Summer Analyst - Technology Consulting Review

I truly enjoyed my summer internship at Deloitte. The toughest part was to get in really. Once there, you are actually able to enjoy the work you are supposed to do. Obviously, often it can be challenging, but that's okay, I learned a lot this way. Additionally, it is fair to say that it depends on your outgoingness, whether you have much to do or not. This can be both an opportunity, and a trap, as you amass too much work, or on the contrary not having anything.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. I regularly sought feedback from team members on my approach to work and how I could improve, upon which colleagues would always complement the work I put in, the quality of it, and how I played a crucial role in different projects. I also was involved with Senior management, despite being the junior person in the office, this opened up opportunities to be involved in bids and planning.

The training was useful upon joining the firm, however on the job training was consistently provided to develop my skills. I always had someone I could go to if I was stuck or unsure what to do, and it seemed there was never a bad time to ask someone for guidance. Completing away projects on my own was difficult, but managers always ensured I was comfortable and confident in what I was doing.

During busy season I was extremely busy and spent a lot of time travelling around the country, and abroad sometimes, which was very tiring. However, there was rest bite during projects when there was not much to do, whilst waiting for the client to provide the required information. During the Summer it was fairly quiet, due to there being a minority of companies having year end then, but this opened up opportunities to be involved in other jobs which proved to be enjoyable and a good experience. So I'd say the balance of workload was pretty good.

I was treated the same as any other graduate, as I was integrated into the firm amongst the new graduate joiners. From day 1 I was held responsible for completing key areas of projects and held accountable for the results. Within the few months I'd been entrusted to go to clients on my own and complete various meetings, testing, and write ups - some of which was done abroad! Hence, I was given a LOT of responsibility.

Completing the placement provided me with the experience to match theory to practice, but also improve employability skills. I had to be extremely organised and have excellent time management skills during the placement, which will assist me during the final year of my degree. I also worked amongst a number of different teams and learnt to adapt my communication approach to various groups and people.

I didn't spend much time in the office, as I was primarily out at client sites. On client sites the team atmosphere was always very good, with the odd exception of some panicking here and there, which made me look forward to go to work because I enjoyed the atmosphere amongst my colleagues. Whenever I was in the office I also experienced this, alongside this we had regular socials, meals and drinks, which was very enjoyable

My placement was very well organised, prior to joining I had been contacted and given the details of my placement overseer, who was my first point of contact for any issues. I was then given an office induction and attended a large Deloitte welcome event to integrate me into the firm. Throughout the placement everyone was really helpful and wanted me to do multiple types of work to have a good understanding of what Deloitte does as a whole.

The firm definitely made an effort to make sure that the experience was valuable for us and that we learnt from it, but because it was only six weeks long, there was a limit to how much training we could be given. We were given two days induction at the start, to explain how things worked and make sure that we were set up with the IT systems etc., but after that it was straight into proper work, and most of the learning that took place was 'on the job', rather than from dedicated training sessions. I think that much more emphasis is placed on training and development if you join the graduate scheme, but on a six week internship there simply isn't enough time to focus too heavily on those aspects.

Future employment prospects at Deloitte are very appealing. Upon completing the internship, I was offered a place on the graduate programme, which tended to be the case also with most other interns. Deloitte has a great culture and invests heavily in its employees, I am really looking forward to beginning my career at such a well-established and respected firm.

Yes, some Thursday we had socials with both fellow placement students and colleagues which help integration into the firm and allowed us to get to know the other people in the firm. We also had a couple of lunches with people from within the department which again helped to successfully integrate placement students within the firm.

I was based in London which has a higher cost of living compared to other Deloitte offices in the country. However, this is to be expected. For the socials, the costs were covered by Deloitte which many of us appreciated, being students! A couple of interns were based outside of London on their client projects and were able to claim back expenses through the company.

Anyone who is familiar with London will know that an unparalleled nightlife exists here. A wide variety of restaurants, bars, clubs are just some of what London has to offer. It is both the financial and cosmopolitan hub of England and so it is a very appealing city to begin a career in, for any young professional.

Yes, several. Over 5 weeks, we had 1-2 activities outside of work to get involved in on average, per week. This ranged from socials and networking evenings to office tours and Partner talks. With my project team however, there were very few opportunities, perhaps due to how it was mostly non-Deloitte.