A journey from qualified Senior to Audit Partner

Katie Dallimore-Fox is an Audit Partner at EY Reading and shares her career journey from joining as an Audit Senior in 2011 after qualifying as an accountant in a smaller tier firm, to making Partner just 10 years later. 

Career journey

Katie studied Economics at the University of Bath and moved to Hampshire to join a small tier firm, and in that time seconded to a Corporate Finance team.

“It was quite a small team, but you could socialise and network. But after a pretty significant life event I realised that life is short, and I wanted to move on in my career. And that’s when I saw EY’s advert”.

Katie was interviewed by Marcus Butler, Audit Partner at EY and who she still considers one of her key mentors to this day. The interview gave her a sense of the culture at EY and how she was going to feel welcome.

“Sponsorship is really important at EY. You’re not expected to know everything when you join, so having people that support you in navigating your network is helpful, so you know who to go to ask questions. For me this was Marcus when I joined and even now as I begin my journey as Audit Partner.

“Coming from a small tier firm, I did have imposter syndrome at the start. I would think ‘I’m about to join a Big 4 firm – am I going to feel like an outsider’. But that quickly left when I began working with people on projects. There is an EY way of doing things so coming from an outside firm I did have to learn and train on new processes and operational ways of running audits, but the support and training was always there to help to succeed”.

Leaning into a big firm

 Katie shadowed a qualified senior for six months from joining EY which gave her the confidence to ask questions, and bounce ideas. Katie’s biggest reflection from when she joined is that you need a lot of personal motivation to lean into the training, development, and processes of working on EY’s listed clients. And for her, navigating a large firm like EY was quite challenging at the start, but there was always somewhere to go for help.

“Something that I never got to experience from a small tier firm was auditing large clients or listed clients. So for me, the breadth of experience that you get when you join EY is incredible. There’s always an excitement I get from sitting in a boardroom or on an audit committee for those listed clients. And knowing what we get to deliver for these clients is motivating”.

A key transferrable skill for anyone coming from a small tier or mid-tier firm to EY is the experience of working cross service line in both Audit and Tax and being part of a team.

“Lean into those strengths of having experienced any tax compliance work or working on audits that have only three people working on them. You’re showing how you can act in more managerial roles and have had exposure to a breadth of knowledge already”.

Commercial acumen is something that is different for Katie since joining EY and is important for working in audit.

“Expanding the levels of discussions that you have with your clients and your teams is something you’ll be doing when you join EY. Your network here will be there to support you. We have dedicated technical teams that massively help with questions on the audit process”.

An evolving career in Audit

From audit Senior, to Assistant Manager, Senior Manager, and now Audit Partner, Katie has had many different roles since joining EY Reading. And the level of responsibility changes so fundamentally at each level. Something she loves doing is pitching to clients; being able to share her knowledge, solutions, and winning the trust of the client.

“As you progress sometimes it can feel overwhelming, but EY is proud to be a people firm, and there’s always a space to share knowledge and support one another. Something I love about EY is the recognition and championship we give to others and celebrate successes. I’ve experienced this from my role as Senior right through to today, it’s something I’m passionate to take forward to my team as I take on my role as Partner”.

Since Katie has joined EY, regulations on audits have also changed many times. Both formal and informal training at EY helps everyone navigate regulator expectations and gives our people the tools they need to succeed in their roles.

“I didn’t have any formal training prior to joining EY, but at EY we have technical training and auditor updates constantly to make sure we’re always updated with changes to regulations and expectations”.

Advice to others

Katie has had lots of learnings since making the jump from a small tier firm to EY, and for those thinking about making the same next step, there’s three key pieces of advice she shares:

1. Play to your strengths - have confidence and remember you know how to audit. You’re just applying that knowledge into a slightly different methodology. Always remember that you’re qualified, and you have the experiences to show throughout the recruitment process and right through to when you join.
   
   
2. Self-belief – have belief in yourself and your own capability. If you try hard and put in the graft, success will come.
   
   
3. Lap up the opportunities that come your way – at EY there’s so many opportunities to learn, develop, and take part in client engagements. And have a growth mindset – it’s okay not to get it right first time as long as you’re learning. Take that leap of faith.

If Katie’s journey has inspired you, find our more about our Assurance teams at EY: Assurance at EY