Cara Mitchell
Who are you and what do you do at Deloitte?
I am a manager with the Energy, Infrastructure, Utilities
audit group in the London office. I have been with Deloitte since
the fall of 2002 and am currently on an exchange from the Toronto
Canada office. My background is an assortment of everything although
I had clients in Canada within the utilities industry as well
as a number of hydro electric stations. In the UK I have been
able to expand this experience to oil & gas as well as large
infrastructure clients. On a day-to-day basis I am responsible
for coordinating my audit engagement team, meeting with clients,
and preparing audit files.
Why Deloitte? What motivated you to join us in the UK?
I joined Deloitte because of the people I met throughout the recruiting
stage. They made a real effort to make me feel welcome to the
firm. I chose the UK as my destination for my transfer for a number
of reasons. The first was for professional development. I wanted
to gain exposure to international accounting standards, which
Canada will be moving towards in the next few years, and I wanted
to gain more experience on energy related clients. The second
was because of London itself. I had been to London on vacation
and fell in love with the city, I figured the only way I would
get to see all the things London had to offer was to spend 18
months exploring it. The opportunity to travel to other parts
of Europe was also a big selling point.
Have you had a mentor (or role model) who contributed to
your success as a professional? How did that person impact your
career?
There are a number of mentors that I have had throughout my career
at Deloitte, although I would say a senior manager I have worked
with over the past four years has had the biggest impact. She
is always very organised and self-sufficient. She also shows a
lot of concern for the staff who work for her, but still sets
realistic and challenging goals. I have tried to adopt a lot of
the qualities she has, especially when it comes to giving staff
feedback and encouragement.
Tell us a bit more about yourself?
I am a culture maniac. Since moving to London I have set a goal
for my husband and I to do one cultural thing a week. So far this
has included everything from the big sites (i.e. London eye, Tower
of London, London zoo) to the smaller more informal sites (i.e.
football games in our local pub and a Harry Potter walking tour).
There are so many things on the list that I am not sure how we
will fit them all in. I am also a spreadsheet geek - how else
would I keep track of the various sites I want to see and properly
manage my vacation to achieve those goals!
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