From a NGO to a Multinational: Rui Romão

By Silvia SALA

For our series of Interviews with our Former Interns, we met some weeks ago with Rui Romão. He worked for us as an Admin Intern and now he is employed in one of the global leaders in assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory services: EY, Ernst & Young. Have you also dreamed of joining this famous business? Then read our interview and discover how he earned his current position.

1. What did you study at university and what is your current work position?

I did a bachelor’s degree in Geography and Regional Planning and a master’s degree in Economics and Public Policy.

Currently, I am working at Ernst & Young as a Tax Consultant. My role includes examining intergroup transactions of multinational enterprises and developing economic and financial analytic methods to check if those comply with local legislation.

2. How is the work environment at Ernst & Young?

It is pretty challenging. We are 250’000 employees worldwide and about 1000 in the Lisbon office. In my team, a subdivision of the Tax department, we are around 30 people.
We as a team work frequently with other EY people around the word.

Regarding this point, I see a similarity with LSBC. Also there, I worked with people living in different parts of the world.

3. Have you always dreamed about joining EY?

To be honest, I wasn’t aware of this consulting field of EY before reading their job announce.
During my last year of my master, I noticed this position advertised in my university portal. Therefore, I decided to apply and try to enter this environment.

Their selection process was very fascinating from the first day. Every stage I did and every time I spoke with employees of EY, I became more and more interested in the company, in their work ethics, and in the role of Tax Consultant. I believe that my enthusiasm, especially during my last interviews, showed up clearly and this was of the reasons why they offered me the position. I think expressing your passion for a job with no hesitation is always a winning card to play.

4. Is it a permanent role?

Yes, it is. This adds up to the great aspects of my current position. Nowadays, especially during this last health crisis, there is a common sense of instability and bitter feelings about work. A lot of people strive to find also temporary or internship positions.

I feel very lucky that I found a job that satisfies my interests and matches my skills, and where I feel appreciated.

5. How is your company facing this crisis?

This is a challenging time. I have been working at home since the first day of the lockdown (n.b. almost 3 months on this day).
Luckily, I can do my job also from home, since EY gave us employees all we need to do so.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the general situation in my country, Portugal. Since it is a country that has always relied on the tourism sector, the COVID-19 had heavy effects here. Nobody knows how and when this situation will be back to normal.

As experts in the consultancy field, at EY we are trying to help companies to overcome the recent difficulties. We are doing our best to follow up with our clients and to give them the support they need during those hard times.

6. How was your experience at LSBC?

It was great. Before it, I did my Erasmus Exchange Program in Slovenia and fell in love with the place. So, I wanted to go back. Thanks to LSBC, it happened.
Of course, this internship was also a challenge. Having no prior work experience, it taught me technical but primary soft skills, that I consider also extremely important.
I worked as an Administrator Intern. I oversaw the planning and managed all types of bureaucratic tasks.
Also, thanks to the flexibility of Natasa and Iztok, I learned SEO and Social Media tasks. They gave me space, time, and all I needed to do my work efficiently.
Until today, I see my time at LSBC as a process of learning and developing myself as a professional. There, I could discuss whenever I had doubts and give my opinion about projects. I learned to think more critically and being more organized when working.

7. I imagine that your current role is slightly different from your intern position at LSBC. How did you decide to move from an Admin role to a Tax Consultant? Are there some techniques or skills you acquired at LSBC that proved to be useful at EY? Do those two roles have something in common?

LSBC was my first professional work experience. Since I was studying, I couldn’t have much time to dedicate to the research of the perfect internship, which could match 100% of my studies.

Therefore, I chose to look for internships that, even though in a different field, could give me work experience and allow me to put the basics for my future.
LSBC offered an Admin function, featuring a lot of administrative tasks, papers, documents to organize and fulfill. In matters of technical aspects, I was not used to working remotely, and during this time I could learn new tools as well. In my current role at EY, I still have some bureaucracy and administrative tasks. However, they are less since they are not my main duties.

The aspect that EY and LSBC have in common is that they work in a paperless way. All documents are online and accessible by different people.

Additionally, at LSBC I learned to be versatile and open to work on other departments’ duties to assure the complete success of the business. This proved to be very helpful also in my current role. I believe that versatility is the key in most of the jobs worldwide.
We all have a field of expertise, but it is very helpful to know how our business works. I am not talking about details, rather about having a general overview. Indeed knowing how all departments in your company work can benefit your activities and improve your job performance.

8. When compared to other experiences you’ve had, what was the difference at LSBC?

LSBC had something that others didn’t: an international team, accessible from all around the world. I believe that a remote internship is very appealing for students or fresh graduates. A lot of us can’t afford to move abroad to get an international experience. Thanks to its remotely way of working, LSBC can offer an international and young team, without moving from your current home.

Furthermore, Natasa and Iztok gave me and to the other interns the freedom to decide when and how to work. We were able to choose our work schedule, combining it with our plans. For instance, I used to work 3 days straight to finish my tasks and the others I traveled across Slovenia with my friends. Thanks to this environment, I could learn important soft skills for my future job, travel, and broaden my horizons at the same time.

9. If you had the chance to work 100% remotely again, would you choose it?

I feel that working remotely can be a great choice but also not; it all depends on your relationships with your team and company. Sometimes getting along with them is easy, sometimes a little more complicated.
What is essential when working remotely is sharing the same values and being business orientated.
Based on my experience at LSBC and my current role at EY, I would choose to work 100% from home. This is because I have had always a great team and, in my current company, we all share the same values. We make a great group. So, I imagine working remotely would be no problem.

However, right now, I am working every day in my bedroom (due to COVID-19) and I don’t see it as a healthy situation. I sleep, eat, and work in the same room. I believe we need also to change the location and not spend our days always closed at home.

Maybe a co-working space would be an ideal option. We could meet with our colleagues and strengthen bonds with them. This way we would end up not spending all day at home alone, but we would have the opportunity to share a space, which is not a typical office, with someone else.

10. Do you have fixed plans for your future?

Not really. In my life, I have not been following a strict path. I have always been open to the opportunities that I encountered and learned from them.

Also, I believe that I need to keep learning and growing as a person. In fact, I have an entire world waiting for me and full of chances.
My main philosophy is to take the maximum from every experience I make and put it in my life baggage.