Data-driven development: Oliver’s trainee experience

A degree in modern languages is maybe not the most typical background for someone working in professional services, but it was my experiences on the course that helped me define my career path. 

When taking classes in interpreting at university, I realised I wanted to be the person having the conversations – not facilitating them. I saw accountancy and transaction services as a way to gain knowledge and insight on the key drivers of business strategy, and to start getting involved in commercial conversations with industry leaders at an early stage of my career. 

At the same time, I wanted to acquire a 'trade' – a set of hard skills that I could be paid for in the future. While transaction services work takes place in a highly strategic investment environment, it’s built on the bedrock of everyday accounting, so I felt that it would give me a skillset applicable to many roles in accountancy and finance.

I knew that I wanted to work in a firm that met ambition and scale with a people-centric culture. Looking in from the outside, most accountancy firms look quite similar – but I felt that Grant Thornton had the most compelling commitment to its own values.

The key word to describe how my experiences here differ from my friends and acquaintances at other firms is empowerment. I’m lucky to work in an environment where everybody has been invested in my development. People have been generous with their time to support me in trying new things and always ready to offer advice when taking on a new challenge. My people manager has been incredibly diligent in creating space for me to explore my career goals and has helped me understand how I can grow and progress.

The Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) team works closely with the M&A Analytics team, so since joining I’ve been able to see how their skillset was enabling us to break into data that was previously impenetrable and then build on it with more sophisticated visualisation tools. 

The opportunity came up for a secondment into the M&A Analytics team last year, which is quite unusual for a trainee, so I jumped at the chance. During my secondment, I’ve developed skills across data analytics tools including Alteryx, Power BI and KNIME. Since returning to the TAS team, I’ve already been able to embed what I’ve learned.

It’s been incredibly valuable working with colleagues from across the business, too, particularly in Business Consulting and Corporate Finance. I’ve supported these teams by building an employee skills mapping dashboard for an energy sector client, a staff costs and headcount analysis dashboard for a food and beverage sector client, and a tool to help our Corporate Finance team automate business valuation analysis.

Even as a trainee, you can have a real impact on clients, too. For example, I recently worked on a dashboarding project that I was responsible for from beginning to end. When I presented the first draft to the client's Finance Director, they told me that what I had done was “a huge step forward for the business”, which was amazing feedback to hear. The opportunities to grow your leadership skills are always there – it’s just about taking them. 

While I’ve learned a huge amount about data analytics over my two years at the firm, one of the most resounding lessons has been how much I don't know. That’s why, when I was invited to join the first cohort of 3D, our Data-Driven Digital Mindset programme, I immediately accepted. 

Aside from my own curiosity and personal interest in analytics, it’s become clear that there’s huge potential for data and AI to change how we work and what we deliver for our clients. Joining the programme felt like a way to be at the coalface of the firm's digital and AI strategy and to be one of the industry's many harbingers of a new digital age.

My expectation was that the programme would provide training on certain tools for particular use cases of data analytics and automation. So far, though, it’s been a deep dive into our existing mentality about data. It’s shown us how to reframe our mindset to think about business questions and challenges through data and automation, and given us a theoretical playbook from which to create, scrutinise and test new ideas.  

The course has already proven invaluable in helping me communicate more effectively with both colleagues and clients. I’ve gained a stronger grasp of the language and terminology used in data discussions, as well as how to frame complex problems in a clear, structured way. Thanks to the practice scenarios we explore in classes and workshops, I’m now able to pose questions and make requests to clients with greater clarity and precision, making those conversations more productive and focused.

I’m lucky to be undertaking the 3D programme with a cohort of fellow associates who are passionate about our firm. Over the last few months, we ‘ve had some amazing conversations about how the firm works across different service lines and where there are opportunities for us to improve the efficiency and quality of our work through better use of data and automation. It’s interesting how similar the story is across different service lines, and I can't wait to see how our ideas develop as we build on what we’ve learned on the programme so far.