​Are you a newly qualified accountant who is making their next move? Read our latest NQ Q&A with Eoin Quinn who talked to us about his background, experience and the lessons he has learned along the way!
 

Where did you train?

EY
 

How was the experience in exploring the industry market coming to the end of your contract?

It can be confusing at times, unless you have a strong idea of what you’re ultimately looking for. I found bouncing ideas off of people the best way to make sense of the options in front of me.
 

What is your current role? What company?

I work in regulatory reporting in AIB.
 

What does an average day look like for you?

A lot of my time is spent planning, communicating an coordinating. We’re often in meetings discussing interpretations of guidelines and trying to understand the ins and outs of specific finance functions. These tasks usually take up the first half of the day.

In the afternoon, we’re typically populating reporting forms. This requires a good deal of fairly advanced Excel know-how and the training has been excellent in this regard. We also perform validation testing on all our reports. We often report in XBRL, and need to ensure that our data is meeting the reporting rules specified.

I often work closely with data experts and have been using a fair bit of excel. This is a great skill to learn and is very beneficial to understanding how data is organized and used in a large organization.

How did you find coming out of contract and transitioning into Industry?

It can be daunting at times. But I soon realized the range of skills I had learned in practice which have served me well here.

I’ve also really enjoyed learning skills which were rarely required of me in practice.
 

What tips would you give to newly qualified accountants coming out of contract in April?

Talk to as many people as possible, take any interview offers which come your way and be as engaged with each interviewer as possible. It’s a great way to figure out what roles, cultures, and career opportunities are best suited to you.
 

Who did you work with in Mason Alexander?

Nick McCarthy
 

How did you find working with Mason Alexander?

I actually enjoyed the process. Nick was always engaged, keen to hear my thoughts, not afraid to share his thoughts, and very encouraging.

These are invaluable qualities for newly qualified accountants, who have got the experience in an office environment but maybe lacking in interview experience, or industry knowledge.
 

Do you have any interview tips you would like to share?

Do some research beforehand, and once you’re in there, just be yourself. In an ideal situation both you and the company will be a good fit for each other so it’s important to be yourself.

Also, don’t be too hard on yourself and spend a lot of time imagining what you should have said. A post-mortem on an interview is important. But you should learn from your mistakes and leave them in the past.

I understand much more the sheer volume of experience which practice gives you. I think really understanding this would have made me a much more confident candidate when I started my search.
 

Do you want to talk through your options with our team? Contact us today!