Placement Spotlight: A Q&A with Adam Faulkner




We asked Adam how he's finding things so far, his ambitions for the future and the all important questions around what fuels his day, tea or coffee!
 

  1. Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you are studying? 

    I’m Adam Faulkner, a Business Management student at Queen’s University Belfast and an Irish international table tennis player. I’ve joined BDO Northern Ireland in the Advisory team for my placement year. 
     

  1. What made you choose a placement at BDO NI? 

    I developed a genuine interest in accountancy during my first-year module and wanted to take it further in a real-life setting. In my part-time warehouse job our company was acquired, and I saw first-hand how margins, stock turnover, and process changes play out during a transition. That experience made me curious about how deals are assessed, executed, and integrated. BDO NI gives me the breadth to explore those areas, with real client exposure and responsibility from day one. 
     

  1. How have you found your first six weeks with BDO NI? 

    Although I’m still in the early stages, I’ve already been entrusted with practical tasks - organising client files (including during our annual external regulatory file reviews, which was positive), undertaking research, and matching bank reconciliations with our accounting software. These may seem like small tasks, but they’ve given me a solid foundation to understand workflows within the Advisory team. 
     

  1. What has been the highlight of your placement so far? 

    A standout moment was the Advisory team afternoon trying lawn bowls at Belmont Bowling Club. It was a relaxed setting to meet colleagues from across the team, swap project and exam experiences, and get career tips from seniors - a fantastic networking opportunity that helped me put names to faces and accelerate my integration into the team. 
     

  1. What skills or experiences have you gained already? 

    Sharper Excel and Outlook, clearer report writing, stakeholder communication, and time management - the basics done well. 
     

  1. What is it like working with your team here? 

    Approachable and generous with their time - there is always someone willing to talk things through when I have a question. 
     

  1. How would you describe the culture at BDO NI in three words? 

    Collaborative. Ambitious. Genuine. 
     

  1. What are you most looking forward to during the rest of your placement? 

    Taking ownership of workstreams, more client contact, and building a solid advisory toolkit. I am also looking forward to supporting BDO NI’s partnership with Queen’s Business School at QUB, and the firm’s wider outreach programme to schools and universities. 
     

  1. How do you think this experience will help you in your future career? 

    It’s giving me structured problem-solving, commercial awareness, and client confidence - skills I’ll carry into any business role. 
     

  1. Tea or coffee - what gets you through the day? 

    For me it’s coffee all day - during international tournaments coffee really gets me going, and it feels the same in the workplace. 
     

  1. If you had to sum up your BDO NI experience in one word, what would it be? 

    Rewarding.