I just came out the other side of the EY EM interview process (Technology Consulting, manager-level). Five weeks, five rounds. Here's what I wish I'd understood going in.
The rounds: Recruiter screen Experience interview with a senior manager (competency-based, very structured) Technical credibility interview with a peer-level EM or director Case/presentation round (they give you a scenario a few days ahead, you present to a panel) Partner interview
What they're actually assessing: EY is a professional services firm first and a technology firm second. Every single round is testing whether you can manage a client relationship, not just a team. The technical credibility round exists so they can confirm you won't embarrass yourself with a client's CTO. They're not checking if you can whiteboard algorithms.
The case presentation is the one that trips people up. Mine was a scenario where a large retail client's data platform migration was 4 months behind, the client relationship was strained, and I had a team of 8 split across two time zones. They wanted to see: how do I triage the project, how do I re-establish trust with the client, and what decisions do I escalate. Prepare for this one. It's a real consulting case dressed up as a project management problem.
Behavioral questions were STAR-method, heavily weighted toward: managing underperformers, delivering hard news to stakeholders, building relationships outside your team. One question I got: 'Tell me about a time you had to manage expectations when your team could not deliver what was promised.' No wriggle room on that one.
Leveling at EY is different from product companies. Manager here means roughly 7-10 YOE and you're expected to own client relationships, not just team health. Director and above is where you're originating work. Keep that in mind when you're calibrating your stories.
Comp was competitive but structured differently than FAANG. More predictable salary band, profit-sharing component, and generous PTO. I ended up with a base around $165k in a non-NYC market. No RSU component which is the main tradeoff.