I had mixed feelings about my first day; mainly excitement with a touch of nerves surrounding the transition from a more ‘traditional’ accounting background. Moving from a firm employing thousands of people to an organization of just 17 was certainly a big leap – but one I couldn’t wait to progress with.
I had been attracted to Blu Sky’s focus on people and the belief that personality, skills and attitude are more important than appearances and boastful CVs. This was immediately evident through the great working atmosphere among the office with everybody passionate about the work they are doing – everyone’s opinion valued and heard and everyone pulling in the same direction.
The day began with a later start at 10am where upon arrival I was greeted with the fabled blue Blu Sky hoodie. The first week was a nice start to working at Blu Sky, mainly surrounding 1-1 training and a few pieces of manageable work to help ease me in. Most of my week was spent in 1-1 meetings with each member of staff to get to know each other and the company better.
Getting to know other people across the company is a massively important part of the onboarding process and there were plenty of opportunities to catch up with all team members to find out what they were working on. A significant amount of my time was dedicated to team breakfasts, meetings and coffees with colleagues.
I was lucky enough to start Blu Sky in January, which meant I was able to accept the invitation to their December Christmas party which in fairness, made me feel like one of the team before I had even officially started. There is a great social atmosphere at Blu Sky with plenty of meals out, team days and evening activities such as the monthly film and pizza night. Employee happiness is paramount at Blu Sky and everyone is encouraged to record at the end of each day if it was better, worse or as expected. This helps Blu Sky address any potential issues early but also identify and champion anything that makes us happy ? (and you can read more on that here).
I was also taken out for a welcome meal with my immediate team – it helped us get to know each other in a non-work environment, I really enjoyed it!
From the first week onwards I slowly began building my work load and client portfolio at a rate that suited me. Blu Sky are very focused on making sure I progressed at a rate I felt comfortable with. There is a strong belief that throwing someone in at the deep end isn’t beneficial for anyone.
One of the pleasant surprises of joining Blu Sky was the trust shown in my strengths and past experiences to come in and offer improvements/insights to current processes (particularly with upcoming new GDPR requirements) and also the opportunity to review working paper templates surrounding FRS 102 reporting requirements.
My first month hasn’t been without it’s challenges – familiarising myself with the different reporting requirements and tax work has been a steep learning curve! The support and willingness to help however from the rest of the team has however made the task much less daunting.
A few weeks in, I already feel far more confident both in my role. The amount of trust and responsibility afforded to me from day one has certainly played a huge part in this, along with the talented and supportive team around me. There are some great opportunities for both personal and professional development which I look forward to making the most of. So far it’s been an exciting start to what promises to be a rewarding journey for both me and Blu Sky. I look forward to seeing where it takes us.
