Graduate recruitment in Deloitte careers blog
What does Pride mean to our people and Deloitte GLOBE
We've reached out to number of members from the Deloitte Globe Network to find about their plans for Pride in London 2017, and to find out more about their individual stories and any tips they can share for the parade!
Matt Batham, Partner, Tax Consulting: The GLOBE network is important to make ourselves visible
I joined Deloitte as a graduate in 1995 and I’m now a Partner in the Business Tax practice. I chose Deloitte because I wanted to be in professional services and quite liked the idea of tax. I also wanted to live in London after attending University in Bath, having grown up in the Midlands , so it seemed like an obvious career choice to get some qualifications and develop professionally.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work on many exciting projects during my time here, and have been seconded to live overseas in the US twice. The first time was early in my career back in 1999 when I worked in the International Tax practice in Deloitte’s Chicago office. Then more recently in 2009, my family and I moved to New York for a couple of years. I loved living and working in both places, but think Chicago is such a great city that I would love to return their to love some time.
I was asked to join the GLOBE network when it was established in 2007. It’s quite interesting because at the time it didn’t feel that important to me. Personally I didn’t think we needed the network, but I was convinced by one of the founders, that it was essential to have a network that brought together LGBT colleagues and allies. GLOBE plays a key role in creating an inclusive environment where people can be themselves at work.
Pride shows how far our society has come in terms of the acceptance of LGBT people, but it’s also a good time to reflect on how far there is to go. Not only in London, but more critically, in other parts of the world. We can take a lot of what we have for granted
Margaret Scott, Director, Risk Advisory: We’ve really got to get the whole firm thinking that this is everyone’s concern.
The GLOBE network is a really good way of doing two things. It supports people in the firm who don’t feel comfortable coming out at work, particularly if they have concerns about what it could mean for them – it gives them a way to hear about others’ experiences and how they have gone about it.
Secondly, I’m really excited by the Allies Programme. People that aren’t LGBT can be visible allies: they can show their support in an easy way – by coming to GLOBE events, or by using a GLOBE mug or notebook. It means that our LGBT colleagues feel supported without having to ask – which is so important. We’ve really got to get the whole firm thinking that this is everyone’s concern and the allies programme is a first step in achieving that.
I have been at Deloitte for 17 years, joining as a graduate. I chose this firm because I knew it was a way of getting a good qualification in finance – but also because I loved the people I met during the recruitment process. In all that time, the project I’ve enjoyed the most, and found the most challenging and exciting, was our work with one of the large national public health bodies. I was seconded to Leeds for a year and a half to help set up the organisation, recruit the finance team and figure out what it was they were going to do. That was a really good experience.
Pride is a philosophy I’m quite close to. It’s really good fun; such a fantastic day. People bring their kids along and it’s just brilliant – but still has an important message today in these uncertain political times.
Will Black, Manager, Clients & Market: Honest from day one
I’d been in public relations for a while, previously working for charities and trade bodies. Four years ago, I felt the time was right to broaden my experience with a move into the corporate world, so I applied for a position in the Press Office at Deloitte. It’s been quite refreshing to come into this arena in my mid-30s. The expectations at Deloitte are high, but it’s a very nice and supportive work environment.
It was really important to me to join the GLOBE network; so I joined as soon as I started at Deloitte. In every working environment I’d been in previously, I’d held back my sexuality. If asked what I did at the weekend, I would fudge it to make it unspecific to having a male partner. But I was tired of that. By joining Deloitte, I felt this was the time and place to be honest from day one.
Attending Pride is also vital. Everyone should be reminded of the history, and how important it is to be able to march on one day and think about our rights. So many people before us led very unhappy and closeted lives, where they couldn’t be themselves. The thing I find most moving about the march is all the support from the spectators.
George Simons, Analyst, Consulting: GLOBE is a strong community
Deloitte’s GLOBE network is a strong community that sends the message: I can be who I want to be at work; it makes me feel I can be out and proud here.
I first came into contact with GLOBE at an LGBT recruitment fair I ran at my university, UCL, where I met GLOBE co-chairs Emily Sendall and Tom Kohler. After that, I experienced what it’s like to be LGBT in the workplace at Deloitte’s LGBT Insight Day for students. When I joined, I pretty much signed up to GLOBE on my first day.
I started on the Graduate Programme in September 2016. But my experience of working at Deloitte began three years ago, with a summer job. Everyone treated me really well and it was a great environment. Plus consulting really appealed to me for the type of work I could do and the opportunities it offered. Deloitte felt like a good fit.
Since then, the most exciting project I’ve worked on has been our global CIO programme. I got to work with our global technology leader and help define and develop how we communicate Deloitte technology to senior executives at some of the world’s largest organisations. What it is, how it fits in the market, where it invests, and where it’s going in the future. It was incredible exposure to the most senior people in the business.
London Pride is one of my favourite days of the year. It’s really important as a celebration of who we are, but it’s also one of the only times our community comes together. If you’re going to Pride for the first time: enjoy yourself, appreciate every aspect of the community and eat and drink to your heart’s content!
Mihaela Jembei, Consultant, Risk Advisory: Acceptance and support is important
Deloitte has an inclusive culture; it’s open to women and people from different backgrounds in terms of education, race and sexuality. I’d heard lots of great things about the firm, from people at my university, King’s College London, and outside. Deloitte’s inclusivity was a differentiating factor for me.
I joined the Graduate Programme in September 2016, as a Consultant in the Cyber department within Risk Advisory. Cyber involves many different things and is often in the news. I can debunk the myth that you need very technical skills to work here; you don’t. It’s been a wonderful journey and I’m so happy I decided to work here.
I joined the GLOBE network quite recently, as I want to attend Pride this year. It will be my first time, despite living in London for almost 4 years. I also want to get to know more people from outside my department; to find likeminded people across the firm. GLOBE matters to me. I’m from Moldova, where views about Pride are different. Being who you are, having acceptance and support, and not being afraid of repercussions is important. Being able to express yourself is often overlooked, but it’s such an important thing. GLOBE is a great avenue for that.
Of course, London is one of the best places in the world to express yourself. I’ve heard amazing things about Pride. For me, it’s the next step in standing up for who I am, by joining other people in a celebration of love and happiness.
Laurie Rutter, Analyst, Consulting: Deloitte has provided an opportunity for me to actually get involved
A couple of years ago, I stood at the side of Regents Street watching people walk past but I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never properly been involved in Pride before. Being at Deloitte has provided an opportunity for me to get more involved this year and I can’t wait – it’s going to be fun!
I joined Deloitte as a graduate in September 2016. Before then, I spent two years working at a start-up. It was a fantastic opportunity and a difficult decision to leave, but I decided to join Deloitte to get more formal training, to meet more people and work on a variety of projects.
I signed up to GLOBE as soon as I joined the firm. I’d previously attended a GLOBE Insight Day and I guess it was one of the reasons I was keen to join Deloitte. Since then, I’ve been involved in our buddy scheme - anyone who joins GLOBE can request a buddy and I pair them up with an existing GLOBE member.
But the main thing I’ve been doing with GLOBE is helping to improve trans inclusion at the firm. Deloitte recently launched a gender expression and transition policy to support employees who identify as anything other than cisgender, which basically means born female and identify as female, or vice versa.
I was involved in launching the policy in March this year. Since then, we’ve run two trans awareness training sessions with R&I advisors, HR, legal and some volunteers from the GLOBE steering committee. They have become our trans champions. The next step is to spread awareness and encourage inclusion at the firm more widely.
Graduate Case Study: "I felt included from day one"
We caught up with our very own Jess Holden on what work life is like as a Graduate in Audit & Assurance and the experiences she has been through so far. Jess graduated from Durham University with combined Honours in Arts (History and Economics) in June 2016. She joined Deloitte in September 2016 and is currently based in our Edinburgh office. Curious about what she has to say? Check out her accounts below:
What does your day-to-day role involve?
I work as part of one of the larger teams in Deloitte’s Edinburgh office, auditing an investment management company. Day-to-day I am out at the client site, with the rest of the team. I started with no prior audit experience, but everyone was willing to find time to explain things, and answer any questions. We have regular catch-ups within the team to check on everyone’s process, which made me feel included from day one. Importantly, Deloitte’s graduates interact with clients right from the start of the programme. It’s great to know that work you’re doing is actually contributing to the wider audit.
Did you feel ready to be working with clients on real projects so soon after joining?
It may sound daunting, but everyone is supportive and will make sure you’re prepared to go to the client with any issues. The good thing about working on such a big team is that you are always learning, and can pick up new skills as you go along. So far I've also spent 50% of my time at ICAS [the Instituted of Chartered Accountants of Scotland] studying for my chartered accountancy exams. Deloitte is really supportive of this, and I get to pretend I’m still a student for a little while longer!
Why did you choose to apply to Deloitte?
I applied to Deloitte at the start of my final year at Durham University, as the challenge of working for a company at the top of its game particularly appealed. Then the more research I did about the firm throughout the application process, the more I found it to be a friendly and approachable place that really cared about its people. I felt working for Deloitte would not only be the initial challenge I hoped for, but would also help me develop my skills and forge a successful career long-term.
How did you find Deloitte’s application process?
The application process was fast and fairly straightforward in comparison to others I’ve experienced. I found a lot of guidance on the Deloitte website, which helped me answer the initial application questions. Once I’d got through the first few rounds of online tests, the process was all with real people at the Edinburgh Office.
What were your interviews like?
The manager at my interview was friendly and put me at ease straight away. It felt they really wanted to get to know me, and answered all my questions about the firm and the role. For the Partner interview I had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation on audit rotation. At first this seemed a little daunting. But again, in reality, I found the Partner to be friendly and approachable and interested in the points I put forward. The rest of the interview was relaxed and chatty, which gave me a good impression of the welcoming nature of the firm. Importantly, I heard back after each round the very next day. And, when I was eventually offered a place on the Deloitte graduate programme, the manager who conducted my first round interview reached out to congratulate me personally. It was a small but nice touch that gave me a really good feeling about joining Deloitte.
What advice would you give to graduates considering applying to Deloitte?
Make sure you do your research, but no-one’s expecting you to know everything about Deloitte or the role. The important thing is just to be yourself, and show your enthusiasm for the role you’re applying for. And don’t be afraid to ask your interviewer questions.
What do you like most about working at Deloitte?
The people are what makes it. Both as a year group of grads, and within my team, the people have been welcoming, approachable and friendly. Like any job, we sometimes have to work long hours, but the team spirit is always high. Working for a large company such as Deloitte also has the social benefits too. Whether it is team drinks, an office-wide 10k or even touch rugby, there’s always something going on.
What’s your next step?
Once I’ve qualified, I plan to take advantage of the global nature of Deloitte; hopefully taking part in the secondment programme that offers the chance to work in other offices across the world. After that I am unsure, but I know that whatever happens there are so many different opportunities available within Deloitte itself. I am also confident that the skills I have developed so far, and will continue to develop throughout my time at Deloitte, will provide numerous opportunities to further my career in the future.
Up for a challenge and a career in Audit & Assurance? Here's your opportunity to find out more about joining us and work with friendly and approachable people from senior management to graduates.
Key tips for getting a job in programming
We've asked our Deloitte Digital colleagues to give us a quick tip sheet for those looking at a career in programming.
Eóin and Jacob are our resident iOS developers who specialises in user-experience-focused apps. From flying drones in North Wales, to attending LGBTQ late opening and working recruit new graduates to join Deloitte Digital so there's never a dull day!
Get ready, here's their insights and tips to starting a career in programming:
- Interest in Coding - As an engineering applicant you need to be able to code some. But if you didn’t do it at university, proving you’re interested by teaching yourself is a great way to get an edge. Use Udacity, Big Nerd Ranch or Ray Wenderlich for beginner-level tutorials. Showcase your projects and get inspiration from others with GitHub.
- Commercial Awareness - Be sure to keep up-to-date on recent business news and understand current world events. Read the Financial Times or the Economist critically to develop this.
- Work Experience - For many places, this is a must as it proves you can operate in a workplace environment.
- Extra Curricular Activities - Have you been in a band? Have you helped run a society at university? Played in a sports team? All of these show dedication and develop key soft skills.
- Previous Entrepreneurial Endeavours - Selling t-shirts on your website or making profit on an event you set up all count!
- Being Friendly & Approachable - The seemingly banal trait of being a nice person actually goes a long long way in landing a job at Deloitte.
Do you have questions for Eóin and Jacob? Leave your question below and they'll get back to you!
Test your problem solving skills: Forensic Technology Challenge #4
Paying homage to our fondness of brain-teasers, every month we post a new challenge created by the Forensic Technology team, focusing on logical, analytical and coding problems.
Analysing data for patterns/trends is an important part of what we do in Forensic Technology. With this in mind we have returned to our programming roots for this month’s challenge. Can you write a script to solve the below…?
i) What are the factors of 379065191139531?
ii) What connects 35432488 with these numbers: 806095675586097, 7405814774826 and 379065191139531
We’ll be posting our Python based solution next month at which point we will bid you farewell for the year. We hope to be back next year with more puzzles but in a different format so make sure you keep an eye out for our return!
Enjoyed this? Check out our other Forensic Technology blog posts.
If you are someone who enjoys problem-solving, logical thinking and technology, check out our Forensic Technology graduate professional roles to see if they are the right fit.
What's the answer?
For the final time this year we present our solution to the challenge we have set you:
i) Below is the code we used in Python 3.5 to calculate the factors of 379065191139531:
ii) As alluded to in part i) the first step to solving ii) is to get the factors of 806095675586097, 7405814774826 and 379065191139531. The next part is not so obvious. First we need the common factors of the 3 numbers we were just looking at. Then with some outside-the-box thinking we sum over these common factors to arrive at 35432488.
The code to do this is below:
We hope to be back next year bigger and better so keep a look out for future posts.
Test your problem solving skills: Forensic Technology Challenge #3
Paying homage to our fondness of brain-teasers, every month we post a new challenge created by the Forensic Technology team, focusing on logical, analytical and coding problems.
For this month’s challenge, we are heading over to Rio (figuratively) and getting into the spirit of the Paralympic games. Using the publicly available data for the last two Paralympics (Beijing and London), we want you to predict using a mathematical model how many gold medals ParalympicsGB will win in Rio.
Test your problem solving skills: Forensic Technology Challenge #2
Paying homage to our fondness of brain-teasers, every month we post a new challenge created by the Forensic Technology team, focusing on logical, analytical and coding problems.
For this month’s challenge you need to put your spy hat on and decrypt a message.
Golden opportunity for Impact Award winners
On Saturday 16 July the winning four teams from the Impact Awards were given an opportunity to see-off the ParalympicsGB athletes in style at the Deloitte sponsored Team Launch. The Impact Awards celebrates employees that make an impact that matters—for clients, for our people, and for society.
Forensic Technology Challenge – Bonus Question
Already solved the #4TechChallenge for this month? Here’s a bonus question to keep your mind in challenge mode:
Test your problem solving skills: Forensic Technology Challenge #1
In Forensic Technology complex problem solving is a large part of our day-to-day work.
Paying homage to our fondness of brain-teasers, we’re launching a monthly Forensic Technology Challenge - a new series of logical, analytical and coding problems that put into practice the STEM, finance and technology skills essential to our work.
Forensic Technology office in St Albans
The Forensic Technology practice has grown dramatically over the last 10 years and today is a team of 84 professionals. We are embarking on a new and exciting expansion by opening an office in St Albans and we are looking for ambitious and driven individuals to help grow the team to 50 in this location. We have invested in a spacious state of the art laboratory for analysing and processing data. From a work perspective there will be no distinction between the office in London with a variety of opportunities within the UK and abroad.
The picture below is from our office window and shows just how close the train station is. There is also free parking on site so several of our London based team members are considering swapping their rail season ticket for a set of car keys!
Callum from the Deloitte St Albans office describes what it was like working outside of the City.
“There is a more relaxed, friendly and personal working environment. The St Albans social committee plan all sorts of fun events, the Summer and Christmas Balls are the main ones. Then there’s the new joiner social event in the local pubs and there is an end of busy season social at the end of February which is usually a bar night in London, curry night, karaoke. Then they always try and switch things up last year they did cheese and wine night and a trip to London Zoo, this year there is talks of arranging everyone to go to a football match.”
Find more information about who we are, what we do and our Graduate Recruitment opportunities on the Forensic Technology website.
