How did you find out about the course?

Leeds is a great city and not too far from Manchester which is where I'm from originally. I'd applied while I was in college but fell ill in the last year and took a year out. I had friends that I could visit at Leeds Beckett when I was better, and this firmed up my decision to come a year later.

Did you choose your course with a specific route into accounting and finance?

There are so many specific routes to go down within accounting and finance, that I was unsure which route to take for three years. In my last year, I decided on the auditing module at university, which I saw happen in the workplace during my work experience at N Brown. My mum worked as a merchandiser in the fashion area, and so I was able to work part-time there for six months in the group finance department before university. While I was there, a separate company, KPMG, came in to conduct an audit on us. It gave me an idea of what was involved in the process.

I'd never really understood the placement year option but could totally see why it's good to do when I saw the benefits the experience brought around making decisions. I would recommend doing a placement or shadowing if you're undecided what to do or want to see if an area of work is for you.

How did your course benefit you in your chosen area of work?

There was a lot of information in my first year which I found difficult. I reached out to my course leader, and he helped me a lot by going through it with me and building my confidence.

Going into second year was a lot better because of that experience. It was a great opportunity to be able to ask questions to someone who understood the subjects better than me and really helped put it together in my mind to make sense.

Choosing the auditing module in my third year, helped me to decide auditing was a possible career path to take after graduating. The process used my problem-solving and maths skills, but with other people's work!

How has Beckett Careers helped support you to be ready for the workplace?

We had a few members of the Beckett Careers team come into a few of our lectures. I also worked closely with our business school leader when it came to conversations about the future, CV, and covering letters.

Third year was overwhelming, with exams to go through and applying for jobs at the same time. I didn't apply for that many positions, but it was the conversation around it that really helped, and also included what could happen if I didn't get a job.

Beckett Careers recommended me for the job I have just started and thought I'd be perfect for. It was so helpful to know the company values from someone who had a relationship with the business, and gave me confidence with who I'd be working for which is everything in my eyes. Unfortunately, the first time I went for it, I had to be able to drive as part of the job and couldn't do that yet.

A few months later, they came back to me and said a graduate had dropped out and wanted to know if I was still interested in the role. I went for it and managed to get it, going through all the rounds of interviews, which really boosted my confidence too. They had to hire someone quickly as well, so all the interviews were in the space of two weeks. I only graduated in 2025, so it's been a bit of a whirlwind since!

I found applying for jobs without someone helping a very blind experience. Knowing that the company I was applying to was big on charity and had a very sociable culture was important to me. I love teamwork and speaking to colleagues, so knowing I was walking into a positive environment was everything. Accounting can be a mundane experience and didn't want to get stuck in a grey office every day.

What does the future look like for you now?

The role I've just been employed to is an Audit Associate at Sedulo. I'm also doing my ACA exams to become a Chartered Accountant. There are lots of exams alongside all the travelling and auditing in this role, but happy to be able to do all of it!

Becoming a Chartered Accountant in the future, gives me a lot of freedom across the whole of accounting and finance. I could set up my own accountancy company and be qualified for all specifics. It gives me the opportunity to apply for more positions with a higher pay grade as well. It opens doors to experience more by giving me the overview of everything.

It helps with deciding what happens in the long term.

What top tips would you give someone to improve their employability for a future job?

Gain as much experience around the work you're interested in as possible, just like an apprentice would. It's the hands-on, practical working it out, that helps with the decision-making process and opens doors.

From quite a young age, I've done a lot of part-time jobs and even at university while I was studying. It's these jobs that have improved my confidence with the interview process and enabled me to talk about specific examples from these work experiences at interviews. All of them have helped me in some way, shape, or form, and made me more confident in speaking to people. That's important in the interview process.

I got a first degree at university but as much as that has helped, being personable and confident in interviews has probably helped me more. It shows the employer what to expect from me on a day-to-day basis if they were to hire me. Although I didn't accept the job offer from this example, the interviewer commented after two minutes of being in the interview, on how nice it was to speak to someone with a personality! It helps their everyday to be a bit less robotic too.

The grades played a role, but ultimately, it's also about the person's character, and that can only come from life experiences adding up.