When browsing for internship opportunities on LinkedIn one wintery Sunday in snowy Helsinki, I couldn’t have imagined where one click would take me in the coming months. From Helsinki to Dubai, Barcelona to Paris, countless unforgettable moments and learnings later, 10-weeks went by so fast.

Before the offer

Last fall, as I was on the brink of graduating from my master’s program in finance, I was still unsure of what I wanted to dedicate myself into as I entered the job market. As this was a question I had been pondering for a while, I had used the opportunity to try different industries and positions through internships throughout my studies.

I had three main sectors which I wanted to try before making a full-time commitment, two of which I had crossed of my list; I had dabbled in Private Equity and Tech previously, but was still missing management consulting. To add a bit of challenge to finding the management consulting internship opportunity, I wanted to have this experience outside of the Nordics, in a fully English-only office and in a firm with a global presence and clear growth targets and an interesting industry focus. After some research, Delta Partners seemed to tick all the boxes. Four rounds of interviews and some consulting case practice later, I got the offer to start in the Barcelona office on a 10-week internship – little did I know at that point that instead of Barcelona, I’d be starting my Delta journey in Dubai.

The kick-off & Day 1

A few weeks before starting my internship, I received an e-mail from the recruitment team asking me if I would like to join the new entrants training they’d be organizing at the Delta HQ in Dubai.

The agenda was going to be filled with case trainings, expert sessions and evenings filled with getting to know other new joiners over some cocktails, dinners and activities (Including some horse racing). Of course, no sane person would say no to an offer like this, mind you that this week in Dubai was going to be before I had even started my internship – What a way to kick things off!

You can check the Delta blog on the new entrants training here.

 

After a packed week, having made many new friends, experiences and learned a ton, it was time to dust of the sands of Dubai and head to Barcelona. The kick-off in Dubai had set my expectations of everything Delta-related high and when Day 1 came and it was time to head to the office, I wasn’t disappointed. It was an easy transition into a new country and office as Delta had given great support to me throughout the process, from extensive relocation support to a great Mentor and Buddy system where you have a more senior employee as your mentor, and a junior employee as your buddy who has recently joined themselves and can help you with anything related to getting settled. I had already been introduced to both my mentor and my buddy weeks before joining and on my first morning when I went to the office for the first time I already knew many of my colleagues.

 

The day-to-day

During my 10-week internship I had the chance to work on two greatly different client projects and two internal business development cases. The first client project was related to forming a large connectivity player’s strategy. Most of my time on the project was spent on running different types of analysis combining internal data with external resources including customer segmentation and competitor analysis.

In my second main project, I was staffed on a commercial due diligence on an infrastructure transaction. The work and stakeholders were largely different on this project as compared to the strategy piece. The main question (A bit simplified) our team was set to answer for the client was how we see the revenue and costs evolving in the future, and what are the main risks and opportunities regarding them. This taught me everything transaction-related as well as on working with multiple stakeholders with varied interests.

In-between projects, consultants participate in different internal business development activities, which in my case meant keeping a tab on and helping summarise what’s happening at the Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona and doing a supporting analysis for the Sports practise. Overall, I felt that there was wide support from all colleagues I got to work with in the projects and while everybody understood that you’re still learning, I felt like I wasn’t being treated as an intern with limitations on the responsibilities I could take on, but rather as a colleague whose input was as valuable as anybody else’s.

 

The wrap-up

After an intense and exciting 10-weeks in Barcelona full of learning and meeting great new people, it was time to pack my bags and head back home. However, the company had one more surprise in store. Delta was about to organize an off-site, which is an all-company get-together in Paris. Even though my internship had already concluded one week prior, I was invited to the event and got to meet the 300+ people in the company over 3 days filled with different fun activities.

 

What a way to end the internship, which I can highly recommend to anybody who wishes to work with great people solving interesting challenges.

I wish to thank all the Delta colleagues I had a chance to learn from and work with for all their support and for making this an unforgettable experience!

 

Tuomas Talvinko