Career Journey: Peter DeMartin

Deloitte offers opportunities

News, culture, and people—find where they intersect and you find Peter DeMartin. Hence, his more than 20-year career in talent, where staying on top of trends, understanding cultural dynamics, and connecting with personalities of all types are keys to success.

Peter first discovered an affinity for HR while working at a large insurer, when he switched from internal audit to training and operations. Then on a bit of a whim, he took a position at Arthur Andersen as a campus recruiter. After Anderson closed, Peter started at Deloitte as the Southeast Region Talent Acquisition Leader. Peter quickly moved from campus recruiting to recruiting experienced hires and managing a team of 20. “I would say you focus much more on the “why Deloitte” on the experienced hire side,” he says. “There's more involvement and discussion at the individual candidate level—everything from salary to start dates.”

Peter's career journey

In 2008, Peter was promoted to a lead role in talent nationally. He developed and implemented incentive programs for business development executives. It was then that he moved to Chicago. Now, he is National Compensation Leader, a role that studies compensation in the marketplace and helps set salary and benefit levels for more than 40,000 Deloitte employees. “We assess the market and bring data back to the leaders in different areas to inform budgeting and compensation decisions.”

All of this experience gives Peter a unique perspective on the kinds of behaviors that translate into success in professional services, and specifically at Deloitte.

He says Deloitte has a very collegial and consensus-driven environment and is very focused on teamwork. In Peter’s experience that’s rare. “Usually when you have top-quality people, that itself fosters a culture of competitiveness. We really seem to have the right mix of competitiveness and collegiality,” he says.

That doesn’t mean expectations aren’t high. Deloitte’s projects are challenging, and its clients have high standards. “That same expectation turns inward.” Partners and principals rely on insight and innovation from Enabling Services like talent and recruiting. They expect Peter and his team to meet the challenges of attracting and retaining quality people who will also thrive in Deloitte’s culture.

Flexibility is important

Given Peter’s love of culture and current events, it’s no surprise that he chooses to live in the heart of Chicago, near Wrigleyville. From there, it’s an easy train ride to take in a sporting event and the area is always jumping with great restaurants and shows.

One last thing Peter enjoys about Deloitte is that he’s often able to work from home. That flexibility makes it easy for him to squeeze in a workout during the day, “I’m big into staying fit,” he says. Or, when the weather’s particularly nice, ride his bike or take his dog Maximus for a walk down by Lake Michigan.