Samantha is the Technical Resource Manager at OneE Group and a Chartered Tax Advisor. She studied Business and Management Studies at Salford University, achieving a first class BSc honours degree. Following her degree, she joined OneE Group’s graduate programme and commenced her studies to become a Chartered Tax Advisor.

I am an ambitious, business-minded professional who enjoys the varied workload and daily interactions that come as part of working at a dynamic and innovative company like OneE Group.

I graduated from Salford University with a 1st class Honours BSc degree in Business and Management Studies, achieving the highest degree grade in my year. Following graduation, I worked in Manchester as a Sales Assistant. The aspect of this role that I enjoyed the most was interacting with customers and providing them with exceptional service. To this end, I was nominated as the In Store Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Champion.

Why become a Tax Advisor?

When I decided that it was time to move on, I knew that I would want to utilise the skills I developed at University, while retaining that aspect of customer engagement that I relish. Working as a Tax Advisor was the right choice for me, as it satisfied the criteria I was looking for in a career and more, specifically:

• Highly regarded as a profession
• Ideal for graduates to train and develop at entry level
• Opportunity to study toward and attain Chartered Tax Advisor status
• Wealth of professional opportunities available within the sector
• A dynamic industry – the ever-changing legislation ensures that it is a stimulating profession

Starting out

Shortly after starting work at OneE Group, I began studying toward the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) qualification. While undertaking my studies, I worked in OneE’s implementation team, liaising with our clients to help them put our service offerings into practice, answering any queries they may have and providing a comprehensive aftercare service.

As the team grew, I was made responsible for inducting new starters and helping them with their ongoing training and development. In 2012, I completed my ATT qualification and was appointed supervisor of the implementation team.

I continued my studies and began my path toward Chartered Tax Advisor status shortly after. I became fully CTA-qualified in January 2015. On qualifying, I was appointed as OneE’s Technical Resource Manager.

My current role

As Technical Resource Manager, my primary role is to oversee the implementation of our service offerings, enquiries and aftercare processes. It is also crucial that we maintain the high levels of service that our clients and introducers have come to expect.
Other key aspects of my role include:

• Managing a team of 11 graduates whose experience varies from a few months at the firm to several years
• Recruiting high calibre graduates to join the team
• Being responsible for the professional and personal development of the graduate team
• Mentoring graduates

What do I enjoy most about my job?

The aspect of my role that stimulates me the most is the varied daily workload. Working within the taxation sector is a unique career path. It demands strong technical knowledge and work ethic, coupled with the ability to stay up to date with the numerous rules and regulations, which are constantly shifting.

I also really enjoy the communication aspect of my working life. In my role, I speak with a variety of different people on a daily basis, be it members of my team, introducers (accountants, IFAs and solicitors) or their clients. Each audience requires me to adopt a different tact; a challenge I thoroughly enjoy.

In this role, it’s crucial that my team maintains the high levels of service that our clients have come to expect, while ensuring that engagements are processed in a timely fashion. I get a real buzz when my team completes engagements on time and we receive positive feedback from happy clients.

I’m grateful that I get to work with and manage likeminded graduates who are driven to succeed, but perhaps the element of my role which I find the most rewarding is helping the new starters with their professional development. Having started as a graduate here myself, I can understand how daunting the prospect of studying to become fully CTA-qualified can be. Seeing graduates progress into senior roles within the firm and qualify at ATT and CTA level is very satisfying for me. I feel like I have helped to make a real difference to their lives.

Working at a dynamic company like OneE Group, though challenging at times, is very rewarding. Work here is fast-paced, but so is the sector we work in. I enjoy working in an industry that demands a lot from you, and overcoming the challenges that taxation can throw at you is a hugely gratifying experience.