Ellena Graham

7.00 AM

Wake Up!

I get up and make myself a coffee straight away because my brain won’t function properly until I’ve had my caffeine hit! I made myself some Vegemite on toast for breakfast which I ate while listening to some music before putting my prepped lunch in my bag and heading out the door.

7.30 AM

Commute to Work

I don’t live super close to a train station so I have a short drive to the nearest one and then I jump on the 7:45am train to Flinders Street Station. It’s a sunny 10 minute walk from the station to the office along the Yarra River which is a nice way to relax before starting the day.

8.30 AM

Arrive at Work

Taking the elevator up to my floor in the morning I ran into another Graduate I started with from a different department and we catch up on what’s been happening in each-others lives.

8.45 AM

Check Emails

I have a few new emails that have come through since yesterday and read through them to determine what needs to be addressed first. A response to some findings we discovered at a client have come back with some comments to be actioned. As I have a meeting with this client to discuss the report later today.

9.00 AM

Partner Catch-Up

The partner working with me on a special investigation for a client has organised a meeting to discuss current status and what we’ll do moving forward. I brought up that I was feeling a little overwhelmed with the number of jobs I was going to be dealing with and we worked to move them around to lighten my load, which was amazing!

9.45 AM

Morning Tea

My favourite part of the day is when morning tea comes out. I hear the unmistakable rattle of the trolley bringing fruit, shapes and Arnott’s biscuits for the floor to the kitchen. Delicious! Great place to make friends with people from different areas who also love delicious snacks.

10.00 AM

contact client to confirm finding questions

I get back to my desk and give the client a call to discuss their email from earlier in the morning. We have a little catch up and have an open discussion in which we confirm our meeting in the afternoon.

10.30 AM

Draft Report Review with Manager

After chatting with the client about the changes to our findings I run through the report with my manager iron out any kinks that may exist and to ensure it makes sense. This process can take a while but is very useful for challenging my usual way of thinking. Below is Luke and his sad desk.

12.00 PM

Lunch Time

I go for a walk with people from my team to get some fresh air and exercise. We all go back to the office to eat around the standing/eating desk. While we eat we continue our proud tradition of attempting the quiz from The Age and the Herald Sun. As usual, if no one knows any of the answers we blame the quiz for being bad. It’s not a reflection on us.

1.00 PM

Client Site Visit

I catch an Uber to the client with my manager to have a closing meeting and discuss the draft report that we finalised earlier in the day. Even though we raised some big findings that were quite important she was happy with the work that had been done and agreed that we would finalise the report for them to include in their next audit committee meeting.

3.00 PM

Document Testing and Data Analysis

Back in the office for the last part of the day I start looking through documents sent through by a client and create some testing papers (or workpapers) which allow me to determine whether the client is actually undertaking the processes they’ve put into their policies and procedures.

5.15 PM

Home Time

At 5:15 everyone starts to leave the building and I join them. I live nearby one of my friends at work so we take the train together and discuss how our days were. As long as the trains aren’t too crowded the ride back to my car is quite calming.

7.00 PM

Futsal

After sitting down for a large part of the day I love getting out and being active after work. I play futsal once a week in a social mixed league with a bunch of my friends from high school. It’s a good way to keep in touch as we all start to lead progressively busier lives. We lost (as per usual) but it’s all in good fun.

8.00 PM

Dinner

I get home and mum’s cooked some chicken and vegetables which I do not hesitate to eat. Food tastes so good after a full day or work and some exercise.

9.00 PM

Get Ready For Bed

I get ready for bed and hop under the covers with That 70’s Show on, a personal favourite.