What's your job about?
Hood Sweeney is a medium sized firm which offers a wide variety of client services including but not limited to Accounting, Financial planning, Finance, Consulting and Technology. My current role is within the Health and Small Business team of the Accounting service line. I started working at Hood Sweeney during my last semester of university studies and even though I was only an undergraduate at the time, I was already involved in a wide variety of tasks. When I first started, I was completing tax returns, alongside bookkeeping for multiple types of entities in order to receive a better understanding of tax law, as at that point I was yet to complete my tax law course at university. As I progressed, the work I was given progressively got harder and harder which was beneficial as it kept me on my toes and built upon my learning.
What's your background?
I’ve been in Adelaide all my life, attending Sacred Heart Senior. When I was 12, I got my first job working at Kumon Tuition Centre working as an assistant, then moving forward to become a senior tutor. Through Kumon, I developed a passion for teaching others. My first experience in accounting was in year 10 when I decided to choose accounting for the sole purpose of trying new things but soon after, it became one of my favourite subjects at school. I enjoyed it for a few reasons being that I was quite good at maths and in Accounting every little transaction or theory has a reasoning behind it. From that I chose to undertake a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Adelaide. From my studies, I was lucky enough to be chosen to undertake an internship within the Accounting division at the university which equipped me with some practical experience that led me to my current role at Hood Sweeney.
What are the limitations of your job?
With all jobs, there are stimulating and boring tasks however, I believe the onus is on you to make any situation the most interesting it can be. Being an Accountant is definitely not for everyone, there are a lot of dry situations that just require some grind, but also a lot of interesting work. There are specific characteristics that you need to have as an individual to become an Accountant, such as being able think on your feet or outside the box. Not saying that you cannot succeed without these traits, but it certainly does help to set you apart from others.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...