People Series - Ambika Bose reflects on her career move from Audit into Real Assets Advisory

1. Hi Ambika – tell us a bit about yourself and your background before joining Occupiers & Capital Projects (O&CP).

I joined Deloitte in October 2016 on the Audit & Assurance Graduate Scheme. I studied Economics and Finance at university, so I looked into a career in Audit to give me the opportunity to further develop financial analysis skills, whilst also training to become a Chartered Accountant. During my time in Audit, I obtained the ACA qualification and worked with both listed and privately owned companies from a range of industries until making the move to Real Estate advisory with our Occupiers & Capital Projects (O&CP) team in March 2021.

2. What attracted you to the role in O&CP?

I have always had an interest in real estate, so this team seemed like a good fit. I was also able to speak to people already within the O&CP team who had made a similar transition and hear about their experiences which helped put my mind at ease. Initially, a move to O&CP did not appear to be one of the well-known paths, but we are an extremely diverse team. I have colleagues who are qualified surveyors, engineers, digital experts as well as many other accountants, so I’m glad I found out about the team when I did.

3. Audit and O&CP seem like quite different teams – did you find that transferrable skills from your Audit experience helped in your new role?

Yes, on first impression they do seem quite different, but I have found my background in Audit equipped me with transferrable skills that have been invaluable for O&CP projects. Having experience of working directly for clients and building relationships with Audit teams and client stakeholders has definitely come in handy over the past couple of years. In Audit, I managed teams and worked towards fixed deadlines – all elements that I have carried across to O&CP. Analysing financial information was also a big part of Audit, but in O&CP I have recently had to do this as part of preparing a business case for a new office headquarters for one of my clients.

4. What is the best part about working in O&CP?

The people! I work with so many inspiring people who are truly passionate about what they do. We support on a wide variety of projects, giving endless opportunities to expand my knowledge, experience and skillset and I feel there will always be support within the team to help shape and achieve goals. From a social perspective we do quite a lot as a team. My personal favourite was a GoBoat social that we did as a project team on one of the very hot days last summer!