BA (Hons) Modern History, University of Oxford. Graduated 2006. Business Analyst, Tesco
'My role gives me a great overview of the whole business.'
Can you describe your role in the business?
My role in Tesco is to provide insight to the business, rather than to work as an accountant. CIMA provides the best grounding for this type of role as it is so business focused.
I currently work in investor relations, who are responsible for the interim and annual results statements and the accompanying press releases. This gives me a great overview of the whole business and I get to work with people from many different functions.
Do people have any misconceptions about your role and accountancy in general?
Investor relations is seen as a glamorous role and, while there are high profile elements, there is also a huge amount of work done behind the scenes. It can also be hard for people who haven’t worked in such a large organisation as Tesco to appreciate the variety of financial roles within the company.
What’s great about your job?
The people at Tesco. I’m now in my fifth role and I’ve had great teams for all five of those roles.
It’s also great that, in finance, most people change role approximately every two years. This means that you’re always developing, taking on new work and interacting with new people and this gives you a real understanding of lots of areas of the business. Tesco is very open to change and I’m always encouraged to challenge the way that things are done and implement better ways of working.
Why did you choose to join Tesco?
As Tesco is involved in so many different sectors and countries there are a huge range of opportunities within the company. Tesco offered a great graduate programme with a good package of study support. By being part of a graduate scheme, there is also a built in support network of other graduates studying for the qualification.
How do you see CIMA contributing to your future career progression?
I was attracted to CIMA as an internationally applicable qualification, and to the business and strategic elements of the syllabus. I think the grounding that CIMA has provided will be useful in any future role. I am hoping to get my letters this autumn and being a qualified management accountant will stand me in good stead for my career.