Click on the below profiles to find out more about life as a scholar from those who have experienced it first hand.
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Adam Powell I joined Corporate Tax three years ago as part of the scholarship scheme in which post A-level students take a gap year with the firm before beginning university. I've been returning to the Birmingham office during university holidays ever since. My decision to work in Corporate Tax in Birmingham was due to the variety of work and experience available in the department, the people I work with and the city itself. The Birmingham Corporate Tax team has, over the past few years, grown stronger and more diverse, and what with the department doubling in size, the social life just got better!
Working in Birmingham means that you are in the centre of one of the country's biggest most dynamic cities, something that is reflected in our work; the variety of work is never ending, with opportunities to work in office and at clients with a variety of companies across the globe. We work hard and strive to be the top professionally, but there is always room for a relaxing drink (or 3!) after work, especially when we are less than a minute away from Broad Street, Birmingham's highest concentration of bars, clubs and pubs.
Returning to Birmingham from the relatively care-free life of a music student at Leeds University could be considered a bit of a culture shock, but I find the office atmosphere to be the complete opposite of the traditional 'accountant' stereotype. Coming back to the office provides a chance to catch up with developments on a social and business level, as well as finding out what changes Birmingham has undergone; every time I come back it seems that something new has opened or will be opening soon.
Deloitte is one of the fastest growing financial services companies, with the tax practice going from strength to strength and a career with Corporate Tax in Birmingham has enabled me to be a part of all this while gaining valuable insight into business practices. The outstanding support team (both in-department in terms of mentors and performance management, and the centralised HR team) means that any problems are quickly dealt with and that your career can be mapped out taking advantage of your strengths and needs. I would recommend the Birmingham Corporate Tax Group to anybody wanting to work in an exciting, dynamic department that knows how to take advantage of being in England's second city. James Burke When thinking about gap years whilst in the final year of sixth form I decided that I wanted a gap year that gave me the chance to earn, gain invaluable work experience in a business environment and travel the far reaches of the globe for several months – the Deloitte Scholars Scheme stood out as a fantastic opportunity that matched my criteria.
The placement started with an intense few weeks of training with the graduates but this was a period in which the scholars at the London office which I joined became firm friends both in and after class. Right from the outset we were treated like graduates and expected to perform like graduates, which may seem intimidating to applicants, however we all found this level of responsibility rewarding.
This theme continued into the office, where as part of my work in the Telecommunications, Media and Technology department, I played a key role in a range of projects ranging from the audit of a small television manufacturer to being part of an enormous restructuring project of a major telecommunications provider. I enjoyed these tasks in different ways. The small audit meant that my role was extremely important to the success of the team as a whole. The large project allowed me to gain a valuable insight into the workings of a major firm and work as part of a large and successful team. The notion of “work hard, play hard” was very much in evidence here, and the position of the Deloitte office on the Strand near Covent Garden meant for an excellent life outside the office.
Overall, the quality of the training, the range of work and living and working in London made for an amazing gap year, swiftly followed by four months travelling in South East Asia before heading off to university. Now at university I am still involved with the firm doing promotional work and am looking forward to the scholar reunion Christmas party at the National Portrait Gallery in London!
Sapna Dutta As a sixth form student, my potential career aspirations were mixed; I was working part time as a BBC radio presenter and had a place at the LSE to study Law. Despite these somewhat unrelated experiences I was given the opportunity to spend a year, before beginning university, in the Firm’s Corporate Tax Department in Manchester. As you can imagine, given my varied background and GCSE Level Maths, my knowledge of Corporate Taxation was limited, to say the least! However, within the first month I was completing full computations of our clients’ annual Tax Liabilities. I had been trained in exactly the same way as had our new graduate recruits, and, by the culmination of my gap year placement, I had a substantial knowledge of both how my department works, and the specific subject matter within which our business runs.
The Scholar placement provides an ongoing learning opportunity at a crucial time in your life; as a school-leaver and university student, I was eager to try my hand at as many different careers as possible in the hope that one would inspire me in a certain direction! Besides gaining a huge advantage academically (my Tax Law seminars are much easier now!), I grew socially and developed into an individual that I could never even have aspired to be had I gone straight into university from school. Every one of my colleagues within the Firm was invaluable in aiding my understanding of my work, and in making me feel comfortable, whether I was working right next to them in the office, or meeting with the Director of one of our client companies. TOP |