Scholar Review

I was an analyst working in the Consulting division at Deloitte. The specific work I did varied a lot throughout the total placement, but it all lead to helping solve various problems that businesses had at the moment. My tasks included formatting slides, editing and creating Excel models, project management activities, designing implementation plans and a whole host of other tasks. These varied from project to project. As you become more experienced and show your competence, the difficulty of the tasks that I received increased notably.

Developed plenty of skills over the placement. Learnt how to think about a project implementation plan and consider dependencies. Developed a great deal of proficiency in Excel and some experience in financial modelling (provided excellent online training for this). Developed how to portray information in a convincing and concise manner. Learnt how to develop suitable presentations that are to be viewed by very senior stakeholder. Also learnt a lot about how businesses work in general and how to breakdown their processes to better understand them. Plenty of training online and via workshops was also available if I wanted to take them

Programme has been incredible. Learnt a lot and met a whole host of great people who I hope to keep in contact with in the years to come. You also get the unique opportunity to try out different divisions and rotate frequently within consulting which very few other schemes, if any, allow you to do - all a year after leaving school and you can still go to University next year. There have been some lows as with nearly all jobs, but they don't detract from the overall experience much at all.

Programme is well organised. You have a designated appraiser who looks after your wellbeing and you can raise any concerns with them throughout your placement. Feedback is collected and reviewed frequently so that you are constantly developing yourself and making sure you are enjoying the scheme. Within each project you are also given a contact who also works there and will be there day-to-day to oversee how you are finding everything and help you with any project related questions.

Plenty of support given. Have regular check-ins to check well being a project level. Have sessions with overall appraiser to check wellbeing and progress throughout the scheme as a whole. Provided with all the equipment you need and plenty of opportunities to upskill with training portals/videos. Plenty of other services available to all employees to deal with HR/IT/other concerns

Not applicable. On the consulting Scholar scheme (in its current form at least), no professional qualifications were worked towards, given the nature of consulting work and the short nature of the overall placement. However, ability to get some digital certificates in certain skills is available via online training opportunities. Other branches of the scholar scheme (i.e. tax and audit) did work that would count towards some qualifications that can potentially be 'cashed in' later.

Not applicable with qualifications. But training that was available (e.g. excel skills and financial modelling skills) was very helpful. Used them to conduct advanced calculations and analysis and was very rewarding to see the impact of training being applied to a real life situation. The work also challenged me to further my skills, as I had to learn more to use my skills in specific contexts that were outside of the standard examples taught in training.

Plenty of extra curricular activities, ranging from sports, music to hobbies and specific industries. Firm holds regular socials for these groups and the many sub-divisions of Deloitte, of which Scholars are quite often allowed to access as they aren't aligned to a sub-division yet within consulting. Also lots of socials within projects to network and get closer with your teams.

Yes

A firm that has a great culture where it is quite normal for the most junior employees to interact with Partners/Directors on a weekly if not daily occurrence. They have great concerns for wellbeing, whilst also providing plenty of development opportunities. If you want to work hard and push yourself, the firm will also support that as much as they can

Try and think about what consultants do on a day to day basis and as a result what are some of the challenged they face and thus the skills that are needed to handle these situations. Having awareness of this, as well as of business in general will show both your interest and understanding of the firm.