Graduating from university in 2016 with a degree in German and French from the University of Birmingham marked the beginning of a diverse career journey for me. Since graduating I have worked in different industries and roles, always looking for growth and new challenges. My first professional role was with a financial media company, where I spent 4.5 years in the research team, progressing through the team, before joining Grant Thornton in 2021.
My move into marketing at Grant Thornton was tactical as I knew I wanted to join the trainee programme eventually but I wanted to get a feel for the firm and the industry before making such a big decision, and I knew if it wasn’t right for me within a firm like this there are so many other opportunities. I initially joined the marketing team supporting Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) and Corporate Finance (CF) teams. It was a significant shift from my research role, but it helped me develop valuable skills and build relationships across the firm – which came in use later on.
It didn’t take long for me to be sure that the firm was somewhere I could grow my career and that TAS was the area that I was interested in, so in September 2022 I joined the newest intake of associates and re-started my career as a trainee. The support from the firm during this transition was invaluable. My manager in marketing played a crucial role by connecting me with the right people to discuss the graduate programme. Additionally, the partners within TAS, especially Mo Merali and Hemal Shah, were incredibly supportive. Transitioning from marketing to TAS was smoother than I anticipated, thanks to my familiarity with the team and the relationships I had built with various TAS team members.
Restarting my career as a trainee was both exciting and daunting, and definitely hasn’t come without challenges, mainly in terms of returning to study. I felt quite out of my depth in the first period as I hadn’t done maths since A-level so it was quite an adjustment. But I made sure I studied hard and put the extra work in, and I passed the exams first time round which gave me the confidence boost I needed to remind myself that I had made the right decision, and I could do this role. The structure of the ACA programme has helped me constantly grow my understanding of accountancy alongside my work, which has given me greater confidence to do pieces of analysis and ask questions to our clients during our work.
It can be hard during the first years of studying alongside working, and I often find myself missing out on weekends and evenings when I am in study mode. However, there are also periods where we don’t have exams or studying, and I have the mindset that it all balances out eventually, I’ll get my time back and the career I want is worth this period of intense studying. I do think coming to this later as a career change has given me a greater focus on ensuring that I pass my exams by doing the necessary revision.
You get more responsibility and opportunities than I realised as a trainee here and the work that I do is often used when presenting our analysis to clients, which has definitely helped boost my confidence in my ability.
Reflecting on my previous career experiences, I realise how valuable the skills I developed have been in my current role. My time in marketing honed my soft skills, particularly in stakeholder engagement and these skills have been really useful when I am engaging with clients during our analysis. Additionally, having the previous experience of the firm definitely helped me understand the different priorities the firm has and how we can help our clients through our different service lines.
For anyone considering a career change, my advice is to have open discussions with friends and managers. The support I received from my manager and the TAS partners was really helpful both in my decision making and when I made the transition between teams. Grant Thornton is a firm that genuinely supports individual career development, and there is no need to feel confined to the career path you initially choose.