Gallery speaks to recent graduates about their move to the working world, what motivates them and what advice they’d give to those who are new to Jersey’s top companies.
Alex Johnson
ASSOCIATE AT DELOITTE
School attended: De La Salle
Course undertaken: Business, Biology and History
What did you want to be when you were 8? A pilot
Favourite way to relax? Dinner with friends
Favourite place to eat in Jersey? El Tico
What’s your favourite possession? My watch
What made you choose the company you work for?
I chose to apply for Deloitte because I knew when I finished school that I wanted a career in finance; Deloitte offered the opportunity to do this without attending university. The firm’s BrightStart programme gives you practical work experience while studying towards the ICAEW Chartered Accountant qualification, the ACA. Plus, choosing a large firm such as Deloitte gives you exposure to many different clients and industries.
What sort of professional training do you take?
I am working towards the ACA qualification and I am currently six exams down, with nine to go. Studying and working at the same time can be tough, but at Deloitte there is a wide range of support, including periods of paid study in college before each exam and support from colleagues who have or are in the process of taking similar exams. The qualification also requires you to be ‘time qualified’ with a certain amount of practical experience; this is a great way to enhance and apply the knowledge gained through completion of the exams.
What do you do on an average day?
On an average day I will spend most of my day completing various areas of audit testing, which will be very different depending on the client. What I enjoy is that we are always working in different teams, so you get the opportunity to work with a wide range of people. Some of the time our work involves being at the client’s offices and working with different people within the business.
What is your next step?
Firstly, my next step is to pass my three upcoming exams and over the next two years complete the qualification. I also hope to take on more responsibility at work to continue to develop my knowledge and understanding of my clients and their businesses.
What advice would you give yourself as a graduate considering the experience you have now?
My advice would be to take advantage of the various drop-in events available and visit the Deloitte UK Channel Islands Facebook page to get a real favour of life at Deloitte and an opportunity to get an understanding of the role and talk to people who have been in your situation. I would also advise securing some work experience which will allow you to experience the role first hand and get to know some of the people working there.
MORE ABOUT DELOITTE
We place a great deal of emphasis on attracting the best local talent. Since we want to help you fulfil your potential, we strongly emphasise career development and training. Deloitte employees are among the best qualified accountancy, tax and actuarial professionals. With 12,000 exceptional people across the UK andSwitzerland, Deloitte has the broadest and deepest range of skills of any business advisory organisation and we have a straight forward goal: to be recognised as the pre-eminent and most trusted professional services firm, famous for our people and respected for the exceptional quality of our work.
www.deloitte.co.uk/careers
INTERESTED?
If you think you’d like to pursue a career at Deloitte,
get in contact with us by emailing:
studentrecruitment@deloitte.co.uk
