"Mary had worked in law firms and property development companies and has accumulated a wealth of legal and secretarial experience which is helpful to support the back office operation of the company."

Have the tenses been correctly used?

Thanks.
Momo

This message has been edited. Last edited by: momo,

Yes, they are, Momo.

'She had worked' means that she used to work in law firms. She doesn't now.

As a result of that working, she gained experience. She has that experience now. She began to accumulate the experience then, and she still has it. That experience that she gained will be valuable to the company. Since the experience which was gained in the past is very relevant to the present situation, the present perfect is appropriate here.

If you say 'had accumulated,' it would not be incorrect. But it suggests that she doesn't have the experience anymore. She may have lost the skills gained from the experience.

'Is' is correct because the experience she gained is helpful to her work now. If she were not working now, we would use 'was' instead.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rachel, Moderator,

But shouldn't there be a reference point in the past where we can look back at what happened before ? I mean the speaker must have a reference point in the past but it is not clarified in the context, so the use of the past perfect here is a little bit misleading to me, too.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tonyjab,

I think that you are correct, Tonyjab: there must be a reference point.

Mary had worked in law firms and property development companies and has accumulated a wealth of legal and secretarial experience which is helpful to support the back office operation of the company.

It would be in the context. Here, a scenario might be that Mary is being considered for a job at a new firm, that her experience is valuable, and would be helpful in managing the office.

(I made a mistake in my previous posting, and have corrected it. It is experience that she has accumulated, not money. She still has that experience, so the present perfect is appropriate.)