Q&A with women in tech

Camilla: “Everyone is willing to help and teach each other to become better”

Tell us about yourself!

Camilla: I am originally from Denmark and moved to Switzerland around one and a half years ago. In my free time I love to be very active. When I'm not at the office I love to go hiking, running and playing racquet sports, specifically badminton and tennis. Also, whenever it is the weather for it my favourite activity is to go skiing. I’m a very social person and love to spend time with family, friends and colleagues. This is why I really love how social Deloitte and our team is.

What do you do at Deloitte and what impact do you make?

Camilla: I am a consultant in the Technology Strategy and Transformation team – also known as TS&T. In TS&T we design, implement and deliver integrated IT strategies and models for our clients to increase the efficiency, quality and value for their IT functions, contributing to the client's strategic direction and helping our clients reach their business targets. Also, in TS&T we aspire to develop Green and Agile IT strategies to help our clients on the journey to reach their sustainability targets and to be able to quickly adapt to a fast-paced digital world.

Within TS&T I’m part of the Enterprise Technology and Transformation (ETT) team. In ETT, we specialise in implementing and executing the IT strategy. Currently, I'm governing a large IT transformation helping the client to successfully transition into the target IT landscape.

Why would you recommend to TS&T as a place to work?

Camilla: There are three main reasons. Firstly, the daily work we do in TS&T. There are a lot of opportunities when you go to work: you can work for different clients in different industries and on different projects. You’re constantly challenged, can satisfy your curiosity and always learn and develop our skills while making an impact for our clients.

Secondly, the people that work in TS&T. We are an extremely diverse team in terms of cultures and countries, and we have great diversity in age, cultural backgrounds and increasingly in gender, too. This makes TS&T an inspiring place to work because there are so many different points of views, backgrounds and skills represented in the team. Every day you can learn from your brilliant colleagues and everyone is always willing to help each other out and teach each other to become increasingly better. Within TS&T we work together towards the same goal: making a positive impact for our clients while enhancing our skillsets and growing as practitioners.

Thirdly, In TS&T I have never felt that being a young female is a constrain in relation to my work and my career opportunities. Within TS&T there is a very strong focus on gender equality – I am actually working on this initiative together with other team members, both male and female. Our goal is inclusiveness and equality within the team, by ensuring that TS&T represents practitioners with different backgrounds, skillsets, genders, ages, etc.

Lisa: “Our culture is very supportive and collaborative”

Tell us about yourself!

Lisa: I was born in France as a half German, half British. I have also lived in Spain and most recently in the UK. I first moved to Switzerland for my traineeship two years ago and recently returned as a consultant after finishing my business management degree. I love living in Switzerland and being able to go swimming and hiking in the summer, as well as snowboarding in the winter. I have tried various sports and hobbies throughout my life – horse riding being my favourite – and I’ve recently also started playing football with the women’s football team at Deloitte.

What do you do at Deloitte and what impact do you make?

Lisa: I am part of the IT M&A team within TS&T, where we focus on shaping and delivering a seamless transition of IT functions in the context of M&A transactions – an acquisition or a divesture of the business.

In my current project, I am working in the Project Management Office (PMO), where we monitor the overall performance of the program. I focus on the governance and reporting part. It means ensuring that the right information reaches the right people, and that preparation is done on time for key meetings with leadership. Overall, my aim is to try to make life easier for the team on both the internal and client sides.

Why would you recommend TS&T as a place to work?

Lisa: There are two main reasons that I would recommend TS&T as a place to work. The first is the varied scope of what we do and the extensive opportunities for career development that are available. There are many different clients, projects and industries that you can get involved with, both within the scope of the work that your sub-team specialises in but also beyond. Complementary to this is the variety of learning and development opportunities available within your sub-team and the wider TS&T. I found this particularly useful in these initial stages of my career, where I was not entirely sure about the particular direction that I wanted my career to go in and where I wanted to learn as much as I could. TS&T is definitely giving me plenty of chances to do exactly that, from getting certified to taking part in the team bootcamp in just a few weeks’ time.

The second reason I would recommend TS&T as a place to work is because of the team itself. The people in my team were very welcoming when I first joined as a trainee and again when I re-joined as a consultant. I feel very fortunate to be able to interact with and learn from incredibly intelligent and interesting people with varied backgrounds and levels of experience. Our culture is very supportive and collaborative, and it makes TS&T (and Deloitte) a very inspiring place to work.

Valentine: “I am surrounded by amazing, smart people”

Tell us about yourself!

I am a French native and have been living in Geneva for almost seven years. I studied international and European law, first in France and then in Switzerland. During my Master’s, I completed several courses in IT and Technology Law which led me to join the TS&T team in Geneva right after my studies.

As I grew up in a small village in the French alps, most of my hobbies are outdoor ones. I love skiing, running, hiking, sailing, golfing… basically any sport that involves the sun! This was the main reason for choosing to start my career in Switzerland: the playground and the quality of life it offers.

What do you do at Deloitte and what impact do you make?

I am a Senior Consultant in TS&T which sits in Consulting. In our team, we design, implement and deliver integrated strategies to increase the efficiency of our clients’ IT function. Our team’s scope is quite broad, hence we are divided in sub-teams depending on our focus. On my side, I am specialized in IT sourcing and IT transformation programs.

My day-to-day job consists of helping companies organize their IT in a more effective and efficient manner, by helping them to define their IT sourcing strategy, run Request for Proposals, select the most suitable supplier for the requested service, write and negotiate their IT contracts, work on their IT operating model and so on. I mainly intervene when a company is going through a technology-led transformation.

The impact I make for our clients is helping create a better place to work for their employees while keeping their IT costs controlled and their processes efficient and effective. Employees feel that their day-to-day life is easier because impediments have been removed from their former IT processes, leaving their IT function better structured, governed and controlled.

Why would you recommend TS&T as a place to work?

Two aspects make our team very special:

1. Our daily job: TS&T is not confined to a single type of project or industry. This allows us to work in different environments, improve our knowledge on a variety of topics and satisfy our curiosity. It is also quite common that we are asked to work with other teams within Deloitte, which is quite interesting and broadens our knowledge.

2. Our people: I am surrounded by amazing, smart people. Our profiles are so diverse that there is always someone to teach you something, both work and non-work related.

But above all I have always worked in typically male dominated environments where it was expected that – at some point – a woman would have to choose between having a career and a family (or other personal interests). Since joining TS&T I have never felt that being a woman would lower my chances of succeeding or that I would collide with a glass ceiling.

Deloitte and the TS&T team allow you to define your own success irrespective of your gender, race, religion or personality. They support me in developing my professional capabilities while allowing me to continue to pursue my personal interests; for instance Deloitte regularly organizes sport events (golf cups, running races, cycling tours, triathlon etc.) where I can participate. In addition, TS&T is enabling me to bring my work closer to my personal values by supporting me in developing a NetZero Tech offering with other colleagues.

Agnes: “You are empowered to pursue your passions”

Tell us about yourself!

I was born in Brazil, grew up in Germany and moved to Switzerland after my university studies. I’m married to a Brit and we have three children, so our house is quite international. I absolutely love Switzerland – I fell in love with the mountains and enjoy skiing and hiking.

Besides spending time with my family and enjoying the outdoors I also work with my School4Life charity that supports rural communities in Kenya. I started it about ten years ago during an extended holiday volunteering in Kenya. The charity has grown quite a bit from initially being one small school to now having different programmes that we run in the country. We take a holistic approach where we ask how we can help the communities become sustainable and independent.

What do you do at Deloitte and what impact do you make?

I've been with Deloitte for 14 years and my journey started in Consulting where I spent the initial 10 years with clients in the banking industry. My goal was to improve their Target Operating Models, focusing on the processes in the middle and back-office functions. After that I ventured into new roles: Firstly I was asked to build and lead the Responsible Business programme for Switzerland. Secondly, I built and led the Knowledge Exchange hub for Deloitte Switzerland. I enjoyed both roles as it meant building up two areas from scratch and afterwards handing them over to day-to-day business. Looking for my next big impact I moved back into Consulting and to the TS&T team.

I like to believe that I change the world for the better; with our clients through improving their back-office functions so they run smoother and work becomes easier; within Deloitte through building new departments and enabling our practitioners to make an impact that matters; and within society through my School4Life charity which positively impacts hundreds of children in rural Kenya. I look forward to continuing to change the world for the better one step at a time.

Why would you recommend TS&T as a place to work?

Whether you fit in a team or not depends a lot less on what the team does and more on the individual members of the team. Do they support each other and bring out the best in you? Do they value your unique skill set and experience? Is the leadership trusted and respected? And most importantly: can they have a laugh together? I strongly feel this is the case within TS&T.

I think it's a great team to be in as you are empowered to pursue your passions. Whether it’s your family, sports, hobbies or anything else your heart beats for, the TS&T leadership will try its best to accommodate them. My passions are my family and School4life, and within TST&T I have found the right work-life balance through part-time work and the opportunity to work around my family schedule. That said, it doesn’t mean we never work long nights or occasionally the weekends, but it does mean you are responsible for your deliverables rather than the hours spent at your desk.

Interested in joining TS&T? Explore their current open roles!