Achieving 2nd Place in the 2022 FAEs

Hear From EY’s Tax Graduate Sarah Murray on Her Journey to Success

We celebrated a successful year in the 2022 accountancy exams. Top rewarded EY Graduates:

• Sarah Murray, (UKI Tax, Dublin), FAE 2nd place - Incorporated Society Jubilee Prize
• Christine O'Neill, (UKI Tax, Dublin), FAE 4th place - John Mackie Memorial Award
• Ciara Morren, (UKI Assurance, Belfast), FAE The Danske Bank Prize (Highest Placed NI Candidate)
• David Goodwin, (UKI Assurance, Belfast), CAP1 4th place
• Rachael Goode, (UKI Assurance, Belfast), CAP1 joint 7th place
• Dean Gleeson, (FSO Assurance, Dublin), CAP2 1st place
• Eoin O'Neill, (UKI SaT, Dublin), CAP2 joint 6th place
• Corrina Goode, (UKI Tax, Galway), AITI Part 2 2nd place

Student Recruitment sat down with our 2nd place winner in Final Admitting Exams (FAE), Sarah Murray, to explore her educational journey that led her to EY and how her career path has evolved so far with the firm.

Sarah, a Limerick native whose proactive attitude and strong work ethic stem from her time in Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh, an all-Irish Secondary School in Limerick City. Sarah spoke highly of the teachers  and in particular, the principal Donncha O Treasaigh for their commitment to giving students a range of opportunities, encouragement and a high standard of care and education.

Post-secondary, Sarah studied her BBS in Business and French in the University of Limerick. This fortified her goal to work for a global organisation which gave opportunities for travel. Over her 4-year degree, Sarah developed strong relationships with her lecturers, most notably Dr John Heneghan who was a key driving force for Sarah’s educational and professional development. The University of Limerick also afforded Sarah many opportunities including an Erasmus semester spent in Nice, France.

Her journey with EY started after first year when she did a 6-week summer placement in EY’s Limerick office. Following second year, Sarah returned to EY Limerick for a 12-week Summer Internship Programme where she was put straight onto projects. After completing her programme, Sarah went on to complete her work placement, as part of her college course, in EY’s Dublin office on the Corporate Tax Team. During this placement, Sarah, following an application process was chosen as one of EY’s two interns in Ireland to attend EY’s International Internship Leadership  Conference in Disney World Florida, where she networked with 1000’s of interns from different EY offices around the globe.

Graduating in 2019, with a First Class Honours, Sarah then completed an EY fully sponsored Masters in Accounting in UCD Michael Smurfit Business School. A sponsorship opportunity open to all EY Graduates. Following a First Class Honours in her masters, Sarah then joined the EY Tax Graduate Programme in 2020 on the UKI Corporate Tax Team.

Looking back on her career to date, we asked Sarah what were the key elements of her journey that helped her with her CAI exams and FAE placement. She noted EY’s 3-month study leave which was key for her studies. EY also facilitated extra in house lectures for each set of exams which were paramount to her results.

We also asked Sarah what other areas of EY she loved, she noted the people culture, level of experience given to interns and graduates, the global aspect of the firm, the credibility, support for study leave and the comradery amongst the graduate intakes.

For anyone thinking of applying to an EY Graduate Programme, work placement or summer internship, Sarah had the below advice.

“Everyone has a LinkedIn for a reason. Every person who has ever reached out to me on LinkedIn, I’ve had a conversation with. It is different when you are in the company, you already know the culture of the firm, so you are a great person to get advice from. You need to talk to someone who is already in the job. If you don’t know them personally, reach out to them on LinkedIn.”

If you are interested in applying for a summer internship or graduate programme with one of Ireland’s top student employers, our applications are now open. Click here to find out more.