Savannah Watts – In the Forensic hot seat in St Albans

How did you join Deloitte?

I came across the application on a STEM job site and filled it out. After the application, there were some online tests and an online job simulation. After successfully passing these, I attended a face to face interview in London and had a call the following week, offering me a place.

What are you responsible for in your role?

After being on one of my main projects for a few weeks, I took responsibility for client communications and requests – allowing me to build a rapport with important clients from the very start of my career.

On smaller projects, I am involved in the entire process, including processing the data when we receive it, creating and maintaining the database, analysing the data, and packaging the results to the client. It’s very rewarding to know that you had a key role in every aspect of a completed project.

What’s a typical day like for you?

The office practices hot desking – so the first thing you have to do is pick where you want to sit. St Albans has plenty of space so there are multiple options.

After setting up, I’ll check my emails for any ad hoc client requests, we have many international projects, so emails can come in at any time of the day. This means you never end up in a boring routine which makes things more interesting - and makes it difficult to answer this question as every day is so varied.

I’m on multiple projects, so as they progress I’ll have a variety of tasks sent to me throughout the day by the different project managers. One of the tasks I’ve been working on recently is a Search Term Report, which involves running key terms a client is interested in against a database of documents, so the client can find the documents that need to be reviewed by lawyers.

What was your most memorable moment on the job so far?

The moment I realised I knew how to do my job. Coming from a biology background, every aspect of this job was new. So, when during my second month here I found I could work independently and complete tasks that were sent to me without issue, it was a really good feeling.

What’s the best part of your job and in what ways is your team innovative?

Quite regularly I’ll get sent an email or a message asking if I can do a task for someone. As I’m still pretty new, I often haven’t done that task before. In such cases, they will find someone to do the task with me and teach me how to do it. This means that every week I am learning something new.

Why would you recommend Deloitte to someone?

Everyone I’ve met at Deloitte has been so friendly. They all make time to show you how to do something or to answer your questions.

It makes you feel supported and valued. There’s also a lot of opportunities to do what you find interesting. If you want to work in a particular area, you talk to your mentor and they will arrange for you to get some experience in that area.

How are you supported to work flexibly?

I have taken the opportunity to work from home a few times. Deloitte bases a lot of its communications around skype messaging and calls, so it doesn’t matter where you work, you can still be connected to your teammates.

As all the offices are hot desking, it means you can work from any office, depending on your requirements. So, I have gone into the London office a few times as well.       

What do you like to do in your spare time?

My main hobbies are reading (Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror) and PC gaming (Hearthstone and Witcher 2 currently). I also like to travel, when time and money permit (this year I drove around Germany and down to Croatia, and in a previous year I explored New Zealand).

Are you a graduate looking for a job where you’ll be supported to learn aspects of various areas and progress? Look no further than our graduate opportunities in St Albans.