EY top of the pile for graduates

“These guys are generally the largest recruiters of graduates in the world,” said Mr Purchas.

“Since COVID-19, their numbers have probably tripled. Going into 2024, they seem to have scaled back from their peak, but it is still far higher than pre-pandemic levels.”

Alongside consultancies, banks and government departments are high on graduates’ radars. All have increased the size of their annual recruitment intake, competing with a raft of new companies entering the fray to overcome chronic skill shortages by investing in young people with the view of keeping them long-term.

Lauren Stanton, EY’s Oceania talent leader, said the company was inundated with applications this year, partly due to an initiative that leaves the application door open all year.

“Typically, you would have a time frame that people need to get their applications in. If you miss the deadline, then you miss the deadline. But we took an always-open approach last year, and it seems to have really resonated with students,” Ms Stanton said.

Among the graduates who joined EY last year was Stephanie Smith. Unlike most of her peers, the commerce graduate from Newcastle applied for only one graduate position based on her stellar experiences with the company’s on-campus Compass career program and as a paid holiday intern.

“I was pretty confident I would be offered a graduate role. I wasn’t really interested in applying anywhere else because I had such good experiences with EY,” Ms Smith, 27, said.

Unsure about her future career, Ms Smith took a few years off to travel and work in hospitality after school before enrolling at university in her 20s.

Programs for students

“There are a few people my age in the grad program,” Ms Smith said. “They went through the same thing, starting a degree when they were older because they didn’t know what they wanted to do when they were young.”

Ms Stanton said the company had several programs aimed at university students.

“It’s a long-term relationship that we look to build with students. It’s capturing them early on throughout early identification programs, supporting and engaging with them throughout the university degree, and then bringing them in as interns and vacationers,” Ms Stanton said.

“In some instances, we make offers to students almost 12 months before they join. And we keep in touch with them to decrease attrition throughout that process.”

The surge in applications to EY was even more surprising given negative media attention given to the firm during the year, Ms Stanton said.

The blow-back came from an internal review of workplace culture, triggered by the death of a young female employee, which found widespread bullying, sexual harassment, racism and overwork.

“Our grads are probably more informed than some of our experienced hires. When the culture review landed, we brought all the students who had accepted an offer together and encouraged them to read it. We feel that being very transparent with them is absolutely the right approach. And I think it has paid off,” Ms Stanton said.

See Top 100 Graduate Employers 2024 here.