I’m Olivia Thomas, an Analyst in the Business Transformation team, based in London. I joined the firm as a graduate in September 2024, after completing RSM’s internship programme in summer 2024.

From studying law to a career in consulting

Prior to learning about RSM, I was studying Law at university. However, as I began to reassess my career ambitions, I realised I wanted to explore alternative paths. Through discussions with my peers, I discovered RSM and the variety of work experience opportunities available.

In June 2024, I was selected for RSM’s six-week paid internship programme. This was the perfect opportunity to build my confidence and develop personal and professional skills that led to me being offered a graduate position at the firm. I joined RSM’s consulting service line through the 10,000 Black Interns Programme, which I would never have discovered without those conversations with my peers.

My internship experience at RSM

During my internship, I had the opportunity to rotate through RSM’s six consulting solutions. These being business transformation, deal services, risk and governance, finance function support, restructuring and forensic investigation services. The variety I was exposed to during those six weeks was an exciting way to meet people across multiple service lines and gain practical insights into the work each team does.

Understanding my career ambitions

One of the highlights of the programme was spending a week with the Business Transformation team. I was introduced to digital tools such as Power BI and Alteryx and learnt how we can use these to support clients, for example through visualising data within dashboards and building out workflows for data analysis.

My internship really paved the way for a smooth transition into my current role; through both my foundational knowledge of the firm and the connections I built. I was so pleased when RSM offered me a permanent position at the end of the six weeks.

My role today

Every day is different and throughout my time in Business Transformation I’ve been able to work with a range of teams across many client projects, from operating model reviews to data analytics work. This variety of projects has given me the chance to develop a broad range of skills – including project management and adaptability – while also giving me the opportunity to apply my knowledge across different areas of Business Transformation.

Advice for the application process at RSM

All work experience programmes at RSM involve an application, test and interview process. But there is nothing to be concerned about, especially with interviews.

My interviewers were friendly and chatty, which made the process much less intimidating. The communication from the RSM recruitment team, both before and after the interview, was consistent and I felt well-informed throughout the entire process.

One piece of advice I would give for any RSM interview is to prepare thoroughly. Being able to talk confidently about yourself and your experience makes the process feel much less daunting. While you can't predict every question, there are some that you can expect. I found creating a document with common interview questions and familiarising myself with my answers to be really helpful. Just make sure you don't memorise them word-for-word so you can still sound natural.

Find your career journey through work experience

When I reflect on my experience, I can see just how much value I gained from investing those six weeks into an internship programme, and how it set me up for a strong journey of growth at RSM. I would definitely recommend learning about our work experience opportunities, and discovering your own career journey with RSM.

Make an impact. Be our future.