From Accounting and Finance grad to Business Change Manager: Hamzah Ahmed's career journey

Posted on: 30 April 2025 in Where are they now?

Meet Hamzah Ahmed, a Business Change Manager at the Great British Railway Transition Team (GBRTET). His role involves leading change initiatives at GBRTT to transition from a privatised railway model to the publicly owned Great British Railways, with a focus on people, culture and fostering collaboration to deliver meaningful and effective sector-wide change. Hamzah recently spoke on a Year In Industry ULMS Extra webinar detailing his career journey to date.

Hamzah's professional path began with an internship at PwC during his Accounting and Finance with a year in industry course at the University of Liverpool Management School. This year-long placement in PwC's external audit department exposed him to the intricacies of accounting, including P&Ls, balance sheets and cash flows. Despite securing a permanent role at PwC post-graduation, Hamzah realized that external audit wasn't his passion.

"In the world of external audit, I didn't feel at home. I'd done this accounting in finance degree. My dad is an accountant himself. And I had this pressure to stick around in a career in a role that I wasn't necessarily happy with."

Hamzah made a significant career shift into management consulting at PwC, focusing on people advisory. His work involved helping businesses navigate complex changes and transformations, including cost-cutting initiatives, operating model restructuring and diversity and inclusion consulting.

I took a massive plunge, leaving external audit and moving into consulting. But it was a very, very rewarding risk that I took.

Hamzah continued his consulting journey at Vialto Partners, a boutique consultancy, where he focused on workforce advisory. The start-up environment required a different mindset and approach, emphasizing business growth and scaling.

I went from this big corporate environment where you've got thousands of people in the UK alone working for this one massive employer, and then all of a sudden I'm working for a boutique where there's maybe a couple hundred across the country.

Hamzah then transitioned into the government sector, leveraging his transferable skills to renationalize the railway network.

I'm helping the government renationalize the railway. Sounds quite different to what I did at PwC and at Vialto, but really there's transferable skills there.

Hamzah’s advice to students and graduates includes managing expectations by understanding the job market, building meaningful relationships through networking and being resilient and adaptable.

Hamzah emphasizes the importance of understanding the realities of the job market and benchmarking against average salaries rather than comparing to peers in high-paying roles.

I think it is really, really important that you manage your own expectations. If you don't manage your own expectations, you set yourself up for disappointment and needless disappointment.

Networking is crucial for career success. Hamzah advises young professionals to build meaningful relationships and leverage their network for opportunities and insights.

Networking is a bit of a buzzword. It is all over LinkedIn. But if I reframe it, think of networking as relationship building, connecting with people.

Hamzah highlights the importance of being proactive in job applications and focusing on the quality of applications rather than the quantity.

Focus on quality, focus on interview prep, focus on doing things right the first time rather than sending out 30 weak applications.

Hamzah also emphasizes the value of resilience and adaptability.

Have some faith in yourself. Be persistent, be resilient, network, and make the most of what you have. You can do it.

A big thank you to Hamzah for taking part in this Year In Industry ULMS Extra webinar and inspiring our students. ULMS Extra is an exclusive programme for Management School students, held on Tuesday afternoons, offering extra-curricular events to enhance employability skills, develop commercial awareness and build valuable connections with alumni and employers.