Deloitte Careers Service Day, 2 New Street Square, London –... Highlights

Deloitte Careers Service Day, 2 New Street Square, London – Monday 22 August 2011
Highlights
New CEO David Sproul is leading the organisation towards answering the question “How do we become a
distinctive firm?”
What makes them different now?
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The people and the culture generated by them
The only firm to have retained their consultancy arm (the others are re-building them now)
High performance environment with the right mentoring, the right coaching, work in the right teams and a
culture of people challenging and stretching themselves
Supportive environment which has retained its small and friendly feel, even though Deloitte is now the no
1 professional services firm in the world, and one of the largest in the UK
2012 vacancies
Audit
500 (+ 120 Enterprise Risk Services - ERS)
Tax
200
Consultancy
300
Corporate Finance
50 (+ 30 in Surveying and Town Planning in Drivers Jonas Deloitte)
Total
1200 (+ 300 internships etc)
Deloitte and London 2012
Applicants need to show awareness that Deloitte is the ‘exclusive provider of professional advisory services to
London 2012’
This has been a unique challenge - London 2012 started off with a small committee led by Seb Coe. In less
than a year from now 200,000 people will be involved, and within a month the whole thing will no longer exist
(apart from an important legacy). Staff from across all business lines at Deloitte are working on London 2012.
“It was risky to sign up to this 6 or 7 years ago but it really represents what the firm is about.”
2011 recruitment
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1100 graduate vacancies filled
Still a few left in Tax and ERS around London, and in Audit in Edinburgh for an October 2011 start
150 summer vacation scheme places
o Audit and tax rotation programme in London (27 out of 28 converted into graduate offers)
o Audit
o Consulting
o General conversion rate – vacation scheme to graduate scheme – around 90%
Competencies
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Communication – be expressive, clear and concise and have the ability to quickly form relationships with
others in a variety of situations
Achievement of goals – show the persistence and energy required to meet or exceed your objectives and
well-defined goals and respond well to pressure (‘Deloitte is a goal-oriented business’)
Commercial awareness – have an interest in business and the knowledge of any current issues that may be
impacting the chosen field
Career motivation – demonstrate knowledge of what a career in a professional services firm involves,
particularly in the chosen field. Being able to explain interest in these areas
Adaptability – positive in the face of change and resourceful in responding to major changes
Problem-solving – analyse, distil and solve practical problems, generate new ideas and make sound
judgements in complex situations. Successful at motivating others towards a particular course of action
Organisational skills – take responsibility for the completion of tasks and ensure that detail is not
overlooked when involved in a project. Have good time management skills and prioritise tasks effectively.
New selection process for 2012
Online application form
Online numerical and verbal aptitude tests
E-tray exercise to take place in regional Deloitte offices throughout the UK
First interview - competency-based interview* [Accompanied by a group exercise and case study for consulting
only]
Final interview – competency-based interview plus commercial awareness presentation*
* Fast-track option (post E-tray exercise) allows candidates to complete the last two stages on the one day if
they wish – to reduce the need for excessive travel to Deloitte offices
E-tray exercise
I had the opportunity to sit the E-tray exercise under exam conditions. I was given a laptop with an email
inbox, three folders of information and a calendar, and an hour to respond to 20 emails (with multiple choice
answers). Initially there were around 6 emails in my inbox and others arrived as I responded to the earlier
ones.
I was in the role of a consultant/adviser to a retailing client under pressure from share-holders to speed up the
expansion of its business. The three folders had documents giving information about my team (including an
organisation chart, colleagues’ skills, their chargeable fees and availability over the coming weeks). Another
folder had similar information about the client (an organisation chart, the key employees’ responsibilities etc).
The third folder contained documents detailing the project so far (proposals, projected costs etc). Most emails
(from my manager, colleagues on the same level or reporting to me, and key client contacts) had an
attachment with information which required some judgement, involving reference to the existing documents,
and a response. Often it was necessary to make a numerical calculation.
My top tips for the E-tray exercise
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Name a note of today’s date given in the instructions
Keep an eye on the clock and keep calm. If you work logically and steadily through the emails you will
have time to respond to them all
Initially briefly scan each of the information documents before reading the emails. Make mind-maps
to remind you of what’s in each document but don’t make detailed notes.
Next open a few of the emails to give yourself an idea of what to expect
Work your way through the emails as if you were doing an aptitude test. If you find that it is taking
you a long time to decide on the best response to one email, move on to the next and return to it
later. Try not to panic and rush into an answer.
My feedback gave a score out of 5 for each for the following competencies:
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Planning & organising
Goal orientation
Intellect, analysis and judgement
Challenge & change/self-control
A score of at least 3 across all 4 competencies is normally required, although there is an element of flexibility
and can they accept a 2 where other competencies have scored higher.
Deloitte’s ‘real’ e-tray exercise also involves a 50 minute written report. Unfortunately we weren’t shown
what that involves.
Edinburgh Office
I spoke with a partner and a senior manager in audit in Deloitte’s Edinburgh office. Both work for clients in the
financial services sector and I gained the impression that the Edinburgh office has its major focus on this
sector. There are a number of banks headquartered there, and the availability of skilled staff at lower rates of
pay than London, makes it an attractive location for new and relocating banks. RBS is a major client of
Deloitte and they are also working with new banks including Tesco Bank, Sainsbury’s Bank and Virgin Money.
SM (26/8/11)