How variety, inclusion and flexibility can inspire futures within a company

Meet Thomas Liu – Assistant Manager within our Transaction Services team.

From the day of his first interview, Tom recognised that Gerald Edelman nurture a culture of inclusion and support – from trainee’s to partners.

Part of a busy and varied department, Tom relishes the chance to face new and interesting challenges each day.

What is your current role?

Most of my work centres around providing advisory services on many different forms of transactional work, such as buy-side acquisition processes through financial due diligence services, business valuations for various different types of scenario planning and supporting companies going through an IPO process.

I also get involved with various ad-hoc advisory work, such as implementing management incentive schemes and providing accounting support for complex IFRS requirements.

What do you enjoy most about you role/GE?

I like that every day is different – I am always tackling new and interesting challenges. The Transaction Services team undertake a variety of different projects, so we continuously get involved in work that we have never done before (and sometimes have no idea where to begin!). It’s enjoyable and rewarding to be able to break down each step, solve problems, and be able to learn something new as you go along.

Have you always wanted to work in Transaction services?

I actually started in the Audit team at GE. Towards the end of my three-year training contract, the Transaction Services team was beginning to expand. I had previously helped on some jobs beforehand and found it really interesting. I was given the opportunity to transfer departments and it’s where I have been since.

I think one of the good things about working for GE is that there is lots of flexible options for your career development, including opportunities for people to move to different departments if they want to try something new.

Why did you choose GE?

I had decided that I wanted to work at a mid-tier firm as I believed that it would be the best option for my learning and development. I remember my first interview was with Richard Kleiner, and I was quite surprised that the CEO was taking the time to interview a first year trainee! It showed that GE really cares about looking for someone that fits their culture right from the bottom to the top and it really persuaded me that I was making the right choice.

What does your average day look like?

This really depends on the ongoing jobs that we have. We usually assign jobs and projects as they come in and recently my focus has been primarily on valuations. We undertake valuations for several different reasons such as support of management incentive schemes, tax planning and disputes. It’s quite difficult to say what an average day looks like because of the variety of work that we do. We usually juggle a lot of different projects at once so being organised is crucial.

What have been your biggest challenges so far?

The biggest challenge was definitely studying for the ACA alongside working. I remember thinking countless times during my training that I was never going to get through all the material alongside working an actual job as well. It was definitely made easier by the support shown by colleagues and the training programme in place at GE.

Tell me your goals for the future

In the future I’m hoping to become a well-rounded business adviser and because of the broad exposure I have received in the Transaction Services team, it’s definitely helping to shape me into one.

What advice would you give others that are seeking to pursue a career in Transaction Services?

Starting off in Audit has definitely given me a strong foundation, as I really got to grips with the ins and outs of how a business operates, as well as being able to scrutinise a set of financial statements. It is useful to keep an eye out for any key developments in business news, but other than that, there is nothing better than learning on the job.