6 months into my FLDP Journey

Hi readers,

I am now over 6 months into my FLDP journey! To give a quick insight into the last month, I had two of my busiest weeks so far where I was responsible for gathering lots of financial information from dozens of Barclays Finance teams around the world, being the main point of contact for queries, tracking the project progress and reporting on this regularly, all to some very strict deadlines! That was then followed by two weeks away from the office, studying for my ACA.

Looking back at how I’ve progressed over my first six months, I’m amazed at how much I have personally developed in everything from my knowledge of finance and tax to my emotional intelligence (if you regularly read these blogs you’ll know the training I mean!). The responsibility I am given on projects is also rapidly growing. This has proven to be very rewarding on days when I can report that everything is ahead of schedule or when I figure out a faster way a process can be done, and challenging on days when my phone is constantly ringing with queries from around the world. Given the global scope of the project, I always know that when I come in every morning plenty of emails will have come in overnight from the likes of Singapore and Tokyo – Tax is very much a global business!

In other news, we recently have had a few graduates on secondment from an accountancy firm join the team for March and April, to help us with our biggest projects of the year. As I was taking them round the office introducing them to everyone in Tax, it felt like a long time ago that I was the one being introduced to everyone, trying to remember all the names!

I’ve also recently got involved in a mentoring scheme, though this time as a mentor. I won’t say anymore just now, but will definitely keep you posted as it should be interesting and very rewarding for me. Hopefully that’s given you a little insight into what’s been keeping me busy lately! As always, I am regularly tweeting away (@Barclays_Alex) and am always happy to answer any queries you have. Alternatively leave a comment below!

Alex