Insights into life at Deloitte

Monday

• 09:00: The week started with an alignment meeting with our client. I am the link between the mother entity and the divested business. We discussed the main objectives for the week, collaboration milestones and the overall status of the project.

• 10:00: We have recently entered a new project phase and are working on some handover documents for the client. From now on, the client will be taking on more tasks, and working more independently.

• 12:00: During lunch, I took an hour to catch up with one of my “buddies.” He told me more about his current tasks and asked for few tips and tricks for the job.
• At Deloitte, each new joiner is assigned to a buddy, a colleague who introduces them to the team, policies, and best practices at Deloitte. I find this initiative really great because joining a new company can be very overwhelming and having a friendly face definitely supports the entire onboarding process.
• 13:00: I spent the next few hours working on some deliverables for the client. We work very closely with global and local teams. Mostly it is a lot of coordination and strategic thinking on making processes smoother between the two entities and all teams involved.

• 15:30: I felt I needed a break from the screen, so I met a project colleague for a coffee; we talked about anything other than work and shared our weekend activities.

• 16:00: As part of the women in graduate marketing initiative at Deloitte, we have events for female students and young professionals. One of our two flagship events is YOUNext. As part of these initiatives, we connect Deloitte managers with high-potential mentees for an incrediblefive-month-long journey, where the mentees work on their career development plan, learn about executive presence, and get to know Deloitte from within. Today we have the mentors onboarding meeting where we welcomed our 26 new mentors who will be on this journey with us for the 5^th edition of the programme starting on 22 November.

• 17:30: Time to wrap up and check if all the to-dos for the day are done. See you tomorrow!

Tuesday

• 08:30: Tuesdays are busy days on the project. We have  many calls with local and global teams to align on upcoming milestones and these are platforms for them to raise any risks or issues. These are exciting times because some of the countries in scope are going live in two weeks. As our projects are highly confidential, I cannot go into the details of these meetings.

• 11:30: Before lunch, I had time to catch up with the women in the FA team and, we discussed the timeline for our upcoming quarterly event.

• 12:30: This week is mental health awareness week, and I  participated in a workshop on “unplugging to recharge.” It is fantastic that Deloitte takes part in such initiatives and encourages us to take well-deserved rest. This is not always easy in our line of work and in this fast-paced hybrid world.

• 18:00: In the evening, after another couple of meetings, I joined a workshop with the YES (Young Enterprise Switzerland) team. As part of this programme primary school pupils work in groups and develop, design, and produce their own products and/or services. They work on the entire cycle, from the brainstorming phase to the sales activities, to implement their projects. Deloitte offers us the opportunity to volunteer eight hours a year with selected communities, so last year I selected to volunteer for YES because I enjoy spending time with students and helping shape their future.

Wednesday

• 07:30: As part of our wellbeing initiatives at Deloitte we organise yoga classes each Wednesday morning. It is great to start the morning with a nice meditation and an easy flow with my colleagues.

• 09:00: I worked on the weekly communication we send to all countries this morning. One of the main pain points with M&A projects is that the supporting teams not only work on this project, but they also have their day-to-day, business-as-usual jobs, so it is up to us consultants to drive the main M&A actions independently from the business support. We of course consult them as needed. In this case I have to reach out to all the HR functional leads to receive their inputs and understand where the local teams can best support with any open actions.

• 12:00: Over lunch, I went to one of my favourite restaurants around the office with my other “buddy.” Over a nice quinoa power bowl, she shared with me how her first month at Deloitte was going as well as her aspirations and challenges.
• 14:00: In the afternoon, we had a long meeting with the entire project team to align on the progress so far. Each of us had to present the status of our team and focus areas for the future. This project is very intricate, with many different sub-projects, so collaboration is key.

• 16:00: HR is my focus not only on client projects but also as a practice development goal. In DS&O, we have a team that works very closely with Consulting, Tax and Legal in Switzerland and other EMEA practices. During our monthly meetings, we share and align on new opportunities and lessons learned/methodology from our different projects. As many of our clients are international, it is important for us to have a common strategy and share our insights.

• 17:00: And now, I need to head back home and prepare for tomorrow. It will be an exciting day. Stay tuned.

Thursday

• 09:00: Today, I am travelling abroad to attend a client workshop in the afternoon. It is so exciting that all travel restrictions have been lifted, and we can finally travel again.

• 13:30: Now it is time for my presentation. Our aim today is to ensure that we work on process optimization  regarding divestments for this specific client. They are going through many similar projects, and there is a huge opportunity to improve the processes, tools, and templates to cut short the preparation phase of their future transactions. Every project has unique features, however, there is always a common thread. This is the sweet spot that needs to be leveraged to release some pressure from the operational team during the deal execution.

• 18:00: And next, it is time for a nice warm dinner. I have been on this project for a year, and this is the first time I see the entire project team face to face. Such a momentous day! We all come from different parts of the world, and we chatted about our culture, traditions, and past experiences. Of course, I was asked about the best pizza restaurant in Italy. Are you curious to know which one this is?

Friday

• 09:00: Time to fly back to Zurich. Last day of the week before a well-deserved weekend.

• 11:00: This morning, we must align with the global Project Management Office (PMO) and inform them about our functional HR progress and raise any risks that need their support to be solved. I used to support the project PMO, and it is fascinating how the two tasks are similar and yet so different.

• 12:00: Today was a working lunch with the DS&O Newsletter team. We sent out the monthly DS&O Team Newsletter. We work on it a couple of days a month and try to make it fun and interesting; for example, we collect holiday tips and recipes from all around the world (In our team, we have 15+ nationalities, more than 80+ members with an average age of 33 years).

• 13:00: After lunch, once a month, we have a more extended DS&O team meeting where every time different colleagues present their projects and new methodologies they are working on, and we catch up in person (finally!).

• 16:00: To finish the week, I have my 1:1 with my client where we align on the lessons learned from the week, prepare the to-do for the upcoming week, and important milestones we need to work towards.

• 17:30: It is finally time for the weekend!

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into my life at Deloitte! If this sounds interesting, look at our open positions and join us in the Deal Strategy & Operations team in Zurich and Geneva! 😊