Profile
Robert Baines
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About Me:
I live with my wife and son in Biggleswade. I am a qualified accountant, but also have degrees in Psychology. I enjoy doing escape rooms, I even created my own. I love playing various boardgames and table-top roleplaying games.
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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How I use Maths in my work:
I used maths to help balance the budget, forecast future costs and ensure the money is spent correctly. I use excel formulaes, a lot of simple addition/subtraction and occasional statistics for noticing trends.
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My Work:
I work as the finance manager at EMBL-EBI. I use excel, power bi and other software to monitor and predict the spending of the Training Team.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up early with my son to have breakfast and play before he goes to school and I go to work. I normally work at home in my office on the computer. I go to the EMBL-EBI office once a week to see my friends and have meetings. I am normally in meetings or using spreadsheets to prepare for another meeting.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would use the money to run a course about budgets to increase financial literacy. It would involve puzzles like an escape room and sweets for prizes.
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Education:
I went to Dr Challoners Grammar School in Amersham and Royal Grammar in High Wycombe.
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Qualifications:
I got 1 A*, 4 As, 4Bs and 2Cs. I only remember because it’s a classic football formation.
I then got AABC in A-Levels
At university I got; Bsc Economics, Msc Psychology & Msc Occupational Psychology.
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Work History:
I had a few part-time jobs; selling phones, stacking shelves and running a small pet shop. Then worked at my dad’s accountancy firm for 12 years. Finally I have started my role at EMBL-EBI.
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Current Job:
Finance manager at EMBL-EBI. I mostly work on spreadsheets or sit in meetings talking about my spreadsheets. I find it most rewarding when I make it so that people realise they have more money for the things they want to do, like free places on courses.
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Employer:
EMBL–EBI is the home for big data in biology. We help scientists exploit complex information to make discoveries that benefit humankind.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
nerdy number cruncher
What did you want to be after you left school?
A vet or a lawyer
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Sometimes I didn't do my homework
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
An accountant
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Lewis Capaldi
What's your favourite food?
Pizza
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Have; more money, more time to spend with family and a swimming pool at home.
Tell us a joke.
Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9
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