In anticipation of our first event ‘Mapping out Accountancy’, we caught up with Denise Fernandez, our speaker from ICAEW. Denise is an Audit Assistant and gradated in July 2020 in Accounting and Finance and is in her first year on the KPMG Empowered Audit Programme. We asked her three quick fire questions, to get to know more about her career background.

Could you briefly describe your career journey? 

My career journey has always been straight-forward. Believe it or not, I have always wanted to work in Finance – as a kid, I was convinced I was going to work in a bank. Having in this mind when choosing my GCSEs and A-Levels was very beneficial as I had a rough idea of what I needed to do. I studied accounting at A-level and really enjoyed it, so I went on to do it at degree level. I enjoyed financial accounting the most, so going into audit was the most sensible option for me at the time and here I am!

What surprised you most about working in the industry? 

The most surprising thing about the finance industry is how broad it is. There are a lot of opportunities available, so you always have the option to try new things within the industry and figure it out what you like and don’t like.

What career advice would you give 20 year old you?

I was a 20 year old less than 15 months ago, so I don’t have much advice for 20 year old me. However, I asked my dad and he said he’d tell his 20 year old self to ‘ask every question and listen to every answer. Listen to understand, not listen to reply’.

You can catch Denise at our ‘Mapping out Accountancy’ event on the 7th October at 4pm. Register for the event via this link.