McGladrey Assurance Associate Heads Home After Working Abroad in Australia

Andrew has been working in Australia at McGladrey’s international affiliate, RSM Bird Cameron, for three months now. As he wraps up his visit, he reflects back on the past three months he spent participating in McGladrey’s Secondment program.

Written by Andrew Godfrey
Assurance, Sr. Associate
Vienna, VA

Today is the last day of my secondment in Sydney, Australia. The morning consisted of a farewell speech from one of the partners where the office thanked Rudy and me for our help during their busy season. They presented us with Australian jerseys, polo shirts and RSM Bird Cameron hats.  We then met with all of the partners on the team to discuss our secondment.

The way in which the Sydney office stands out seemed clear to me. There is a high level of camaraderie and closeness between the staff. The Sydney audit team meets often for ‘morning tea’, Friday drinks, and month-end drinks.  There were also several planned social events such as netball, an audit team lunch, and team trivia night during our secondment.  I think this benefits the Sydney office because despite the high level of billable hours everyone puts in; they still make time for relaxing and catching up with co-workers.

In the afternoon the seniors and grads took both Rudy and I out to a nice farewell lunch. This was our second farewell lunch, and we’ve also had a farewell dinner and farewell night on the town.  I’ve been surprised with how welcoming and hospitable everyone has been since we’ve arrived in Sydney, and the hospitality continued all the way through the end of our stay.  I consider everyone on my team (as well as the people I’ve met in insolvency and tax) to be good friends and I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone.

This was definitely one of the greatest experiences of my lifetime and I’m certainly going to miss Sydney (as well as the rest of Australia) but I’m excited to get home to see friends and family, eat American sized portions, drink 20 oz coffees, and drive on the right side of the road.  I think out of everything I’ve experienced here I’ll miss my Sydney friends the most, and the beautiful sights and weather second. I hope to come back and visit Sydney soon!