For our Alumna of the Month interview, we spoke to Rachel Corner. She started Year 7 at Bromley High School in 2001 and left in 2008 after studying A-level Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Geography.
Rachel left school to study Mathematics at the University of Nottingham, and is currently working as an Internal Audit Officer at Blick Rothernberg; a leading tax, accounting and business advisory firm.
Please briefly describe your current role
I work within the compliance team at Blick Rothenberg, an accountancy firm. I started 8 years ago as an ACA trainee and then stayed within the audit department for four years after qualifying. In September last year I started as the Internal Audit Officer. This was a new role for the firm as the business is growing. When I started the firm was approximately 200 people in one office and now it is over 600 people across 5 offices. My job includes assisting with the various internal reporting returns, reviewing and monitoring client money and helping with external reporting.
How did Bromley High School help shape your future career?
The biggest aspect was taking my Maths GCSE early. We were the first year that took our Maths GCSE in November of Year 11 which meant we started A-level Maths in year 11 and sat our first AS level paper alongside our GCSE. This encouraged me to take four A-levels including Further Maths which then led me to study Maths at university.
I think I always knew I would end up being an accountant as both my parents had the ACA qualification but Bromley High School helped me to believe it was possible. I was never the most confident person at school, but undertaking activities out of my comfort zone, such as speaking in assembly, helped me now as I know have to speak regularly with the most senior people in the firm.
What aspects of Bromley High School did you most enjoy, and find most rewarding?
I most enjoyed the extra curricular activities such as Young Enterprise. I was in a joint team with students from another local school, and we made the regional finals in Croydon. From this I learnt teamwork and communication skills and started to understand the business world more. It was also a great experience to be in a mixed team.
What is your favourite memory of being at Bromley High School?
Having fun on geography field trips even though it always rained. I remember it was my birthday on our GCSE fieldtrip on the Isle of Wight and it rained all day. We had been given sandwiches from the field study centre in paper bags, which had disintegrated. Luckily we were doing town surveys that day so we all decamped to McDonalds for lunch.
What value do you get out of your connections with your fellow alumnae?
I am quite active on the Rungway app and I enjoy helping the current sixth form with questions that are relevant.
I also started being a mentee through the GDST mentoring scheme, which has helped me enormously and given me the confidence to change my role within the firm.