1. EY graduates are given decent roles, if you perform well and want to be stretched you can request and can take on more work. Especially internal work that may be producing "glossy" type documents or working on bids, which is good for raising a graduate profile and also tends to be of interest to you as you can cherry pick the sector you want to help out in. As it tends to be non-chargeable (internal work) you can search out areas/people you want to work with. On projects roles can vary from mundane to stretching and with genuine responsibility (for a graduate)2. Yes promotion is likely after the 18 month programme, however a number of caveats. As an ACP you are in a general ACP pool, when being promoted to SC you pick a specific area to work in, Supply Chain, Strategy, IT Advisory, People and Org Change etc. There needs to be space in this area for a new SC (there generally is) and you need sponsorship from seniors in that area, again relatively easy to get if you work hard and aren't a giant douche. Salary level for an SC if you are based in London is around the 45k mark as a direct promotion from Consultant. Some SC's are on up to 65k due to Industry experience.3. Strategy is probably one of the hardest to specialise in as it is seen as "glamourous" by all graduates who really wanted to work at MBB but probably didn't make the grade. So you get a flock of people rushing to work in this area, with a relatively small team in comparison to other EY areas it becomes harder to get an SC role in this area.4. No you don't really have a choice in where you get sent, if you genuinely hate it (and not just dislike it) effort can be made to arrange for a new project however this tends to be in extreme circumstances and won't be just after your first week, I've seen it happen for people who have been on a project 6 months for example and it was genuinely effecting their morale. Typical locations - all over the UK, some London and home counties projects, some overseas (if you're lucky/into that sort of thing). Typical working hours depend on the project. Some projects are speifically 9-5 due to client working restrictions, whereas you will sometimes be expected to do 70 hour weeks, however these tend to be the expection, rather than the rule. On projects I think most graduates do somewhere between 45-60 hours a week, probably around the 50 mark.
