Kwesi Agyei-Benhene studied BSc Accounting, Finance and Economics and now works as a senior auditor for international professional services firm, BDO.
‘I wanted to study accounting and finance, but in my final year of sixth form, I took economics and it really interested me. Looking around at courses, it was hard to find anything that matched up all three of these topics, until I found the programme at Kent.
When I looked at the campus and the location, everything sort of clicked into place. It was close enough to my home in South London but far enough away to get the student experience.
I was lucky to be offered accommodation on campus and lived at Parkwood, which I really liked especially in the spring and summer months when the grass was green and picnics and social events were frequent. The sports facilities were so close by and I took part in several team sports like American football, football and basketball.
It took a while for me to really immerse myself into my studies and some parts of the course felt tricky in the first year, particularly complicated accounting and finance topics. But by the time I’d settled into university life I was finding my feet.
I particularly enjoyed Principles of Finance and Microeconomics and found the modules on Excel really beneficial.
During my second year, I studied a wild module which was called an ‘Introduction to Forensic Science’. It was really interesting and surprisingly relevant to business too. This led to me getting an internship at the National Audit Office which was a really transformational experience for me. I did so well during the stint they offered me a role when I graduated!
Returning to university in my third year, I enjoyed the flexibility of more optional modules, studying things such as Development Eonomics and Economics of Finance with Dr Shibayama , which were the most fruitful modules of my university degree.
After graduation I travelled and returned to the National Audit Office where I sat my official accountancy exams with the maximum exemptions, thanks to the modules I’d done on my course. I passed all of them. I worked as an assistant auditor there for three years.
I am now pleased to say I have a fantastic job working for BDO as a Senior Auditor. BDO UK provides tax, audit and assurance, advisory and business outsourcing services to International FTSE 100 businesses which allows me to travel internationally a handful of times a year. I am based in Baker Street, London and work hybrid with a few days a week at home.
‘I use so many of the things I learnt at university on a day-to-day basis as well as the overall skills in things like an eye for detail, analytical skills, critical thinking and time . I also made connections that will last a lifetime.’