Tax Advisor Review

Working on a range of projects with clients in the FTSE 250. The role varies depending on the project. At the early stages of a project I might be involved in admin e.g. performing conflict checks, drafting engagement letters and coordinating the involvement of overseas teams where required. Some projects may involve technical research i.e. reading the tax legislation to get an understanding of the issues involved. I might be involved in drafting correspondence to clients, for example explaining the technical research, or drafting reports outlining our tax analysis. My role depends on the specific project.

My communication skills have definitely improved - both verbal and written. I am often required to do the first draft of an email, and this can be challenging especially when trying to explain complex technical information. My analytical skills have also been challenged - for example when looking at company accounts analysing and interpreting the information is important.

The best part of the programme is that we have a cohort - everyone goes to college together and does exams together so you form a really strong bond with your year group. You don't just know the people in your department but across different departments and offices around the UK.

As this is the first year of the apprenticeship scheme at Deloitte, the organisation isn't perfect. There is a central education team but there have been several changes in the past few months so often queries don't get responded to instantly. Things could be run a lot more smoothly e.g. with registering us for exams and letting us know what we're required to do.

We receive lots of support in terms of tuition for exams and on the job training. The first 3 weeks at Deloitte is spent at the Tax Analyst Academy which is a great way to get settled into the role and to meet your year group. There is lots of tax technical training and also more general skills training to prepare you for starting in the office.

First Intuition are good at enabling you to pass the exams, and can get you ready to take the exams in a very short space of time. However this can be stressful at times, and it seems like on occasion they encourage this stress just to get you to pass without recognising the strain that everyone is under.

The ACA and CTA are 100% required for the role. While you could slowly learn everything on the job, the exams speed up the learning process to a huge extent. You can get much more involved in projects once you've completed a few of the exams, and can understand much more of the day to day goings on.

There are lots of different societies at work. There is also an annual football competition in Prague where all Deloitte firms from around the world send teams to compete. Each team will organise informal socials relatively regularly. There are also check-in events for each year group so that everyone from around the country can get together.

Yes

Deloitte is a great employer and offers so many opportunities to develop. Everyone I work with is so helpful and friendly and always willing to get you involved where possible. It is a really flexible organisation, with freedom to choose which projects you work on and with who. There are also many secondment opportunities, and there is flexibility to move within the firm.

Talk to people from the firm to get an idea of what the role actually is and why you want to apply. Reach out to student recruitment to see if they can put you in touch with someone in your preferred service line. Be enthusiastic and read as much as you can about Deloitte and the department you want to join.