Received an interview invite on Nov 1. Attended a Pre-Interview Event at EY Dublin on Nov 6, which included networking with recruiters and current trainees. The in-person interview took place on Nov 11.

I submitted the online application a week before the final application deadline and got a call the next day informing me that HR was impressed by my CV and that I would be invited to an interview, once the deadline closes. I was invited a week later to attend a breakfast panel round where around 100 interviewees met a number of senior partners and were introduced to EY's Vision 2020 and general company concepts. It was very insightful, as some current employees told how they first started at EY which helped to take away some of the nervousness of the candidates. I had two interviews in the afternoon of the same day. One was with a lady from HR who asked a series of standard questions and wrote down notes while I answered. She was very friendly and relaxed which encouraged me to speak freely and without being self-conscious. She asked mainly competency-based questions. The second interview was with a senior partner of one of the service lines. He was more interested in my CV itself (he had it in front of him) and asked me questions about it. However, it was more like a chat rather than a drilling test. He knew I did not have an extensive finance background so I guess that's why he didn't ask any questions related to it. Both interviews were extremely positive and even fun and the same evening I got a call with an offer which I had to accept within 7 days. Overall, a very positive application experience. The company really made me feel like they care about their employees.