. And for those who are seeking in-depth technical challenges, you can also find a role within our area. All you need, is to have a passion towards data and technology and the rest you can learn!

Why is working in technology at EY an exciting place to work right now?

Technology is changing rapidly, meaning there is so much opportunity to update your skills. Data is everywhere and new data is being generated every second. We are in an era where our customers realize that they cannot stay resilient without data-driven decisions. Combining data with our rich knowledge and expertise, helps derive insights which support our clients. I love that the work I do makes such an impact to their operations.

What types of clients do you work with?

We work with clients who are in the Financial Services sector, like banks, insurers, pension funds and asset management companies.

What is your proudest career moment?

I was selected for the Aspire program (leadership development for seniors) who were recognized as future leaders. A selected group of seniors from the EMEIA financial services region attended this program. It was also good opportunity to expand my network and build relationships. I was really honored to be selected for this program.

Can you introduce yourself?

I work as a senior business consultant within our insurance transformation practice in Belgium. I help our insurance clients with their challenges like automation assessment and business analyses which they face in an ever-changing and increasingly competitive business environment.

What attracted you to EY?

What attracted me to EY is its work and inclusive culture. EY places an emphasis on flexibility and encourages me to explore different options. They motivate me to succeed in my career. The EY badges programme has also provided me with numerous interactive training courses, which helped me to develop and grow in my role.

What do you like about the most about your role?

The variety of tasks I perform, challenges I face and people I work with as a business consultant within insurance transformation. I get the opportunity to combine my communicative skills with business acumen and IT-savviness and to lead a diverse multidisciplinary team which helped me to learn project management and managerial skills. I enjoy getting in touch with people from different cultures, as it enriches my perspectives.

What's the culture like?

I get to work in a dynamic team with motivated colleagues on numerous projects that challenge me. In addition, I also enjoy the great work-life balance that comes with these types of projects.

Why is working in your area of the business at EY an exciting place to work right now?

We are currently living in a changing technological world and our team has remained at the forefront of this, supporting multiple clients in this area. We focus on a variety of hot topics, e.g., sustainability affecting the insurance industry so there is huge variety in the work we get to do.

My advice

At EY, you will receive a great onboarding which will prepare you for your first steps into the challenging, yet interesting world of consulting. I would like to advise if you have just graduated, to not be afraid of starting a career within financial services. You may think you don’t have the knowledge or experience, but if you’re willing and passionate, we will give you all the knowledge, experience and support to succeed.

Can you introduce yourself?

At EY, I support the international tax team in providing business advice to financial services. I’m a "people person" at heart, that’s the first thing that came to mind. I am not sure if that’s because I am an only child but whatever it is, I love teaming and people. Interesting fact, I started off my university education by studying toward a degree in chemical engineering but realized very quickly that it was too impersonal, at which point I changed to studying law because I wanted to help people. I grew up in South Africa and recently moved to the UK.

What attracted you to EY?

During my interview, we spoke about things like personal values and attributes, and I sensed the amount of attention EY as an organization gives towards culture and wellbeing. This inclusive culture attracted me to join EY.

Tell us more about your journey from law to tax.

I was introduced to tax law during my undergraduate degree and it sort of just made sense to me. I therefore pursued a postgraduate degree in tax and practiced it more as I started working. I was attracted to international tax, specifically tax structuring and planning for corporates. I was inspired by the ever-changing nature of tax legislation – it meant to me that there would always be something new to learn and I would be able to grow constantly, two things that I consider very important.

What skills do you use in your role? Why do you think they are important?

There are so many – my people skills come in handy definitely! This is important both internally within my team, and externally with clients. It is also important to have good time management, people management and leadership skills. I enjoy the collaboration element in my role a lot. I interact with many different people to get the desired deliverable, and that suits my personality and working style. I also try and create an atmosphere of approachability and empathy with anyone I work with. The purpose of this is to be inclusive and embracing of everyone to make people feel accepted and seen.

Why is working in your area of the business at EY an exciting place to work right now?

There are a myriad of economic challenges impacting businesses form a Tax perspective. International tax is quite a hot topic area, particularly right now, and is expected to have a great trajectory with lots of exciting changes.

What advice would you give to those who aspire to join EY in your area of business?

I would highly recommend going for it. The transition will naturally have bumps on the road, but there are enough support mechanisms in place to assist making it as easy as possible.

How did you find your passion?

Since childhood, I had many interests. At the age of five, I started my studies of classical piano music at the conservatory of Athens and I started sailing at the age of nine. When I was 16, I graduated as pianist from the conservatory. Although music has been one of my most intense passions, I wanted to pursue a career in sailing. So, I started as an Olympic skipper in 2012, in the doublehanded women’s 470 class. Although I am originally Greek, I migrated to Netherlands and later entered the Dutch Olympic Team and became a Dutch Citizen in 2014. I came fourth in the Olympic games of Rio 2016. This encouraged me to continue focusing on sailing and to start campaigning towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

During the second Olympic campaign I took my Law degree, with minors in international public, international criminal law, and human rights and democracy.

What attracted you to EY?

While I was studying Law, I started considering my future career options. I originally saw myself working as an officer of justice for the Dutch government. However, after exploring the Athletes program at EY, I saw that working in a company like EY was a great opportunity to make a difference and have impact. What attracted me the most was the opportunity to work for a global organization that has employees from diverse backgrounds.

How does EY help you build you skillset?

Although, I have only recently started at EY, I have already had lots of client exposure and have leaned on my transferrable skills — advising our customers and colleagues about teamwork, the power of being in a team and about setting realistic goals. I am also really excited about EY badges (internal learning opportunity) and have been following E-learning courses to dive into topics that are relevant to my career. This supports me to fulfill my personal purpose at work through learning and constantly trying to find ways that I can truly make a difference.

What advice would you give someone trying to decide whether to begin a career at EY?

Stay open and transparent. It is important to show yourself so that your colleagues really get to know you and understand your own strength.