OV Delivers Inspiring Assembly.

OVs have been wonderfully supportive to current pupils during the pandemic, continuing to share their experiences and advice, albeit it virtually. On Wednesday morning we were delighted to welcome OV Phoebe Groves (Ch 13-15) who kindly spoke to Head of Careers, Helen Airdrie, as part of a L6 assembly. Phoebe spoke on her time at King’s and about how she was unsure at School what path she wanted to take in the future. She therefore decided to do a degree in Chemistry, a subject she really enjoyed and that she felt confident would allow her to pursue a broad variety of opportunities in the future. Phoebe completed an integrated Masters of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and whilst thoroughly enjoying her degree, she knew that she wanted to enter a different field professionally. Phoebe now works as a Corporate Finance Associate for PwC as part of the PwC One Deals Graduate Programme. Alongside completing her examinations to become a qualified accountant, Phoebe works within the Mergers and Acquisitions team, advising shareholders on selling their businesses and advising investors who want to invest in new businesses.

Phoebe spoke fantastically, making very clear how much she enjoys the day to day diversity of her role: forecasting, modelling, preparing financial statements and preparing presentations. In Phoebe’s words, she enjoys that her job includes “a bit of everything” as well as the opportunity to balance technical and academic skills with building strong relationships with clients. Phoebe has recently enjoyed working on a local project with rural broadband provider ‘Airband’ who are based in Worcester. Phoebe was part of the team that secured major investment for ‘Airband’, meaning that they can grow and develop thus ensuring more rural areas can stay connected digitally.

Helen Airdire asked Phoebe about her future plans and Phoebe answered how much she is enjoying her current work and that she loves the culture and opportunities PwC offers her. She also said how much she appreciates the diversity of opportunities being at a large company like PwC gives her in terms of flexibility to work in different departments and countries in the future. She also said how interesting it could be at some point in her future career to work on the investor side of things such as the clients she now advises. Asked about the advice she would give her 17 year old self, Phoebe said she would encourage pupils not to feel pressured into making decisions and to “take a pause and take a breath”. She also said they don’t need to fix on one thing and that there will always be time in the future to change career and direction. It was so lovely to hear Phoebe’s experiences and so much of her advice will have been beneficial to our current L6, especially her words that employers value the “skills you have learnt as opposed to the facts” and her encouragement to keep an open mind and not be afraid to change direction if you realise something isn’t for you.

A huge thank you to Phoebe for her time.