After starting her career in consulting on missions around the agile method with large industrial groups such as Total or Renault, Jessica Volckmann decided to join EY to handle Responsible Digital activities. She tells us about the impact it had on her career.What made you want to join the EY group?I discovered the consulting profession at the beginning of my professional career when I was working with the Renault group, and then I arrived at a crossroads. I had the choice between continuing to work as a consultant with the EY Group or leaving the consulting business, with the risk of locking myself into one sector of activity. I chose to go for a bigger perspective, which allows me to work in a variety of dynamic industries and which has given me the opportunity to expand my skills in areas of expertise such as Responsible Digital.Tell us how your integration process went.From the very first interviews, I was impressed by the availability of the senior managers. You can feel a real commitment to getting to know the future employee. When I joined the company, I appreciated this availability on the part of those who would become my future superiors.Tell us about an experience that had a strong impact on your career.I joined EY as an Agile Product Owner. At the end of my first mission, I had the opportunity to take over the management of a project dealing with Digital Responsibility for one of our clients. This mission led me to think about a work organization that takes into consideration the social and environmental footprint of digital technology, both at the strategic and operational levels. Before this experience, I had never had the opportunity to work on these subjects. Taking the lead on this project has had a real impact on my career.At the same time, through the training programmes offered by EY, I obtained several certifications that increased my expertise. When it came time to take stock, the quality of my work was rewarded and recognised by my peers. I was promoted to Manager and my scope of work was expanded. I am now responsible for a team, I actively participate in the construction of our service portfolio and I also lead the Responsible Digital community internally.As a manager, how do you show your support to your team?Being a manager is not easy, even if we are supported by the company. One of my priorities is to provide a supportive working environment for my teams. It's important that they feel comfortable doing their jobs. To make sure that everything is going well, I do regular feedback. In terms of organisation, I position myself as a sort of guide, I give them the main directions, and I trust them while remaining the guarantor of the quality of the work done by my department. I always try to have a collaborative approach.Is it more difficult to manage a team of juniors?A young team needs to be well structured. I am very flexible on working hours, but it is also essential to meet at least twice a week to create a collective emulation and get to know each other better. Every three months, as managers, we have the opportunity to give feedback on the performance of the teams individually on three axes (better me - better us - better client). My responsibility as a manager is to give feedback on my strengths and areas for improvement.Have you ever experienced salary inequalities throughout your professional life?At EY, we have a whole process to fight against salary inequalities. Everything is gridded. If you move up to a new grade, you have a clear idea of the next prospects. And it's also easier to project yourself in the long term. Salary development is based on your annual performance.What percentage of your time is spent on technical matters versus product strategy/design reviews?We would all like to do more. But overall, I spend 4 days a week on customer work and one day a week on other issues. One thing is for sure, the customer remains a priority.Do you have a mentor or sponsor?When joining EY, each employee is assigned a sponsor who will accompany him or her and help him or her identify the right path to follow to achieve his or her professional goals. These regular exchanges allow us to identify the right levers to activate in order to build a strategy in line with our professional aspirations.

“Within EY, we have an entire process that helps address pay inequities ”

Team 50inTech