Award-winning apprentice, Harry Preston-Jones, has charted an inspiring path from deferring university to securing a permanent role as a Senior Finance Analyst at Amazon in just two years via an apprenticeship.
During Harry’s apprenticeship, he has gained invaluable experience, excelled in his studies towards CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification, and made a lasting impact through innovative projects - all while advocating for the transformative power of apprenticeships.
As he has taken advantage of every opportunity that has been presented to him, Harry was a well-deserved winner of the Accountancy and Tax Level 7 award at the Kaplan Apprenticeship Awards 2024.
He shares his journey and challenges so far while explaining why choosing an apprenticeship was the best decision he’s ever made.
An unexpected career in finance
What made you choose to do an apprenticeship?
I was planning to go to university after school to study computer science. However, due to the pandemic, I decided to defer my place to go at a time when things were back to normal.
I was lucky enough to find an internship at Ricoh Europe, where I was first exposed to a corporate environment. I also had Amazon as a client and liked what I saw. I decided that the one thing that could potentially convince me not to go to university was an apprenticeship at Amazon.
Have you always wanted to work in finance?
I always wanted to go down a technology route, and two of the apprenticeships that I applied for were in that area. I applied for the finance apprenticeship as a third option and it took a lot of thinking before I accepted the offer. At the time, I wanted to work at Amazon either way, and I intended to work my way back into tech.
Two years later - this was the best decision I ever made. I’ve discovered that finance is truly for me, and this is where I want to stay for now.
Why apprenticeships are a game-changer
What have the past two years of your apprenticeship entailed?
My apprenticeship is a rotational programme. I spent year one in Prime Video accounting focusing on projects around the post-acquisition treatment of MGM Studios - the ‘blue carpet’ events were certainly a perk!
Harry Preston-Jones and Rylan Clarke at a UK and IE All Amazon meeting.
Year two was in retail finance - partnering with our business teams to improve our retail offering. For the last few months, I’ve been working in statutory accounting, which involves writing financial statements and coordinating external audits.
Towards the end of 2024, I was offered my permanent role as a Senior Finance Analyst. I’ll be going back into retail finance to be the finance owner of a $1bn per-year business line.
What do you think are the biggest benefits of pursuing an apprenticeship over other routes?
There are too many to mention, but the main one for me is the timelines.
Traditionally, you’d likely study for three to four years at university, followed by another two to three years on a graduate scheme. After that, you might have the same CIMA qualification and job role that someone who did an apprenticeship had at 21 years old.
Apprenticeships are an accelerated pathway that’s almost too good to believe. You’re in a corporate environment, building a network, and can get involved in projects or even lead initiatives from age 18. There are also, generally, better employment prospects compared to the average graduate with little work experience. Not to mention no university debt!
Everyone lists the same buzz-word skills, but they are true: teamwork, confidence, leadership, project management, and many more on the technical side.
Harry Preston-Jones at the Amazon Awards in 2023 where he was highly commended for the Rising Star Award.
For someone looking to pursue a finance apprenticeship at a major company like Amazon, what advice would you give them to stand out?
No one is expecting you to have years of experience. With apprenticeships, it’s not uncommon for the academic requirements to be less than you may expect. The main thing that employers are looking for is your attitude and willingness to learn. Show your passion, a genuine interest, and a positive mindset and everything else will follow.
What has been the most rewarding moment in your apprenticeship so far?
Being offered my permanent role is a big one, as is winning both the award at the Kaplan Apprenticeship Awards and the Amazon ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award.
But, honestly, I’m most proud of the work that I’ve delivered after taking advantage of the amazing opportunities I’m given. In my second year, I built a tool that 80 people used across Amazon EU - saving 3000 hours a year and getting VP-level visibility. Things like this are truly rewarding.
Harry Preston-Jones at an Amazon Fulfilment Centre in Barcelona.
Studying, support, and sought-after skills
How did you find studying for your CIMA qualification?
There’s no denying that CIMA exams are difficult, but what else could I expect? There were more exams than I had expected, too, but that’s on me for not researching before I started.
Before starting, I had a vision of self-guided, self-motivated learning with no support. You do need to be self-motivated, but the availability of online tutors is better than I could’ve imagined. Working in a finance role also helped me understand how to apply my studies to the job. After a while, the CIMA case study exams just felt like another day at work!
I found the OnDemand study method with Kaplan’s learning material to be hugely useful. I could study at my own pace, at times that suited me, and re-watch anything I didn’t understand. I also have a talent coach, client manager, access to the student services team, and tutors who are all available to help.
There’s an army of people around for every need. And, again, the quality of the learning resources was incredible.
With all this support, I could get ahead and stay ahead of my studies. If all goes to plan, I’ll be a Chartered Accountant very soon after sitting my final exam less than two years after my first.
How has studying CIMA helped with your job role?
I think it’s a two-way street. Working in accounting for my first rotation meant that during the CIMA BA3 syllabus (which was my first technical accounting exam) I would use what we had worked on in my team to help me understand the theory for the exam.
On the other hand, when I’ve been writing the financial statements in my role, the theory from the CIMA F1 and F2 modules, for example, helped me to understand why we include certain content, or how certain calculations are made. I’m also surrounded by accountants who are all happy to support me if needed.
“There’s an army of people around for every need.”
How has your employer and team supported you?
The structure at Amazon has been fundamental to my success. There’s a dedicated finance apprenticeship committee managing the finance programmes, and each apprentice is assigned a committee member who’s responsible for their development and support. We also have programme managers, line managers, buddies, and mentors.
No one is just passing over the admin tasks to you that they don’t want to do themselves. Every team I’ve worked with has been focused on providing the best opportunities and high visibility for the role. It’s genuinely interesting and rewarding work that I’m doing.
“The main thing that employers are looking for is your attitude, your approach, and your willingness to learn.”
Harry Preston Jones at the Amazon Awards in 2024 where he won ‘Apprentice of the Year’.
What are your top study tips?
1. Book your exam
It’s so easy to put it off, but once you’ve booked it, you have a set date to work towards. You can still reschedule it until 48 hours before the exam, but I found that I was too stubborn for that. No matter what, I was ready for the booked exam date.
2. Ask people for support
I was lucky to have other apprentices, graduates, and qualified full-time colleagues working around me. If that’s the same for you, no one will mind if you ask them to explain that one accounting principle you’re struggling to understand.
3. Practise every question you can find
Mock exams randomly generated questions, your exam kit - whatever it is, practice as much as you can. The more you practice, the more prepared you’ll be. You’ll never learn it all by just absently re-reading your notes.
4. Experiment with AI
My favourite, recently learnt study tip is that I upload my revision notes to a GenAI platform and ask it to test me. I use an internal Amazon tool but ChatGPT or similar should do the job. This is particularly useful when revising for case study exams as you need to rely on definitions, pros and cons, etc. By uploading your own notes and asking it to only test you on that, you know that the output is accurate and exactly what you need to know.
Winning awards in just two years
What did it mean to you to win the Accountancy and Tax Level 7 apprentice award at the Kaplan Apprenticeship Awards?
I’m really pleased to have won. I know there are a lot of amazing apprentices doing awesome things, so I feel proud to be recognised in this way. There’s no denying these journeys can be tough - juggling full-time work and a major qualification, so moments like this show me it’s worthwhile.
Harry Preston-Jones pictured with Kaplan’s Kathy Walton after winning the Level 7 Accountancy and Tax award at the 2024 Kaplan Apprenticeship Awards.
What do you believe contributed to you winning the award?
I’ve always made it my priority to deliver results and earn trust at work while making sure I was ahead in my studies. This becomes a snowball effect - by performing well at work, you get more challenging tasks. By being ahead in your studies, you’ll likely get trusted to take on more work.
Combine the two and you’re able to be a valuable part of the team and fly through your exams.
Mentorship and advocating for apprenticeships
How do you advocate for the value of apprenticeships to others in your field?
I visit my old school to talk about the value of apprenticeships, I mentor disadvantaged young people through Future Leaders, and I work with the finance committee at Amazon to continually improve our programmes.
For me, it’s simply spelling out the opportunities that apprenticeships can offer. You also don’t have to miss out on the ‘uni lifestyle’ by doing an apprenticeship. I’ve travelled a lot with work, and had the opportunity to go to some awesome events, but I’m also surrounded by other apprentices, interns, and graduates - so there are always people to socialise with.
“It’s an accelerated pathway that’s almost too good to believe.”
We noticed that you’ve chaired the UK apprentice committee and developed training resources for your colleagues - what do you think makes a good mentor?
I realise that I wouldn’t be where I am now without the support of various people along my journey - from my teachers at school, to colleagues at Amazon, and, of course, my friends and family. Therefore, I believe it’s important to make sure that you do the same to others. If you can be a small part of someone else’s journey, then that’s a bonus.
I don’t know if I can call myself a good mentor, but I try to share all of the nuggets of wisdom that I’ve picked up along the way. I think a lot of the mentoring I do is more about passing on advice that other people have given me - but perhaps I’m just not very original!
Harry Preston-Jones winning the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ category at the 2024 Amazon Awards.
We heard you’re interested in technology - what are your views on leveraging technology in the finance industry?
I’ve always been passionate about automation and have implemented tools and solutions in every role I’ve had. This may be through Microsoft Power Automate, Alteryx, VBA, or just working on fancy Microsoft Excel files.
Technology is clearly going to continue to grow, and I think it’s a great opportunity for junior professionals to upskill in this area to add value to their teams.
What are your plans for the future?
For now, I’ll be focusing on my permanent position at Amazon. After my studies, I’m not sure what the future holds but I know that the career progression path at Amazon is clear, and I’m excited to see that come to life. I’ll also keep advocating for apprenticeships in any way I can.
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