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Exam time

Posted by Lucia on 10 Mar 06

I have just passed my first CIMA exam! I've decided to take my studies slightly slower than everyone else who joined this year. I think they had all finished the first set of 5 exams by the time I sat my first, but having just graduated I felt my mind needed a break from studying and exams! It's been quite interesting though, as learning about financial accounting helped me understand some of the things I do in my job a bit more. Now I know what a General Ledger code actually means (and I've only been using them since September!).

It's a bit of a hectic time for me, as I am picking up some work from someone in my team who is going off on maternity leave. Seems I will be co-ordinating our IT department in loading lots of data into one of our main reporting systems. Hopefully it will all go smoothly! Next week I am being seconded into Internal Audit for 2 weeks to look at our vending operations. Should be interesting, although I think I'm going to have to do a stock take - not sure how much fun counting endless chocolate bars will be (especially as I've given up chocolate for Lent!).

Also, next week our senior managers will be discussing where the next moves of all the finance graduates will be. I am trying to think about what I do next, whatever it is, it will be completely different to the role I do now, which is in Sales Finance. Maybe in a 6 months time I'll be working in a factory - not sure I could cope with the higher temptation of chocolate around me all day long. Fingers crossed it will all go well.

They thought it was all over

Posted by Paul on 13 Feb 06

In June I remember the numerous parties and celebrations with friends knowing that we had just sat our last exam EVER.....oh how wrong I had been!

The first few weeks/months in my role in Central Finance at Cadbury's are now just a blur.  There was so much to learn, so many people to meet and a whole new life after uni.  I was however, very lucky to find that I had both a buddy and graduate to take over from who helped me to settle in.  Leaving Uni and all my friends I remember feeling a bit "lost" moving to Birmingham, the network in place made the transition seem a little more manageable.

However it is not only the new role that I have had to learn, my main objective this year has been my CIMA exams. Having studied Aeronautical engineering at Uni I only received 1 exemption which meant four exams to fit in before the end of Feb - and as I quickly found out, this is not Uni, no reading weeks or a term of lectures, instead 8.30am until 5.30pm at work and then its time to study!  The whole thing has been so tiring, and at times motivation was not at its highest - especially when others are off to the pub after work!

However after 5 months with Cadburys, things are just clicking in to place, I am understanding my role, using my new financial knowledge, building a network (of both friends and business colleagues) and really feeling like I am making a valuable contribution to the business.

And, after all, only another 10 exams to go before I am qualified......  

My changing world

Posted by Ben on 24 Oct 05

After 6 months of nervous anticipation I finally arrived in Dublin. On my first evening, driving off of the ferry straight into traffic (an hour to travel 3.5 miles), all I could think about was sampling the nightlife.

My apartment where I was temporarily put-up by Cadbury, was a jungle of cardboard boxes containing my entire collection of possessions, which a friend and I had moved there just a few days before. Finding a place to live was a high priority, since living like this for more than a couple of weeks would probably send me over the edge.

In my third and final year as a Finance Graduate, I've been seconded to Cadbury Ireland as a commercial sales analyst and I am one of a brand new team of just two, that look after the sales side of the Irish business.

We are in the process of trying to build a strong business partnering relationship with the sales management team. By applying various forecasting, budgeting and other financial techniques, we are helping the sales managers to understand the impact of their pricing and promotion decisions, as well as ensuring they are managing their budgets correctly and that there are no nasty surprises at the end of each accounting period.

This is no mean feat considering that the managers have not had a dedicated finance resource before - and changing others' behaviour is never easy! However, our business partners are beginning to take to this new way of working and are motivated by the prospect of being able to make better-informed decisions.

We have set up new management accounting structures to aid our analysis and are currently in the middle of setting our budgets for 2006. As our partnership has progressed, we have been able to free up knowledge and time to begin the more-meatier aspects of the job, such as assessing the financial viability of promotional deals to our customers and consumers.

My first month has flown by and has been hectic to say the least. Studying for my CIMA finals, I've been going to college 3 nights a week from 6-10pm and I'm currently in the middle of a revision frenzy of classes, which take place on 3 consecutive weekends (on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday).

Learning a new job, studying for 3 CIMA final papers and searching for a place to live, whilst trying to build a new social life in a new city is nigh on impossible - prioritisation means that inevitably something must give.

I'm afraid the Dublin nightlife will have to wait. . . . . . .

Things I'm gonna miss

Posted by Milly on 30 Sep 05

I've moved to Birmingham to take on a new role, so here are some of the things I'm going to Miss about Devon;

  • Pasties for breakfast
  • Pasties for lunch
  • Chips on the beach
  • Seagulls
  • Chasing seagulls trying to eat my chips on the beach
  • The drinks prices in Exeter
  • The old man pub quiz on a Wednesday night , particularly being told every week by the landlord that young people need to read more books.
  • My 2 office-mates who've been here for more than 40 years between them and are like my mums at work
  • Being able to watch people wandering up and down Crediton High Street, then getting their potted life histories from my office-mates
  • Cream Teas
  • Jumping on sandcastles
  • Impromptu parties/bbqs in the garden which usually result in getting shouted at by the neighbours
  • Having lots of free cough sweets (not very glamorous but useful!)
  • The beautiful countryside
  • Cider. Devon cider is better than Somerset cider. Fact.

Maybe I'll just have to set up a mock beach in my new place in and catch some seagulls to take with me. That might be a bit wrong though. Best to stick with a big barrel of cider.

A weekend whilst on Audit in Nigeria

Posted by Simon on 07 Sep 05

After a week of being driven on the same route through Lagos to get to the Cadbury Nigeria factory my colleague and I were ready for the weekend, it was our chance to see a little more of the area! We were very grateful to be taken out for a day by our Nigerian colleagues, because we had been advised not to leave the hotel alone. 

On Saturday morning it was about 35 degrees and the rain was torrential. We began our journey to Badagry, a village on the Benin border, where Africans were forced into ships to begin their horrific life of slavery. After our fascinating tour the rain had cleared up so we headed to the beach to have a bite to eat.

We got back into the car to begin our drive back to the hotel. It was meant to be about a one-hour journey but turned into four. The roads had been completely flooded by the rainfall earlier in the day and the traffic was atrocious. Imagine three lanes of cars going the same way down a two-lane dirt road, with cars squeezing past in the opposite direction. Our driver skillfully navigated the way through side roads and alleyways to avoid the heavier traffic. We watched some memorable scenes through the car windows, the most memorable of which, was the two men and a wriggling goat overtaking us on a moped. 

We were getting towards the end of the journey when our driver realised there was an opportunity to Miss some traffic by driving down a small side road.  It seemed like a good idea until we got to the end of it and were faced by a crowd of youths that had set up a road block. They surrounded the car and were shouting at us aggressively. The driver and one of our colleagues stepped out of the car, as if this happened every day, and began a shouting match with them. After a few minutes they moved the block and allowed us to continue on our way. It was explained that it was quite usual for kids to block roads and expect money from those driving through; this time they were unsuccessful though.

At the end of our two-week trip to Nigeria, I was glad to get back on a plane to London. It has, however, been one of my most memorable trips whilst working in Group Audit.

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