UK (Cardiff Metropolitan University) From Classroom at Cardiff Met to Working from Home on Placement at Deloitte

My journey to working at Deloitte started when Cardiff Met announced that Deloitte was coming to the University to deliver a talk on the 12 month placement opportunities available for second year students. I immediately applied for the placements and was invited for an online assessment which included a questionnaire and video interview. Some days passed and I was told I was selected for an interview at their Cardiff office…

I was dressed in my formal attire ready for the interview with a confident smile. The interview was divided into three sub-parts; evaluated group discussion, an IT assessment and a face-to-face interview with a panel of two lovely interviewers. Afterwards, we had our feedback sent by the panel and were told if we were successful or not.

I was on ‘Cloud 9’ when I was offered the position at Deloitte! At this moment I was super eager to be starting my work life in an actual office.

All of the successful applicants were emailed about our first day in the London Head Office for induction where we were given our new work Laptops. We completed the Induction and headed back to Cardiff where we were introduced to our teams and individual mentors. I was going to be a part of Assurance while my five friends from (now colleagues!) went to Audit. The first week we all sat together completing compliance and training before we started in our roles.

I was lucky to be working in the Assurance Team as I got to work on different Engagements and Senior Management Teams. I was given different types of task to complete which developed me professionally and my team supported me in every possible way. I made a lot of new friends and had the best time of my work life!

Soon it was time for us to finish the first part of placement in Audit and Assurance and move to Quality, Risk and Security in March 2020 where we learnt about another departments of the firm. Three weeks in and Covid-19 lockdown was put in place in the UK which meant employees had to work from home. It was a different experience all together working outside of the office. Towards the start of my placement 12 months seemed like a very long period but I feel the time has gone so fast! During my time at Deloitte I have learned a lot of soft skills which have contributed to my personal growth and made me more responsible. I’ve also built a strong network with colleagues both nationally and internationally.

Industrial placements should be treated as seriously as any graduate role, and may be even more significant! They allow you to build connections, help you grow both personally and professionally and gain more of an understanding of the working world. These roles are so much more than just something to put on your CV, they allow you to find a way to develop skills and the style of working – something I think I will bring into my third year! I currently love my placement year and that is why I think it is so important for anyone who is given the option of a placement year to take full advantage of the opportunity.