Today, the Woodcock Global Honors Fellowship had the privilege of visiting Ernst & Young, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. I had some familiarity with the firm from a past accounting course, but I was excited to learn about the company firsthand.
I was genuinely fascinated by the type of culture that Ernst & Young had developed. Their environment was amicable, collaborative, and open. I had always imagined accounting firms to be the stereotypical drab, monotonous work-space, but Ernst & Young removed that picture through their lively company culture. Besides their working environment, their global outreach truly sets them apart from the other “Big Four” firms. I was impressed with the development and connections they detailed throughout the world. Their most recent expansion is happening in Dublin, and hopefully, I will be able to see Ernst & Young’s progress when our class travels to the city next week.
Ernst & Young emphasized their appreciation for entrepreneurs, and how they focus part of their corporate social responsibility pledge on helping individuals who want to start their businesses. I feel that I can connect with entrepreneurs, who are innovators and sources of new ideas. While I am currently not working on launching my startup, I think that I can empathize with entrepreneurs with the topics I am now learning. The Innovation Blitz project for Managing in Complex Environments details developing our product/product improvement, developing a pitch for our idea, and overall complete the process that entrepreneurs would go through. I can empathize with entrepreneurs as I have my ideas and must use the tools at my disposal to create a successful product and firm.
Today’s visit to Ernst & Young opened my eyes to the types of firms in the Accounting industry. I look forward to experiencing the growing genius in the Technology industry during our visit to Google Pittsburgh tomorrow.
Visiting Ernst & Young
