Global accounting and consulting firm EY Han Young said on the 22nd it will host the "EY Han Young-JA Growth to Professional" college business plan competition for college students interested in startups and consulting. Applications are open until Jan. 8 next year.
EY Han Young-JA Growth to Professional is an annual social contribution program co-hosted by EY Han Young and the global nonprofit youth education organization JA Korea. It began in 2019 and marks its seventh year this year.
As part of EY's global social contribution campaign "EY Ripples," it focuses on supporting the capacity building of future generations by leveraging employees' expertise and hands-on experience. The company noted it is designed not as a competition-focused contest but with the goal of participants' tangible growth.
So far, 465 college students have participated in the competition, and 625 EY Han Young employees have volunteered as mentors and instructors. The program has become EY Han Young's representative initiative to support future generations and has received three external awards.
Instructors and mentors include active EY Han Young accountants and consultants from EY Consulting, the consulting arm, and EY-Parthenon, the strategy and financial advisory arm, as well as audit and tax, who provide soft skills training and close mentoring throughout the entire process—from business idea planning to business plan writing and the presentation competition. Through this process, participants can systematically strengthen their presentation skills, logical thinking, and team collaboration capabilities.
After recruiting participants until Jan. 8 next year, the competition will hold an orientation on Jan. 13 for all applicants regardless of acceptance. After document screening and interviews, 50 final participants will be selected on Jan. 23. The selected participants will join team building on Jan. 27-28, then spend about a month refining their business ideas through mentoring by EY Han Young experts, followed by an interim presentation and preliminaries. The final round and awards ceremony will be held on Feb. 27.
All training and mentoring sessions will be conducted online, while team building, the final round, and the awards ceremony will be held offline at the EY Han Young office in Park One, Yeouido, Seoul.
College students wishing to participate can apply through the JA Korea website.