Deloitte is a leading financial services organisation providing audit and assurance, financial advisory, consulting, tax, and risk advisory expertise. With a workforce of nearly 300,000 people across 150 countries, Deloitte’s work is global in impact, and it services a large proportion of the world’s largest companies.
Encouragingly, Deloitte offers a range of early career programmes for school and university students and recent graduates.
A-Level students can partake in Career Shaper days, which allow you to test out your liking for a career with Deloitte via introductions to client projects in a variety of service areas.
Deloitte also offers the Pathfinder Programme - comprising a nine-month placement before university, and a month with the same Deloitte department every summer while at university. Based on performance and degree outcome, students are then admitted directly to the graduate programme.
For school students who don’t feel university is the right fit, Deloitte runs an apprenticeship scheme and a BrightStart Apprenticeship.
For university students who are unsure about their career direction but want a taste of what a Deloitte career is like, there’s Spring into Deloitte.
Penultimate-year university students can apply for the annual summer vacation scheme, which is a 3–6 week placement in Tax Consulting, Real Estate, or Human Capital and Actuarial. There is also the option to work for Deloitte for a six to twelve-month industrial placement.
Graduates can apply to Deloitte’s graduate training scheme under the areas of Audit and Assurance, Real Estate, Cyber, Tax Consulting, Human Capital and Actuarial or Technology.
As illustrated by the range above, Deloitte provides many supportive routes through education into its business sectors.
Whilst it may appear easier to secure employment at Deloitte through these routes, be aware that these are not a prerequisite of employment. If you are an experienced hire without any previous contact or experience at Deloitte, you should not be deterred.
There are opportunities for professionals across all service areas. Deloitte prides itself on its inclusive culture and values, as well as its learning and development opportunities, and flexibility for agile working.
As expected, there is great competition to secure a role at Deloitte and this is the case across all service sectors. The multi-stage recruitment process is particularly challenging; careful preparation is needed to excel and impress at each stage.
To ensure the best talent is recruited, the Deloitte application process consists of a variety of online assessments, including a number of reasoning tests and a job simulation exercise.
These tests help to gain insight into a candidate’s mental capability, as well as into their behaviour and alignment with the Deloitte culture, values and ways of working.
If you progress to the final stages, you will have to impress the recruitment team at a virtual assessment centre, which will consist of an interview and likely also a presentation and group exercise.
Below is a detailed breakdown of the stages in Deloitte’s recruitment process. Note that the process may vary slightly according to the type of programme or role you are applying for.
The first stage of the process is to complete an online application. You will first be asked to indicate the opportunity or role you are applying for. You will then need to complete your candidate profile, adding your work experience and educational qualifications.
It is recommended that you have your grade information handy before launching the application portal.
You may also be asked a few simple questions regarding your motivation for applying to the company and role (this is dependent on the opportunity you are expressing interest in). The answers required will likely have a 100-word limit.
Next, you may be invited to complete a short game-based assessment as a means of gaining insight into your decision-making, problem-solving abilities and propensity for risk-taking.
The idea behind the gamified assessment is to give the recruitment team an indication of how candidates are likely to react to pressure in different scenarios.
You should get an invitation to play the game, called Cosmic Cadet, around three days after submitting your initial application. Feedback is provided via a report outlining your strengths and areas for improvement.
Deloitte’s online aptitude tests consist of a series of questions from several types of psychometric tests, to assess different aspects of a candidate’s mental capability. These will likely be numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and situational strengths questions.
There is some variation to testing depending on department, role, and office location. And there is no time limit. It is, however, a requirement to complete the test in one sitting (on average it takes around 40 minutes to complete).
Note that Deloitte branches tend to use Cappfinity as their test publisher.
For some vacancies, the question styles below will be blended into a single assessment. For others, they will be in distinct sections following on from each other. Either way, you will be answering the same style of questions, just in a different structure.
The numerical reasoning test will present candidates with multiple-choice questions based around basic mathematical skills - such as fractions, percentages, ratios, sequences and simple algebra - and data interpretation from charts and tables.
The verbal reasoning questions will require candidates to read passages and answer questions related to sentence structure, emphasis, synonyms, and implied meaning.
The situational strengths test will ask you a series of questions related to how you would respond in different work scenarios. It aims to assess your behaviours and whether they align with Deloitte’s workplace culture and values.
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The next stage of the recruitment process is Deloitte’s Job Simulation assessment. This consists of a series of questions relating to the work you would be doing in the role at Deloitte.
The questions are in a variety of formats, some requiring written responses (eg email), whilst others are multiple-choice or require a ranking.
There will also be questions that require a short video response. You will have a few minutes to prepare your answer, record and submit. Due to this, you will need a quiet neutral space in which to complete the assessment, along with a decent webcam and strong internet connection.
As you will be on camera, dress professionally and pay attention to your body language and eye line.
Practising answering questions in front of the camera is recommended, so you appear at ease and confident when recording your responses. There are a few practice questions at the start of the assessment, so you can become accustomed to the structure and interface.
As the questions relate to client scenarios, some numerical problems based around client data may also be included.
Feedback on this stage of the process should be received within three weeks.
The final stage of the recruitment process involves a live video interview, likely with a senior staff member from the department you hope to join.
The interview will include motivation questions, scenario questions, questions on general topic areas and questions about you, your strengths and values. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask your own questions to determine if Deloitte is the right fit for you.
For some roles you will also be invited to give a presentation, which is described as short and informal. You will be given a topic and asked to deliver a five-minute presentation with a maximum of four accompanying slides.
The presentation is most often delivered to one person, who will likely be the same individual who conducts your interview.
You may also be asked to partake in a group exercise via video call. The hiring manager will be keeping a close eye on your behaviours and interactions to see if they align with what Deloitte seeks. They will want to see you demonstrate your own skills, but also work constructively as part of a team.
Group social interaction is trickier via video platform (particularly with people you have not met), so gaining familiarity with interacting online beforehand is recommended and will help you feel more comfortable.
Sometimes, all of the above is packaged in what is known as a Deloitte Connect Event. You should receive feedback within one week of your final stage assessment.