My virtual internship experience with Deloitte (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on: January 26, 2022

Last Updated on: May 31st, 2022

Post Category: Student Experience

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Today marks the middle of my Data & AI (D&AI) vacationer internship at Deloitte. While it is a short placement, I figured it would be beneficial to share my experience to give insight for those who might be considering doing a vacationer internship or advancing their career at Deloitte. For confidentiality, this post will not cover any project work undertaken by the team at the time of my placement, but it will (HOPEFULLY just) cover a high-level view of my journey thus far and the people and culture aspect of my experience.

Unfortunately, given that I have worked completely virtually (and will continue to do so until the end of my internship), my exposure to the office environment and face-to-face interactions with the team will be limited. However, I hope my virtual experience is still insightful even in the slightest.

A bit of background…

For a bit of background, I’m Jason and I’m currently a Deloitte vacationer based in Sydney, Australia. I got an offer to join Deloitte after taking part in their Insider Program in 2020, after which I got to sit in one of their Assessment Centres and then chat with one of the Partners. Throughout my application process, I got connected with some of the previous vacationers, current consultants and current managers at the time to get insights into the team. Ultimately, I figured joining D&AI at Deloitte presented a unique opportunity for me to kick-start a career in data analytics and data science, be part of a supportive team, and build on a lot of marketable skills.

What I always found interesting about my conversations with these Deloitte employees I connected with was this common thread: everyone speaks of the great people and culture. So I was looking forward to that aspect of the experience…

A DAY after finishing my partner interview on the 21st of June, I heard back from one of the representatives from the Graduate Talent team with an offer to join the D&AI team from mid-Jan to mid-Feb – and I accepted it in a flash!

In the meantime, representatives from the Graduate Talent team would reach out to gather more information about me and my working rights, and they will send over surveys to collect information regarding my strengths/interests, which would then help them with assigning projects I would eventually work on during my placement, as well as other info. And moving closer to the date, more details would eventually be revealed regarding our placements. The team also created an online yearbook for the intern cohort for everyone to see the other vacationers across Australia, which was really nice!

Fast-forward to the 13th of January 2022, I started to experience Deloitte first-hand.

The induction

On day 1, about 150+ vacationers joined a Deloitte Zoom meeting for a virtual induction. The induction was pretty standard – it was a good opportunity to meet some graduates, learn more about the business, and learn more about the internal procedures and systems, while also getting connected with some of the other interns through icebreakers and interactive sessions. Following the induction, all vacationers had to attend their scheduled times at the office to pick up and set up their Deloitte laptops. In my case, I had my laptop delivered in advance with typed-out instructions.

All the information from the induction combined with the information from the manual definitely left my mind buzzing afterwards, but having a checklist at the back of the manual combined with the support of my buddy made it really easy to set up and settle in.

The support network

All vacationers have a support network, primarily consisting of a buddy, project coach and career coach. The responsibility of a buddy is to essentially support you closely throughout your internship experience and be your first point of contact for any admin questions or direction you may need. The project coach is essentially a project lead who supports your progression towards your project-related goals, and the career coach is someone who supports your progression towards your broader career-development goals.

Thus far, my support network has been really helpful. My buddy helped me get oriented with the team quickly and checks in regularly, and both my coaches willingly give specific feedback for my development.

The support network – and how/why they review your performance

During my placement, the project coach and career coach were also responsible for reviewing your performance. The project coach will examine your performance through what you have delivered on your assigned project, and the career coach will examine your performance through the progress you have made towards your goals. All interns were required to write down three SMART goals they plan to achieve by the end of the placement. Below were the ones I have written for myself:

1. Connect with analysts, consultants, partners and other colleagues from different levels across different business units – and aim to average one catch-up or intro meeting per day
2. Develop my data visualisation and data storytelling skills through the project – through opportunities where I present my insights
3. Advance my business acumen by completing the business acumen module in the vacationer learning series

The review would eventually be used to determine whether or not Deloitte should give you an offer to go back and join as a graduate. And at the end of the placement, you will also get the opportunity to receive feedback.

The social investment

Overall, there is great social investment at Deloitte – well, at least in the team I sit in. People are willing and happy to have intro meetings, catch up and build relationships, and it’s a big part of the culture. And (from what I have learnt from some of the analysts) people have been able to get exposure and even transition to other teams they were interested in, with the support of their career coaches.

So far, after two weeks into the program, the D&AI vacationers were able to attend a session where they got to connect with many different leaders within the team (called Leadership Connect), and an intro session organised by some members from the TI&I (Talent Inclusion & Identity) team. Funnily enough, the D&AI graduates/analysts actually went above and beyond and set up a meeting with us vacationers days before our induction, and now the vacationers and I have a group chat and we catch up at the end of every week – really REALLY fortunate for us! And it was super insightful hearing about all the different projects that the Data & AI team actually manages.

I’ve also had the pleasure of getting in about one intro meeting or catch-up every day with people from varying levels of the business – partners, managers, senior consultants, consultants, etc. – from different teams.

Deloitte also uses Yammer for colleagues to connect with each other and join networks/groups with shared interests. Over the past couple of days, I have been getting back into running and have been interested in gaming as a means to destress, and so the running and video-game groups on the Yammer definitely caught my eye and prompted me to join. While I hope to explore this aspect of life at Deloitte more, I found it refreshing to see the community(ies) on the platform.

What’s next

Ultimately, the Graduate Talent team, the social investment and the support at Deloitte have helped a lot with my navigation/understanding of the team and the greater business, and they are continuously helping me figure out whether the company and work is the right fit for me. I hope to leverage them more over the next two weeks while advancing my exposure.

And in the coming days, I hope to get involved in a Community of Practice (CoP) session. As far as I know, these sessions are dedicated to keeping the team up-to-date from a technological standpoint. So looking forward to sitting in one and sharing a bit of my experience!