Harry Neville
Destination: Deloitte’s Audit Business
Subject: Banking and Capital Markets
Date of Leaving Hatch End High School: July 2013
Since leaving Hatch End, I have spent the previous 3 years working in Deloitte’s audit business, specialising in the banking and capital markets industry. It’s our job to assess whether the clients’ accounts are correct and accurate, and to also ensure that their key processes are operating to a suitable standard, in order to prevent things like fraud. More recently, I have started to field manage parts of my engagements, meaning that I often have 1 or 2 graduates working for me, and often reviewing their work. I have also become an in house financial instrument specialist this year, and have started to work on valuing complex financial instruments as a part of our audits, and ensuring that our clients meet the requirements of the relevant accounting standards that they report under.
The brightstart scheme has definitely opened a lot of doors for me, and having Deloitte (and hopefully the ACA once I finish) on my CV should make me a good candidate for any job in the industry. Career aside, working for Deloitte does come with a good social life, with various client and team drinks happening most weeks. Studying towards the chartered accountancy qualification has also considerably improved my technical skills, and definitely poses a challenge balancing work, social life and exams, but this just adds to the employability once I have finished the scheme. I would highly recommend the scheme for any student that is considering a career in finance/accountancy, as this is the best way to gain first-hand experience, and also gain a valuable qualification.
During A levels, the main focus for students should be attaining the highest grades possible. A levels are about keeping your options open, and every grade that is dropped narrows those options slightly. In line with keeping options open, the next piece of advice is to apply to as many things as possible. If students can go into results day with not just holding offers from their firm and insurance universities, but a school leaver scheme as well, then students are more likely to meet the grades for one of those offers, plus it’s very good to have interview and application experience.