What made you move from private to public?

By the time I had finished at PwC, I’d had five years in the private sector. By then I felt I knew everything I possibly could know about audit, and curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know what it was like on the other side. Now, having been on both sides of the fence, it’s been a huge benefit to be able to know what auditors are asking for, and understand their needs to pre-empt the answer.

What advice would you give individuals who are starting out in finance now? 

Competition, particularly as a student, is incredibly high. I would even go as far as saying that it doesn’t matter what degree you’re doing – or in certain cases, whether you do one at all. I’ve seen several people who are considered ‘school leavers’ who get their qualifications and work in practice later down in life. University can saddle you with a lot of debt, so it’s important to consider this. Having said that, few career paths follow a straight line – mine certainly hasn’t – and degrees can help in other ways. It’s all about making the right choice for the individual.

Above all, there is never any harm in getting as much experience as you can through any means. Whether it’s by volunteering, part-time roles, social clubs, or getting involved with charities, these things all help to put more strings to your bow. As a student, use your time wisely. If you get up at 9:00AM to work until 5:00PM, the time that isn’t spent studying or in lectures should be put to use. When I am hiring, I look for the things beyond the standard qualifications and acronyms at the end of their name because when you meet them, they’re impersonal. Interpersonal skills are also crucial. Being able to say, ‘Yes, I’ve done these things off my own back,’ is invaluable.

How has the industry changed since you first started out? And are these changes for the better? 

I started in Audit in 2005, when it was all paper-based. I remember having to use dial up internet by unplugging the phoneline to use the computer, downloading my emails over the space of 10 minutes. It was all slow, to say the least.

Now, everything is digital, so it’s a no-brainer that getting digital and tech experience will be important for any career, let alone finance. I’m saying this as someone who feels slightly disadvantaged to some of the younger generations coming into the workforce. I’ll be using Excel sheets, and they’re completely somewhere else.

Another change is to the amount of menial tasks done now compared to before. Many administrative tasks have been automated or even completely eliminated from workloads. This is both an advantage and disadvantage, because while it saves time, you need to know the process of the tasks, what it means and why. If you don’t know the detail behind what the computer is doing for you, you won’t be able to see where the errors lie in the future when you’ll be the one held responsible.

For example, when I worked in audit, we used to pick a sample. Now, sampling and invoicing is done for you – so there’s no way of knowing why a certain sample was chosen or the mathematics behind the data. The bottom line of this is that while your jobs may be less menial, the skill is being lost.

What changes / improvements do you feel finance departments need to implement to drive further change and promote greater inclusivity?

At Comic Relief, we had a certain tool to use for blind submissions. Candidates were able to submit responses and applications that excluded background, ethnicity, gender, names, and locations. The HR department ran it so that any possibility of unconscious biases was eliminated. This experience really taught me the importance of unconscious bias training; it’s surprising to me how much we as people don’t realise we have some form of pre-empted bias about nearly everything.

When it comes to building a team for business, it’s so important to get cohesion and encourage different personalities and perspectives. It isn’t news that diversity allows everyone to grow and think a little differently. Using a football analogy, in a team you have a number of different characters and personalities come together to work and succeed as a unit. But it’s also important for managers to keep in mind that teams don’t necessarily have to get on, but they should be able to do the job together.