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My work experience with Arthur Boyd & Company

The job of an Accountant / Insolvency Practitioner!

I’m a sixth year student at St. Dominic’s Grammar school in Belfast, studying 4 A Levels in Biology, Psychology, Spanish and Business Studies. I really enjoy finance and languages and so at the moment I’m working towards a career in accounting. I was kindly offered a work experience placement at Arthur Boyd & Company  and thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

I chose Arthur Boyd & Company for my work experience placement as I had heard that they’ve had students on work experience in the past and had great reviews on their professionalism and how helpful they are to students. What also interested me is how they practice both accounting and insolvency. This has given me more areas of business and finance to gain experience from.

Before my week at Arthur Boyd & Company I had very little knowledge of what actually takes place in an accounting / business environment, and have now come away with fantastic experience, new skills and am very well informed of not only accounting practices, but also insolvency and marketing.

Every member of staff was so helpful and welcoming, and gave me great advice on the different steps I can take to pursue a career in finance and ensured I gained experience from all areas of the firm, including processing tax returns, anti money laundering and what insolvency practitioners do – which was very interesting. I also spent time discovering what marketing strategies Arthur Boyd & Company and other firms are using to keep ahead in the finance market.

Accountancy, not so boring after all…

I was really surprised by how interesting accounting actually is. I have always enjoyed business studies and finance but never knew the extent of the work accountants do every day and how closely they work with clients. I now understand how essential their service is to both individuals and other businesses, which has further encouraged me to pursue a career in finance.

Debt help – worthwhile work!

I was also introduced to insolvency, a practice which helps people who are in financial difficulties. I learned how Arthur Boyd & Company provide this service, as well as accounting, which is a great convenience for their clients as most finance firms do not offer both of these services under one roof. In my opinion this is a smart strategy for adding value to the firm.

Arthur Boyd & Company provide debt advice and offer financial solutions to both individuals and businesses in need. This is instrumental in helping people to get the help they need to make a fresh start. I was shown different and very interesting case studies by members of the insolvency department and they explained how Arthur Boyd & Company help release clients from debt, giving me another option to consider for my future career!

I am so glad I got to do my work experience in an accounting firm as it assured me that I will enjoy this type of work in the future, as I plan to study Accountancy with Spanish in university. I’m also grateful that my placement was in such a professional firm which has shown me the qualities and high standards in practice that make a great accountant.

My take-aways

My advice to other students is to definitely do a work experience placement, even if you aren’t sure of what you want to do, as it will teach you new skills and prepare you for any type of work in the future. It is so important for university applications. If you do have an idea for a future career, be sure to do a placement that’s specific to that particular job. As while I really enjoyed my work experience, it was so different to my expectations of the world of business and finance and it has better prepared me for what to expect in the future.

Aoife Lewsley