The annual Pop Quiz (back in July already – time flies!) certainly lived up to its much deserved title as the NAO’s biggest social event of the year. For those eager beavers who avidly read the NAO graduate blog, you may recall my post about the TV programme themed quiz. This year, the theme was ABBA which gave everyone a chance to dig deep in their wardrobes for their flares and blonde wigs. There were some truly spectacular efforts in both the team name selections and costume designs. With team names ranging from ‘Bjorn to be wild’ to ‘Value for Money, Money, Money’ and costumes ranging from an (almost!) lifesize cardboard Volvo car to a team clad almost solely in IKEA shopping bags, there was much to laugh about.
The quiz itself was typically challenging and undoubtedly had involved months of painstaking research to ensure even the most knowledgeable pop fans were kept on their toes.
The team I entered with had selected the name ‘Downton ABBA’ and dressed in a hybrid of period dress and 1970s disco – something which left many people bemused! Our fortunes on the scoreboard somewhat matched our mixed effectiveness in the fancy dress stakes and we ended up in 30th position out of the 40 teams entered. At least this was an identical score as our arch rivals ‘The Zlatan takes it all’ team, who wore fake pony tails and beards in the style of the iconic Swedish footballer – something which made our lowly position more palatable.
The quiz was great fun and a great chance to catch up with friends and colleagues after our peak audit season. With many heading off to client sites across the country during the peak period, you often struggle to keep in touch, so it was great to catch up and share experiences and anecdotes before people began heading off for annual leave and a well deserved relax. For me, it was also a good opportunity to say farewell for a while as I headed off to Western Sahara as part of one of the teams conducting the audits of the United Nations Peace Keeping Operations across the world.
Apply now!
Our 2015 graduate training scheme is now open to applications (deadline 31 December 2014). Head over to our graduate recruitment site for further information on how to apply.
If you’ve got any questions around the application process, please leave a comment below. You can also contact our recruitment team by email, via our Facebook page, or on Twitter.