Tell us about your business area. What are the best things about it?

There is a significant amount of legislation and regulatory standards in place to safeguard organisations against financial crime risks. We help our clients understand these and remain compliant with everything they need to. This could be in relation to money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, fraud, weapons proliferation, and much more.

There are amazing opportunities to work with high profile clients, such as global banks, and with very senior members of the Deloitte teams. I love that my job really makes a difference - I enjoy seeing clients make changes based on the feedback and recommendations that we’ve made.

Obviously the work is challenging, but I thrive on that. We work to a lot of tight deadlines, but as a team we make sure we plan tasks ahead of time. I’ve learnt to manage my time well and I know I can ask for support if I need it.

What’s special about the people of Deloitte?

I’m surrounded by a team of very talented people; I learn so much from them. There is a lot of diversity in experience and skills too, I love that everyone has a different story – some have a legal background, some are physicists, and some have always been involved with compliance work and financial crime.

My managers are very supportive and always encourage me to push my boundaries. And there is a great culture of respect and inclusion; I definitely feel like I can bring my true self to work which is really important to me.

How do you explain what you do to people who don’t work at Deloitte?

The best analogy for what we do in Transaction Services is to think of the process of buying a house. First, the estate agent takes you to view lots of properties to help you find one that suits what you’re looking for – this is what our Corporate Advisory team do as they find business opportunities for our clients.

Then, once you have found a house that you like (or in our case, a business) you get a surveyor to assess the property and evaluate whether it’s structurally sound and is worth the money you are planning to pay for it. This is essentially what we do in Transaction Services. We perform research and analysis (known as due diligence) on companies to help our clients decide on an appropriate price for the business they want to buy and make them aware of any important considerations.

What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on?

My favourite project so far was working on the acquisition of a company that organises music festivals. I’d actually been to one of the festivals and loved it, so it was fascinating finding out how it’s all managed behind the scenes.

I’m really keen to do more projects in the healthcare sector as I know I enjoy the pharmaceutical side of things. Deloitte are supporting me in this. We have so many different projects going on here that you’ll always be able to find something that really interests you personally.

I love the variety of work, and projects tend to be one to two months long so you get to build up knowledge across lots of different industries really quickly. I also really appreciate how empowered we are to approach tasks in the way we think is best, and I know my work is genuinely valued by my team.

What do you do? And what do you like most about it?

I’m in Advisory Corporate Finance. The easiest way to explain my job is that we advise companies when they’re looking to buy another company or when they themselves are looking to sell; basically mergers and acquisitions.

The key opportunity here is exposure to interesting projects that a school leaver would not usually be able to be a part of. You’re given a large amount of responsibility, both in terms of communicating with clients and carrying out essential pieces of work that heavily contribute to a project.

I love that I get to develop professionally and personally on a daily basis, without any restraints. I’m currently working on an engagement with a young management team who run a very exciting business that will be attractive to potential buyers. This will be the first project I’ve seen through from start to end.

Is it all just work, work, work?

My team has socials very often. We’re big team, so there are a lot of birthdays and a fair amount of deals being completed; both of these occasions lead to a celebration of some sort. As a team, we actively look for events to attend and I have been fortunate to go to several in my first year at Deloitte.

I usually go for lunch with my fellow BrighStarts and Graduates, and we play some table tennis after we’ve finished eating. It’s nice to get out of the office for a while and clear your head. I also use the work gym to get an hour or so away from the office and be able to focus on something non-work related.

If I wanted to work from home, or at a different office, my team would be open to this. But, at this stage of my career, I think it’s more beneficial to be surrounded by my colleagues in the work environment, so I choose to in my office.