Final chance to join Deloitte’s 2021 intake of ‘Brightstart’ apprentices

BrightStart is a four-year professional development programme which helps successful applicants to gain a BSc honours degree through Ulster University as well as recognised professional qualifications and a job at Deloitte working for the company’s clients across the UK and further afield.

Co-created by Ulster University Business School and Deloitte, the degree programme has been a huge success, with around 200 people currently on the apprenticeship scheme in Belfast.

Initially aimed at school leavers, applicants to the programme in recent years have include people from a diverse range of backgrounds and ages, including some who have previously tried university or worked in other jobs.

The BrightStart programme allows those who join it to accelerate in their career, with those who graduate from the apprenticeship taking up positions which normally take traditional graduates two years to reach at the firm.

Applications for this year’s programme are closing at the end of the month, however as an opportunity becomes oversubscribed, Deloitte will close it for applications before the deadline.

Encouraging interested students to apply as soon as possible, Jackie Henry, senior partner at Deloitte in Belfast, said: “We are delighted to be launching this year’s BrightStart programme at a time when a degree of normality is returning to life following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’re proud to offer an alternative route for talented individuals looking for a career with Deloitte and giving them the chance to specialise in a range of disciplines.

“Deloitte has ambitious growth plans in Belfast and since the programme launched in 2015 we have successfully tapped into a rich vein of talent amongst school leavers and young people, which is helping us work towards achieving those aims.

“We have been encouraged by the quality of talent that we have brought into the business through the programme so far and I look forward to welcoming this year’s intake.”

Ella McCann, a consultant at Deloitte in Belfast, who joined the firm through the BrightStart programme, said she would ‘advise anyone to take a look at the apprenticeship route’.

She continued: “I always wanted go to university but the opportunity to study while working for a company I would have wanted to work for anyway, while also getting experience and coming out completely debt free made complete sense to me. My favourite thing about the course is that we were studying things in the classroom that were directly applicable to our work and which I’m still applying to my work. I’d advise anyone to take a look at the apprenticeship route to see if it is for them. It’s an experience I really valued.”

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