The journey of an apprentice

Kerry Moore, 23 from Belfast, is strong advocate for apprenticeships. Since graduating from her apprenticeship in 2022, she has gone on to be shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Apprenticeship Awards and started the next step of her career in consulting at Deloitte. With Deloitte aiming to hire over 300 new apprentices across the UK this year, Kerry shares her career journey and what it’s like to work at the firm.

Looking back on my apprenticeship during National Apprenticeship Week, I can share that I’ve really loved the experience. I’ve been reflecting on my career journey and my highlights from the past four years.

After graduating from Ulster University in December with a first-class honours degree, I was promoted to consultant. And not only that, I was nominated by my team for Northern Ireland Apprentice of the Year – which was incredibly special and unexpected – and I’ve received recognition for outstanding achievement in business technology at Ulster University’s Degree Apprentice Achievement event. It’s incredible to be put forward and it reinforces that, while we work for a very large organisation, we are still valued and recognised for our individual efforts.

How it all began

At secondary school in Antrim Grammar in Belfast, Business Studies was my favourite subject and I had my heart set on getting a business degree at university. I applied for five different business focused degree courses and received all five offers, leaving me with a great selection of options.

This was when my friend told me about Deloitte’s BrightStart apprenticeship scheme. For school leavers in Northern Ireland, it’s an opportunity to work for the firm four days a week and then attend Ulster University for one day a week to complete a part time degree, all while being paid a competitive salary, getting professional experience and a fully funded degree.

It was an obvious choice for me! I changed track from university to the apprenticeship scheme. I loved the idea of not taking the “usual” route of studying full time and getting hands on experience.

The process of applying and being accepted into the firm took a few months and consisted of online assessments, interviews, and group exercises. In September 2018 I started my induction along with around 30 other young people who would be joining me on my apprentice journey. We completed several weeks of training in Belfast, provided mainly by Deloitte staff and then got to go on our first work trip to London where we networked, got to know each other and learned how best to navigate the firm. This trip reinforced to me how lucky I was to be working for one of the leading professional services firms. Everyone I met from the firm was lovely and enthusiastic about their role and the company.

My first project

After a thorough induction period I swiftly started my first role for a large IT company headquartered in England. I loved travelling away to work in their office Monday to Thursday as part of the Project Management Office team. This was a steep learning curve but one I enjoyed. This role helped shape my experience to date, working alongside a diverse team I quickly picked up core consulting skills. It was challenging at times learning to adjust from a school environment to a corporate environment, but I loved the sense of independence from the start – along with the excitement of my first real pay cheque, which I quickly spent on booking a holiday.

I spent six months on my first project, focusing on coordinating project management and governance activities, providing support by developing project charters, project plans, recording meeting minutes, supporting steering committees and other governance boards.

Life at Deloitte

Since then, I have worked for many other interesting projects, often pushing myself to develop my role past managers’ expectations of me. One noticeable attribute of life at Deloitte is the culture. Every team I have worked on over the past four years have been so warm and welcoming. Our teams are always made up of a diverse range of people of all different grades, ages, and backgrounds, each of us bringing different qualities and skills to the team.

I know some people wonder how we balance our client work, university studies and life outside of our apprenticeship – but with the network of support and understanding around us it has been really enjoyable. One main source of support within Deloitte is our people leaders who we check in with on a regular basis and help to guide our career paths.

One great perk of being an apprentice at Deloitte is the focus on our growth and development. I expressed an interest in trying a different role which has allowed me to recently complete a secondment to Human Resources. I love that my employer is willing to let me experiment and try new opportunities like this. 

Looking ahead

I’m excited to progress in Deloitte and keep going on my career journey. I’m in a position to try new roles, find out about new areas of the business, and pick up more qualifications on the way.