Associate Review

It was a really enjoyable placement experience, it gave me exposure to a number of different situations that I had never experienced before in my life. This included working on site with clients and interacting with them and around them to achieve the work that needed to be performed while also working to strict deadlines as part of your own team. There was a nice variety to the work I was asked to perform as we were asked to work on a number of different audit teams throughout the year and therefore were asked to perform different types of testing for different clients. However there were some pieces of work which were mundane and parts of the year where there was a lot of work that needed to be performed which led to long hours during those busy periods. However throughout the year as a whole I really enjoyed my placement at Deloitte.

During the placement I always felt valued and part of the team, this was from other associates all the way through to management and the partners. Everyone was very welcoming and always willing to help if there was some work you were not sure on. There was a good social aspect to working at Deloitte with socials running through the year. Also due to the nature of audit there are a lot of people in their first three years at Deloitte which meant there were plenty people in my age group, this meant it was easier to make friends with your colleagues which then meant when working together it was more fun and your comments/work was more respected.

On joining Deloitte we were given a buddy who would answer questions that we may have and also when you join your first audit team everyone is willing to help out with any questions. I found this to be an effective support structure as you always had someone to talk to if you needed and at no point was I discouraged from asking questions, the opposite was true. We were given feedback on request at the end of every engagement which was mostly very helpful and helped improve my performance throughout the year.

For the majority of the year there was a good balance of work per day, this was where I got to work and immediately continued with whatever I had been tasked with and continued towards my objectives until the end of a normal day 5:30/6, This meant I didn't get bored during the day and also allowed enough time in the evenings to do something or just relax. However there were points during the year where there wasn't any substantial amount of work to do which led to boredom, but more commonly there was a large amount of work which led to working till late in the evenings. This is part of the audit job due to the nature of signing off accounts around year end, however it is still a problem as working long hours during Feb/Apr is not ideal.

I was, after two weeks of training, immediately given a lot of responsibility. This included completing areas of testing for management review and interacting with the client to gain the necessary information to complete the testing. As the year went on I was given more and more responsibility, this included managing summer interns, completing whole areas of testing (not just one workpaper).

I developed skills such as better communication skills both within the team environment and also developing communication skills with clients. This was a particularly new area for me as you go into the conversations with particular things you need and have to be able to convey to the client exactly what that is otherwise many times you can get something useless and waste both your own time and the clients. My excel skills also improved dramatically over the course of the year due to the fact we received training in excel and used it on a daily basis. Another key skill that I developed over the course of my year was the ability to plan more effectively and prioritise work, this is especially important with deadlines and with the possibility that there may be hold ups on certain pieces of work from the client side or your own which you need to be ready for. I think these skills translate and should help me work more effectively in my degree and beyond.

The general atmosphere in the office was very good, when at the Deloitte office it was good to see people you might not have seen for a while due to being on different engagements away from the Deloitte office. There was an atmosphere of working with your friends but also with the mind-set of work actually getting done. There were times when the office could be quieter and I'm not sure what office classifies as the fun never stopped therefore I don't think I can give it 10 stars.

The placement as a whole was well set up, even though I was treated like a normal associate there were still additional organisation taken for me. For example my buddy was a previous industrial placement and therefore knew to a greater level what it was composed of than a typical employee. This was appreciated as they were very helpful with any questions that I may of had. However there were times when it was forgotten that I was an industrial placement and put on irrelevant courses for associates, however this was a very minor issue and sorted out quickly.

Deloitte treated me like I was a graduate associate which I think was great, it meant I got an accurate experience of what it would be like to join Deloitte in audit as a graduate. It also meant that I learnt a lot during my year placement as there is a fairly steep learning curve initially and a constant continuation throughout the year of learning new accounting techniques and how to test different account balances.

I think future employment at Deloitte is very appealing and I have accepted a graduate offer to return to audit at Deloitte as I was in my placement. I think the people at Deloitte are great and there is a real opportunity to grow as a professional at the firm. The training provided to become a chartered accountant is very appealing and the firm itself shares many ideals that I agree with.

As there is a large intake of people into the department I went into, it meant that there was a very good social scene amongst the graduates and as the year went on amongst the other year groups as well. This was encouraged by Deloitte in the form of welcome events early on and through different social events during the year. Also during the engagements, if the team is working late or on an way job there is a nice social atmosphere of going to dinner together making the longer hours or away job more enjoyable.

I stayed in East Dulwich London, it was very expensive and the cost of socialising in the area was expensive. However I found that with the salary that I earned on the placement I had enough money to socialise and cover my costs of living and travel. Therefore even though I was living and socialising in London I don't think it was much of an issue to me at least.

The nightlife was very good, as the office was situated in London there is a wide range of clubs/bars that you can go to.