Moira joined Accenture's FAST team in Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services in 2005. My last role was as a Financial Controller for a manufacturing company. I had 16 years experience and built significant people management skills developed over this time as a qualified accountant. I needed to build on that in a more diverse and dynamic environment and I was impressed by Accenture as an organisation. Accenture visited the business school I was studying at for my MBA, and I knew it had the breadth and depth that would offer an exciting, challenging and fast progressing career. I met good people who interviewed me and this confirmed my gut instincts. I have found, since joining Accenture, that every single person I have dealt with at every level has helped me – unconditionally. Accenture offers a supportive environment, and I never felt that I didn’t have someone to turn to when I needed assistance; in fact it has nearly always been proffered in advance. Going the extra mile is par for the course, and has instilled a lasting impression. Working here is much better than I expected – Accenture undersold itself. The best thing working at Accenture is the unexpected. I have been challenged and stretched, pulled and pushed, in ways I didn’t know existed. I have worked in countries I had to first look up on the atlas and experienced language and cultural differences which required a particular set of skills to cross divides. The opportunity to travel, meet new people, and work in new environments has been the best part for me. The people I work with are the most talented, professional and committed group of employees you will find in any organisation anywhere. Accenture recruit and retain the best people and it quickly becomes apparent when you join that you have a great deal to live up to. Any low points usually centre around delayed and cancelled flights, lost luggage and overbooked hotels. I am quickly becoming infamous as a travel jinx among my friends and colleagues. Five days after joining Accenture I joined a project which was on a four week basis. As part of the AFS FAST Team our role is to provide short term specialist support to BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) clients mainly in the transition phase. My client is a global organization who have outsourced their finance and accounting to Accenture. I have been assisting in this operation by providing technical and operational expertise, ranging from client contact, staff recruitment and training, process mapping, quality monitoring, system testing and report development, and audit. I support local management and the senior executives in moving a project from transition to stabilization in as short a time and cost effective manner possible. This has now developed into a long-term role crossing three continents, four languages and a 24 hour clock in 6 time zones skills. As such I can say please and thank you and a few other expressions in a dozen languages. I am on first name terms with the lost baggage men at Glasgow airport, and my Christmas shopping this year consisted of the best of the duty free selections in Dubai, Chennai, Vienna, Heathrow and Mauritius airports. But I can honestly say I have never once woken up in the morning and regretted the change – maybe I’m just a bit of a drama queen. I hope that my future at Accenture will incorporate continuous learning and professional development, and a steady career progression in line with my experience. I enjoy client-facing responsibilities and would like to be more involved with the initial BPO client discussions, and transition planning. I think I could provide valuable input at an earlier stage than the point that I currently get involved.