Shoneez Sallie, VAT Compliance Specialist, VAT Fiscal Solutions
I come predominantly from financial services and I then decided to move to, what I had thought was the glamorous world of fintech start-ups. I had a friend who worked at Buzzacott and we’d meet often for lunch. She’d tell me what she was up to and a bit about how much she enjoyed her new role, as well as the company she worked for. She described the work environment and mentioned that everyone gets on really well. And because you spend so much time at work, it’s important to me to like your working environment.
Our team get on really well both professionally and personally. I think one of the best things I’ve experienced at the firm is that you have access to people from all levels. You’ll be working with a Partner from a different team on a client for example, whereas in a bigger firm you wouldn’t get that. This is great for seeing how the company works and also gaining experience of working with different people. And for that reason, I’d definitely advise new starters to not be afraid of asking questions to anyone about anything.
I’ll never forget my first night out for my team’s darts night tradition. I was still finding my feet and I didn’t know anyone very well at that point. I’m really horrible at darts but didn’t do too badly on this occasion, which was just beginners’ luck. On the first round I got the Partner out! And everybody was like “oh it was nice knowing you” – and I thought to myself gosh did I just do that! It was just such a standout moment that we still joke about today.