My Cadetship at Deloitte - Alice Jowsey

Coming from an educational background, Alice is empowered with her pivot into a new career in tech. After completing a Diploma of Web Development at NMIT Nelson and a Full Stack Application bootcamp at Enspiral Dev Academy, with alignment, guidance and support from the Summer of Tech she started a six-month Cadetship with Deloitte in June 2021. She kindly shares her experience with us.

How was the Deloitte Cadetship?

Onboarding into Deloitte I was welcomed with a very well structured induction. The authenticity of Deloitte culture included a Mihi Whakatau, many new connections with Deloitte people that shared their working experiences and client engagements and talent. This opened my mind and insight into the enormity of Deloitte NZ and Global, we were generously gifted some great Deloitte and AWS swag, and some cadetship group experiences. 

The first three months of the Cadetship was dedicated to learning AWS, including an AWS Cloud Practioner exam. The other three months focused on shadowing on the client side. My focus was the AWS exam and Deloitte gave me support with mentors, a buddy, a career coach, cadet sessions and time and space to attain this certification.

AWS shares it usually takes someone six months with some experience to attain this certification, and our cadet group achieved this in three! 

As a side project, we built a simple application for Deloitte during our Cadetship as a group and made our goal of our MVP. The app is set to be shared now with the Deloitte Platform and Cloud Engineering team.

Why did you choose Deloitte?

I noticed the opportunity on the Summer of Tech site and it jumped out at me, so I gave it a go. I had to build some software during the process which was a great experience, really drawing on all I knew. Deloitte for me has positivity around its portfolio contributions to Aotearoa. Deloitte consults with a huge amount of people in every different industry in Aotearoa. The role was a really good fit for me because I could pivot many transferable skills from my previous career into consulting. There is a wide range of opportunities to grow and offer some important contributions. I’m really happy with how aligned I was with Deloitte and the opportunities within Deloitte. 

Have you had any challenges or anything unexpected?

Sometimes there was pressure when learning new tech, being in a new environment with new people. Also, not knowing what we were doing with the latest tech. These were all challenges. You have to dig deep at times and bring out your strengths, remain positive and navigate those challenges.

What kind of support have you been getting from your team?

The partners that selected me, the managers of our projects, the team of senior devs that mentored us and for a coffee and simple questions we had our buddies. They are all very supportive groups and said, “come and ask us if you need help, advice or have any questions”. They are an awesome whanau at Deloitte, and uphold inclusivity and a good working culture. If not there are people at hand to speak with on any concerns. The Deloitte people are endearing, kind, approachable, considerate. 

How did Summer of Tech help with the internship process?

Summer of Tech supported me to continue reaching towards opportunities in tech, post-study. The platform encouraged me to keep applying for opportunities and ultimately allowed me to find this opportunity with Deloitte. I am very grateful for that.

One day, I received three different messages about cadetship opportunities. I chose Deloitte. The application process was long and quite full-on, but good. While I was producing my application, materials and portfolio, the Summer of Tech community backed me. It is easy to feel lost in the process, but I felt very comfortable moving forward. Summer of Tech supported me in aligning the position and the interview. 

What’s one piece of advice you’d give a student starting the Summer of Tech programme in 2022? 

Carry yourself forward with the understanding that you are enough... you have already come so very far. Holistically develop yourself with soft skills to build relationships and to feel secure in yourself. There’s always new tech; it’s always changing. Understand that you have the neuroplasticity to learn new technologies ahead.

Applying yourself is all about how you learn technology and having confidence that you can apply your skills. 

What’s next for you?

I’m currently working at the Ministry of Health on the client-side. My next goal is getting my AWS Developers certificate, which may take a year. I would also like to give back to girls who code and am also really interested in Maori data sovereignty in Aotearoa with AWS.

If anybody wants to contact me for Tech role support, if you are struggling or have questions please contact me. I am here and available to help you along the way. 

Tena Koutou Summer of Tech crew! Ka rawe mahi!