Akanksha, an economics student at the University of Nottingham, has recently completed an internship with Deloitte, and found the experience really boosted her confidence in the career path that she wants to persue after university. She answered a few questions about how she found it, and what she'd want to share with other Bright Network members. 
What initially attracted you to the internship with Deloitte?
I attended the Bright Network Festival to talk to the firms about the areas they are offering an internship in and what they entail - this is when someone mentioned Risk Advisory. The dynamic, problem-solving style of the field appealed to me - a variety of projects and clients and an ability to learn continuously with a supportive team. I am grateful to the festival for giving me the opportunity to find out about so many different companies and areas so that I could find what out exactly what interested me.
Great! I’m glad we could help. Can you explain a bit more about exactly what your role entailed?
I was given the opportunity to shadow between three different areas of Risk, and in the end to choose the particular field which I would want to choose for the graduate scheme. This was excellent because I got the chance to speak to so many different people on graduate and senior levels and find out what they do. I was assisting with reports and working papers, formatting PowerPoints, building spreadsheets and shadowing meetings.
What did you learn from it?
One of the projects I was given to help out on was 'Risk Analytics' and the team was working on automating a process for a client. I was given the huge responsibility of checking all the PDFs and CSVs produced by this automated process against the manually produced files for any discrepancies and to report my findings. I learnt a lot from this particular task and it made me feel like a valued member of the team; it played a big part in me choosing Analytics at the end of the internship.
Has it influenced your thinking on what career path you might want to pursue in the future?
Yes, definitely. The chance to assist on important projects across different departments helped me get a better idea about what is the difference between each area of Risk and what appeals to me more. It has made me more confident in my ability. It has helped me realise I enjoy working as part of a team on important projects and change and variety is important to me, and these are the qualities I would pursue in my future.
Have you got some top tips for members looking to follow in your footsteps?
Before applying for any internships, I would recommend finding out as much as you can about the different areas. Applications are a long process and you do not want to waste precious time on applying for an area you are not passionate about. Events like the Bright Network Festival are a great starting point for networking and gathering more knowledge. When you get the internship, be proactive and ask as many questions as you'd like. I was told they liked me asking questions before I start because it helped them make sure I knew what I was doing and could be trusted with the task.
