Our Accountex Visit

Our first finance conference

Before Accountex:

I started my job in finance recruitment in September last year after deciding to leave my awful job as a teacher! Since then, I’ve attended only one corporate conference - a recruitment one. I made a few errors there: I wore shoes that rubbed me and made my feet ache, I accepted way too many freebies and ate way too many sweets. This time I’m hoping that, as we’re exhibiting, my eyes might not pop out each time I see a popcorn stand or a cocktail (the best freebie ever) and that I won’t come home with a red mark on my shoulder from all the free booklets and bags I’d squeezed into my actual bag.

I’m hoping that I will be able to visit at least a couple of lectures over the two days though (so I might be able to grab some free sweets then). Last time I did come away with a really handy speaker that was actually louder than my Alexa so if anyone sees another, bring it over to me please!

Aside from the freebies, we are very much looking forward to exhibiting at Accountex this year. Our hope is that we will meet a variety of finance professionals (who are hopefully looking for new jobs) and who will give us even more insight into the profession. We are expecting people to visit us to eat our freebies (obviously, as a sweet lover, we are going for sweets), enter our prize draws and to hopefully chat to us about what we do and maybe how we can help but also just for a general conversation about the sector and how their day is going!

My colleague Pete Fellows has visited many more conferences than me, although they have been in the legal sector. Since my information is basically don’t take all the freebies and wear comfortable shoes, I’ve asked him for a few other recommendations on how to get by. He suggested that you should enter any competition you find, as many people don’t you have a good chance of winning! He’s also said that you should try and focus, it’s tempting to talk to everyone but if you go with clear goals, you’re likely to achieve more. Having said that, he’s also said that you should be open minded – some incidental conference conversations can lead to big things in the future so spending a few minutes with someone new really doesn’t do any harm! Finally make sure you add everyone you meet to LinkedIn and not leave piles of business cards in your desk for months gathering dust.

After Accountex:

The good news is; I didn’t come home with red shoulders and my feet didn’t ache as much as last time. The bad news is; there were no where near as many freebies! As an exhibitor I felt that the sign around my neck restricted me from collecting mounds of chocolates and sweets this year, I mostly just ate the Haribo that we had taken with us for our stand (oops). One lovely lady did give me a token to the stand who were handing out free cocktails so I was able to enjoy one yummy freebie!

We did meet many finance professionals from different backgrounds (as we had hoped) although not many were actively looking for new positions. We were able to form some relationships and hand out business cards so hopefully this will pay off for us in the future. Many people visited our stand, especially for the Haribo but also to enter our competition and to ask us about what we did which was great!

It was busier than we expected and the crowds came in waves, sometimes we were really busy and sometimes there was no one around. I had a chance to attend a couple of lectures but should really aim to see a few more if we attend again next year. Now I need to take Pete’s advice and find the time to connect to everyone that we met at Accountex on LinkedIn!

Did you visit Accountex? What did you think? Email us at contact@fellowsfinance.com

How to survive going back to work after a holiday

How to survive going back to work after a holiday

The Easter break is over and the summer holidays are upon us. Whether its chocolate, sun, sea or family time that you’re saying goodbye to, it can often be hard to deal with. Your alarm will annoy you more than usual, you’re drowning in work from 2 weeks ago and all you can think about is the sunbathing you were doing the day before.  

It’s a perfect time to give you some top tips on how to make sure you survive your first days back at work after a lovely break.

Here’s how you can deal with the post-holiday blues:

1. Embrace it! No one likes returning to work after a holiday, especially when you start thinking about how long you have to work for before your next holiday. Remind yourself of how much fun you had and be grateful for the memories!
2. Remember, it’s totally understandable to feel a little sad returning to reality. Allow yourself a couple of less positive days to come back around to working life.
3. Prioritise. No doubt you have so much work to catch up on that you don’t know where to start. Pick out the most important jobs and put them in a list. (If you love lists like me; make sure it’s in order of importance!)
4. Check your inbox the night before. Even if you don’t do anything with it, at least you know how many emails to expect in the morning.
5. If you have a stressful job, prepare some things the night before. Have everything set out and ready to go because let’s face it, you won’t be jumping out of bed first thing.
6. Give it a couple of days and when you’re ready to go, set new goals. What do you want to achieve this week? (Ok, next week.)
7. Make plans for lunch with your work colleagues. Nothing beats a catch up with your friends. You can chat about those great memories you made!

I hope some of these tips work for your return to work. If not, you can always have a look at this article to see if it matches up with your first day back https://www.cv-library.co.uk/career-advice/work-life/first-day-back-after-holiday-youll-experience-these-13-things/.

Do you have any more top tips to manage the holiday blues? Send them to rebecca.wood@fellowsfinance.com

Funny marketing FAILS

I have been seeing marketing fails on my timelines for so long that they are repeating themselves. I’m not sure how you feel about them but I find them hilarious so it’s time to share a few!

What are your thoughts on a floating phone that sinks? I can’t tell if this one is a joke or not!

Don’t take obesity lightly, take it with a $1 offer from Mcdonalds. Oops!

The grammar police have arrived, they want their apostrophes back.

It can’t just be a coincidence that WTF is related to teaching here?

Someone has taken this verrrrry literally.

Yes, I had to also read this twice.
I suppose that calls for good marketing, doesn’t it?

Always open, except when they’re closed!

Uh oh, read the word behind the babies’ heads.

She’s going to cook her family and her dog? Poor things.

Know of any more marketing fails? We'd love to see them: rebecca.wood@fellowsfinance.com