I hadn't considered finance until I got onto the Government’s Finance Fast Stream and while researching the qualifications, it was clear that if you want to be a trusted accountant, having a Chartered Accountant qualification strengthens your CV significantly.

My roles haven’t been solely related to finance; I went into internal audit and now into counter fraud which have been real happy mediums for me coming from both a legal and financial background.

Anything that you study is going to be completely different to how it is in practice. There are things that you won’t know until you experience them, such as working with stakeholders, building relationships and having difficult conversations. Those are all things that you learn when you get into the working world, not things that you learn writing essays.

When I started in this role, the department was building things from scratch, so there's a lot of room to grow and progression is very fast. It has been both challenging and rewarding to see how much I have achieved in such a short space of time.

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

Get your qualifications, and get them early! I couldn’t imagine working in my role now and trying to study at the same time, so to be able to give your full attention and focus to something, it's best to get your qualifications under your belt sooner rather than later.

I would also stress to give yourself enough forgiveness when you make mistakes or if you fail an exam. Never be afraid to make mistakes. Once you’re in industry, you soon build confidence and competence that can only be gained from experience.

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) has become less of a talking point and more of an action, or series of actions.

How has the industry change since you first started out, and are these changes for the better?

The Civil Service has always been good in terms of mental health and flexible working. Working in finance can get incredibly busy so those aspects of people's personal lives are starting to be more emphasised.

It’s important that more finance and accountancy firms implement flexible working and promote a better work/life balance because we’ve witnessed time and again that it’s not good for anyone to be working around the clock. Protecting your mental health is paramount. And if you want to work longer hours, it’s important to take time off to recover because this will positively impact your productivity in the long run.

In addition, diversity and inclusion (D&I) has become less of a talking point and more of an action, or series of actions. I think there's still some way to go, but it's extremely positive to see that there are more women and black and minority ethnic people (BME) reaching senior positions.

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

Counter fraud can be quite standalone, but what we're trying to do in my department is try and help everyone understand that it is something that everyone should care about. It involves every single aspect of the Civil Service, from writing policies to issuing funds. It’s important to understand that it isn’t just down to the counter fraud team to prevent and detect fraud; it's about everyone thinking about those aspects of the sector and improving connectivity.