Accountancy jobs - what's yours?

freakyogre

Just thought i'd post an update for the people who have helped previously and I also have another question (which is probably really silly!)

I spoke to my local college last week and they have suggested I go along to their induction day at the beginning of September where they'll tell me more about the course and I can make my decision. I have in the meantime ordered this book from Amazon. I've only read about 20 pages, but it seems to be going in at the moment which is good.
The HLC phoned me today and I was honest and said I was still wary of distance learning and would get back to them if I decided to study with them. He was actually a bit off when he realised I wasn't going to make a decision there and then almost rushed me off the phone, so i'm less than impressed with them!

Ok, silly question time. I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do and am really scared about going into something that I can't do/won't enjoy. Thinking about what i've done in the past, I think something in audit would really interest me as I love getting to the bottom of things and solving problems. Is this something that is linked to what I am looking at studying, or would I need to look at something completely different? Like I said, probably silly, but i'll admit I haven't got a clue.

Thanks again for any help.

MoneySavingUser

I would recommend a classroom course if you have the time and can afford it as the face to face interaction, meeting people, 'talking to the teacher after class' can be more helpful than a distance learning course

however it does depend on your own personal learning style! distance learning is probably cheaper so if you think that is all you need then go for it - or you could do a classroom course first to get the hang of it and then continue with distance learning

I would not recommend home learning college - have a look at Kaplan/BPP/local college

Audit isn't necessarily about solving problems - a lot of the time it is just verifying that correct records are kept/accounts are 'true and fair' - solving problems that businesses face is more to be found in a consulting role

If you want to work in audit you will most likely need to find a job in an accounting firm (though you can do internal auditing in industry too)

If you want to one day sign off audit reports - then you will need to do a further qualification such as ACA/ACCA

freakyogre

MoneySavingUser wrote: »

I would recommend a classroom course if you have the time and can afford it as the face to face interaction, meeting people, 'talking to the teacher after class' can be more helpful than a distance learning course

however it does depend on your own personal learning style! distance learning is probably cheaper so if you think that is all you need then go for it - or you could do a classroom course first to get the hang of it and then continue with distance learning

I would not recommend home learning college - have a look at Kaplan/BPP/local college

Audit isn't necessarily about solving problems - a lot of the time it is just verifying that correct records are kept/accounts are 'true and fair' - solving problems that businesses face is more to be found in a consulting role

If you want to work in audit you will most likely need to find a job in an accounting firm (though you can do internal auditing in industry too)

If you want to one day sign off audit reports - then you will need to do a further qualification such as ACA/ACCA

Thanks for your reply. I think I have pretty much decided against distance learning as know I won't have the motivation.
I prefer the thought of a 'classroom' setting where I can stick my hand up and ask for help.
I'm going to go to the induction day and get all the information and make my decision about the course from there.

Any

freakyogre wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I think I have pretty much decided against distance learning as know I won't have the motivation.
I prefer the thought of a 'classroom' setting where I can stick my hand up and ask for help.
I'm going to go to the induction day and get all the information and make my decision about the course from there.

In Manchester there is several options... University does evening course, BPP and Kaplan weekend courses (I attended weekend courses) and BPP and Kaplan also do over the internet courses (I don't know much about it, it is fairly new, but you can be at home and watch lectures online...).

I have to prepare you for the cost though - it is not cheap!!

However once you have some under your belt, most people get job with study support (or graduates even before..).

freakyogre

Any wrote: »

In Manchester there is several options... University does evening course, BPP and Kaplan weekend courses (I attended weekend courses) and BPP and Kaplan also do over the internet courses (I don't know much about it, it is fairly new, but you can be at home and watch lectures online...).

I have to prepare you for the cost though - it is not cheap!!

However once you have some under your belt, most people get job with study support (or graduates even before..).

The course i'm looking at offers different times for studying, one of which is 2 evenings, so it won't affect my job which is what I need. I really think I will go for the college course as like I said in an earlier post, I don't have the motivation. I also know i'm one of those people who just needs a bit of reassurance that I am actually doing it correctly and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that over the phone/internet.

I know it won't be cheap, that's one of the first things I looked at! Anything worthwhile isn't going to be, but if it helps me in the long run, it'll hopefully be worth it

suicidebob

I start a new job as an Assistant Financial Controller at a 4*star hotel in the city centre in a few weeks.

Can't wait to start. Hospitality accounts is way more interesting and involving than any other industry I've worked in. Currently working for a construction company - sucks.

MoneySavingUser

Any wrote: »

BPP and Kaplan also do over the internet courses (I don't know much about it, it is fairly new, but you can be at home and watch lectures online...).

There are 2 options:

1) an 'online course' - Both BPP and Kaplan offer this for some courses - in this you watch recorded lectures and is similar to normal distance learning

2) a 'live online' course - only Kaplan do this (and not for every course) - in this you watch live webcasts and can ask the tutors questions in real-time etc. (you can watch the recordings later too I think)

suicidebob wrote: »

I start a new job as an Assistant Financial Controller at a 4*star hotel in the city centre in a few weeks.

congrats!

geek84

Good Morning Folks

Have any of you used linked-in to find a job?

I am out of work at the moment, and thinking of ways of how to send copies of my cv in the hope that someone will take me on!

I was thinking of going on to individual accountancy practices websites and using the general email address 'enquiries@' or 'info@' to send my cv. Do you think that would be a good idea?

However, while using linked-in, it may be possible to find out personal email addresses of accountants in a particular practice. I could use their email address. What are your thoughts?

I have also found out that if you want to send a message to someone using linked-in, then you have to pay an annual fee!

Taking all this into consideration, what would you do if you were in my position?

Thanks in advance

GavB79

I work in Education and am therefore looking at doing CIPFA - does anyone have any advice on this? It seems much less popular than ACCA/CIMA and rather limited in its training provision (BPP don't even support it), but if I want to move into FE (Uni) from HE it seems necessary.
Not concerned about ability to study/pass etc. but not too keen on spending three years training only to find I've done the wrong course.

Any comments/insight welcome.

persa

geek84 wrote: »

Good Morning Folks

Have any of you used linked-in to find a job?

Yes, I found my current job that way. Or rather, it found me.

1. Fill out your profile properly - stick in all of your accountancy work experience and your (part) qualification(s).

2. Add all of your friends, former colleagues and acquaintances. The more people you are linked to, the better.

3. Join all the accountancy job groups - but not more than one a day. Space it out.

If the above doesn't get you noticed, get yourself noticed. Start adding recruitment consultants and headhunters to your network. Many of them display their numbers publicly - call them for a chat!

Try getting a separate SIM for job hunting (you can send off for them for free, check the sticky on the Freebies Board) and putting that phone number in your LinkedIn profile, so people can just call you directly if they're interested.

LinkedIn is great for accountants. It's not the best tool for some professions, but it really is for ours.