Katie graduated from York last year with a degree in Law and, after applying to the role through Bright Network, is now 5 months into her graduate role at Deloitte. We wanted to catch up with Katie to find out how her time at Deloitte has been.
What have your first few months at Deloitte as a graduate consisted of?
I work as a Consultant within Technology Risk Controls. During my first month I had training in several different tools and fields to help prepare me for the role. All the Risk Advisory department did this training together so it was a really good way of getting to know everyone across all the offices, we had a few socials and game nights planned especially in the first week.
Since training, I have spent half my time on client sites and half in office so it's been quite well balanced. I've already done some client interviews on my own and I can't believe how quickly it's all gone and what I've learned in a short space of time. Everyone I've worked with has been really friendly, whenever I've had questions about work or Deloitte in general I've always been given support and help. You feel really supported and for every project I am on, there are people there to help supervise and guide the work.
My main role at the moment, is split between IT Audit and Data Analytics. For IT Audit I mostly look at controls around Access Security like passwords, or Change Management. I gather evidence from the client, then document what I've tested. Within Data Analytics I spend most of my time fixing data issues in excel, then doing a bit of coding to test the data and give results, I then either put this into Tableau which is a data visualisation tool, or excel to show the results of the testing.
Have your first months been what you expected?
In terms of the work and the training itself it is quite similar to what I expected. However, work at Deloitte is definitely more interesting and dynamic than I would have thought. I initially thought I would be in offices all day but that wasn't the case at all. On my first day after training I was in a warehouse doing a stock check for the Audit team. I was not expecting to work in Data Analytics but was offered some extra training in it so thought I might as well. I'm glad I did because it's now something I really enjoy doing.
What’s been your highlight and most challenging moment so far?
My highlight so far has been receiving a limelight award along with the rest of my team on a project we did before Christmas. It was a misconception on my part, assuming that I would be office based at all times. Working on client site for over a month, was a culture shock but I soon settled into a different work environment as always supported by the team. I’ve loved my time there and learnt a lot. I’ve definitely grown more in confidence across my time there as I’ve done my own client interviews, emails, and documentation. The team I was working with have been really helpful and answered my many questions about the work I was doing. Seeing the project from start to finish was really rewarding.
My most challenging moment has been learning all the acronyms and which tools I needed to use for different things. I didn’t know much about technology before starting, so trying to find out where I could access these tools (never mind how to use them) also took me a little while. There are lots of things Deloitte uses to create value and innovation for its clients, we get sent regular internal newsletters about what different things are being worked on and what impact they might have. Adjusting to that was quite hard initially and I’m still learning but I think learning how such a large company works will always take a little while. The Executive Assistant’s in my department have been great about answering questions about any processes or work at the firm so that’s definitely made it a bit easier.
What are you most looking forward to doing in the next 3 months?
In the next 3 months I will also be starting the ACA. I have not done accounting before so I’m a little nervous but I’m looking forward to the challenge and seeing what it is like. I’ve been told that we all go to college together so it’s a really good way to bond and learn what different work other new starters are doing across different departments. I think it will be a nice change of pace to do the ACA alongside work. Doing the ACA will bring about new challenges but as oppose to my other academic learning, it will incorporate some work based learning and I will have people to refer to for advice and guidance.
If you could give a new graduate/intern any advice for their first few months, what would it be?
I'd say don't be afraid to ask questions and, if you feel comfortable with it, definitely accept any opportunities to learn more or try something new. Especially when you're just starting, it's a really good way of finding out what you like to do or what you definitely don’t want to do. I’d spend a lot of time researching the different departments and what they do, if you like the sound of it, you can speak to someone about giving that work a go.
