Analyst Review

I work in the tax department. Day-to-day I process client data for both compliance and advisory purposes. Whilst managers delegate work to me, I am responsible for managing my own workload. I regularly draft client correspondence and other deliverables for managers. I may also do some tax calculations for a client or research an area of legislation.

The biggest skill I have developed is my time management and organisation, which is essential when prioritising which work needs doing when. I have also greatly developed my tax knowledge through both classroom and on the job training. I am also developing my teamworking and people skills due to the nature of working in my team.

Overall I do enjoy my programme. My team have been supportive and I have also received external support from my tuition provider. However, I have struggled with my workload as I feel we are understaffed and it has been hard balancing exams and full time work. This has lead to me becoming stressed.

There is a structure to my programme, however I feel this was poorly communicated to myself and my peers when we joined. The learning team at my company has failed to keep students informed about study leave and classroom training arrangements on several occasions. My external tuition provider has helped to introduce more structure in recent months.

My employer supports me quite well with paid study leave and classroom training. This generally takes the form of intensive courses which last between a few days and a few weeks depending on the exam. However, my employer does sometimes fail to understand that I also have to study in the evenings when I am at work during the day, and I feel support could be better in this area.

My training provider supports me with quarterly phone call check ins to monitor my progress along my learning pathway and to allow me to raise any concerns. There have been some technical issues with the system they use, but it's otherwise been fine. They also support me when I am studying my offering various ways of contacting tutors.

As I am also studying towards a professional accounting qualification, I feel that completing the apprenticeship is somewhat unnecessary as it does not really add anything in my line of work, and I already have a degree. Realistically, I am not doing anything differently from before I was transferred onto the apprenticeship, I just have additional admin tasks to complete. I do appreciate the support from my training provider, but I feel that this could still be offered without the administrative burden of the apprenticeship.

My work does offer certain internal networks, such as those for ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ however there are not that many social activities in the offices outside of London. There are some small sports teams to get involved in but these do not appeal to me. I do attend professional networking/social activities through the ICAEW's student society, but this is not directly organised by my employer.

Yes

Although I have not had the best experience with the apprenticeship, Deloitte has allowed me to study for my professional qualification whilst also earning a salary and gaining work experience. I feel that the package they offer for students in terms of exam support etc. is better than that offered by smaller firms.

Make sure you have good examples for when you have displayed certain competencies like team working and time management. You can use any examples from school, uni or extra curricular activities. The STAR technique is very helpful for explaining how you meet each section of the selection criteria. It is also good to have an answer as to why you want to work in the department you've applied for, rather than just Deloitte in general.