Life At Protiviti
Navigating Risk with Curiosity and Precision
Ryan O’Shea
Consultant, Chicago
Ryan O’Shea understands the importance of asking the right questions. His journey from intern to consultant in lender due diligence highlights the value Protiviti places on curiosity to drive both personal growth and client success.
Embracing Challenges: From Intern to Risk Steward
When Ryan began his career as an intern in Protiviti’s Risk & Compliance practice in 2022, he was committed to learning as much as he could in short order. In doing so, he made the most of engaging with his managers, team members, and clients to deliver strong results and maximized his internship experience.
“As an intern, I was responsible for assisting a senior consultant with regulatory compliance due diligence, collaborating with my peers to review compliance policies and procedures, internal audits and conduct other risk assessments,” said Ryan. “This was an extremely beneficial experience because it showed me first-hand what it was like to be client-facing in a full-time role.”
This hands-on experience equipped Ryan with essential skills while reinforcing that every task contributes to building trust and ensuring our clients’ operational success.
Ensuring Clients Are Prepared
Now a consultant in lender due diligence, Ryan ensures our clients are well-prepared to meet their fiscal responsibilities. Ryan analyzes financial statements, assesses risk, and asks strategic questions to evaluate a borrowing party’s ability to meet repayment obligations.
“The work is fast-paced and provides ample opportunities to gain experience and grow professionally, he notes. “I review documents like loan agreements, credit memos, shipping and invoicing records, and analyze how client payments flow into their bank accounts.”
The wide range of clients – from financial services to the automobile industry – keeps it interesting for Ryan and gives him the chance to deepen his expertise while broadening his experience.
“Each project is a new puzzle to solve,” he says.
Building Relationships and Fostering Growth
Soon after joining Protiviti, Ryan attended the Consulting Challenge, an experiential learning program designed to help interns successfully transition into next level roles. Beyond learning about the ins and outs of working at Protiviti, it helped him understand what his career path could look like, and how to achieve it.
He’s found people are a key differentiator. He collaborates on every project alongside a senior consultant who can answer his immediate questions; his engagement managers are responsive and genuinely interested in developing his skills and potential; and the leaders are approachable, says Ryan.
“It’s easy to talk to anyone in the company,” he says. No matter what you want to further explore, gut check, or clarify, you can just knock on people’s doors.”
Ryan took great value from the opportunities during his internship – and since – has taken part in events from client meetings to company golf outings to connect with colleagues within and beyond the work setting.
He notes these experiences are both fun and offer valuable insight into Protiviti’s culture. He encourages incoming interns to make the most of these opportunities: “Gaining as much perspective as possible during your internship will help you hit the ground running.”
Ryan exemplifies Life at Protiviti by staying curious, asking questions, and working collaboratively—and precisely – with his team and leaders to achieve exceptional outcomes for himself, the business, and his clients.
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Trish Finnemore: Protiviti’s senior global marketing director coordinates APAC and Europe teams from Australia, meeting with U.S., Asia, and Europe to collaborate globally and leverage digital trends in marketing.
