The Deloitte Young Women Challenge is an initiative aiming at attracting more female candidates to the audit and consulting professions. Constantly striving to attract a range of diverse and highly-qualified candidates, Deloitte Luxembourg wants to hear from young women how Deloitte can become a premier career destination for them.

Catering to young women by using last year’s excellent ideas

Last year’s contest asked women to identify what actions a professional services firm should pursue to attract talented young women, encouraging a healthy gender balance and highly skilled management.

The winning teams placed a lot of emphasis on identifying the key unique selling propositions a modern employer would need to become an employer of choice for young women. Several suggestions focused on enlarging the current in-house service offerings aimed at women are currently initiatives that are being investigated.

The overall outcome from young women was a direct message to other young women: they encouraged one another to become more active in shaping their future by taking the lead in creating a career all while respecting their individually desired work/life balance.

In view of the inspiring ideas and suggestions for initiatives — ranging from daycare facilities to hosting annual events by women in the sector to attract females to the sector, to information classes to become part of the school curricula—Deloitte Luxembourg decided to include more schools in this year’s challenge. 

A challenging fall

True to tradition, the Deloitte Young Women Challenge kicked off at ESC Dijon on 14 September, followed by HEC ULG (Belgium) on 21 September. The roadshow continued at Neoma in Reims on 22 September, IESEG on 24 September, followed by Neoma in Rouen and the University of Luxembourg on the 25 September and ICN Nancy on the 16 of November. Again this year, the winning teams will be awarded internships at Deloitte Luxembourg. It is estimated that around 60 young women will take part in the challenge and follow the advice stipulated by last year’s winner: play the lead in shaping your future.