Accountancy - career change?

Mistral001

While studing and working hard for professional qualifications there can be a tendency to think that once you become quailified everything thing will change. You perhaps think that people will treat you differently and you will get automatic promotion etc. but that does not happen usually. You might in fact regard it as a burden as you have now a responsibility to a professional body as well as to your employer and clients. In any case it can give people the blues to a certain extent. Is this what is happening to the OP?

roxy86_2

dizzyrascal wrote: »

You can't volunteer to work for an accountancy practice. They have to pay you for work done at the minimum wage at least.

If you want to volunteer then take your skills to an organisation that needs help. Nearly all charities and societies need someone to go over the books and produce accounts annually so that they know where the money went/how much they have to spend etc. If you want to volunteer then that's your best route.

Most people will train and qualify on the job at your level so I can see why employers are bypassing you. They want you to be up to speed, which you can only get from working, not from theory.

I would strongly suggest that you start networking, either via LinkedIn or going to physical meetings to meet the local recruiters in your industry.
If you want to work you may have to take a entry level position to prove yourself. It would be worth stressing in your applications or cover letters why you have chosen to follow this route. You worked hard at your qualifications whilst your children were small and you are now looking to develop your skills further. Talk about your aims and ambitions, where you see yourself in a few years time.

Why are you just writing to practices? All industries have accountants, I would spread the net much wider. You can continue training with all sorts of organisations so I would be looking for any entry level roles that come up. You do need to get some recent working skills under your belt first though. (This is where volunteering will come in although any job will give you employment skills)
You already have good time management skills as you have studied whilst having children. You will need to build on the rest

thanks dizzyrascal for the reply and advice.

I should have mentioned in my last post that I have been applying to various entry level jobs that are in various organisations. Many admin/ reception jobs etc anything really to just get my foot in the door so I can gain experience and work my way up. I figure once I manage to get back into the work it will then be easier to gain some skills and work my way up the ladder or move jobs etc.

I understand what you are saying about offering my service to charities which sounds to me like a fantastic way to gain some skills, however, would i be expected to just get on with it? or would I be mentored to start?

The problem I have is exactly what you say, I am not up to speed as I have no practice in any form of accountancy work.
I have already been told by an accountant that the problem is the way we are taught with all the long winded theory is really not what happens in everyday life as it is simply a click of the button. and although it is good to know the theory it is never used. I know everything is computer based these days and so anywhere that basically takes me on to help with the accounts are going to have to train me.

Ideally I want to go down the employment route as my other half works for Comet and so with his job coming to an end we will need some money coming in from somewhere. However, this is much easier said than done. Over the last few days I have applied for anything I think I could do. One I applied for a few weeks ago got back to me last week o say they had had over 300 applications for just that job!!
The ratio of people applying to 1 job these days is so high it makes it so difficult to get into the working game.

However, I am really really grateful for all the info and I will now start contacting lots of various charities/ searching the volunteers page in the local paper etc and keep applying for any job I can.

acbrom

persa wrote: »

Have you thought about talking to a specialist agency? Some of the better ones are happy to run through your background and aims and suggest an area that they think might better suit what you're after, work-wise. Yes, headhunters are all on commission, but they can be pretty helpful when you're considering your options.

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

I'm starting to write a few thoughts and ideas down to try and piece together what it is that I want. Management accounting sounds like an interesting possibility...

Can you recommend any specialist agencies that deal with industry accounting?

acbrom

marlasinger wrote: »

How about a management accounting role in industry? So much 'meatier' than working in practice (not that I have ever worked in practice). There is a lot of variation in work - from looking at costs of production, analysing cost and efficiency variances. Even the financial accounting side can be interesting - debtors, payroll, VAT return, month end reporting. There is so much more scope, and if you work for a medium sized company you can get involved in so many areas and you can also make a difference (rather than just being one cog in a big wheel).

A move in to industry sounds like an interesting possibility. Assuming that you work in industry yourself (?)...what opportunities does you role offer to progress in the company e.g promotions upwards? What does your usual working day consist of?

Many thanks.

CruisingSaver

I also started my career in practice but only ever saw it as a means to getting qualified and then either specialising in an area (anything but auditing!:rotfl:) or shipping out to industry.

After qualifying I specialised in pensions auditing (yep I know how boring that sounds!) before leaving practice a year later to work for a couple of large companies in the financial services sector.

I'm now a senior manager in the NHS and have been for a while and whilst it's completely different to what I've done before accountancy wise, the skills I learnt in practice have been invaluable in helping me achieve what I have.

What I'm trying to say is don't limit yourself or play down your skills because they really do give you a solid platform for developing your career in whichever direction you want to go.

I've never had a 'grand plan' of how I wanted my career to be but I have explored opportunities that sounded interesting, albeit some haven't turned out quite as I expected!

Good luck

CS x

persa

acbrom wrote: »

Can you recommend any specialist agencies that deal with industry accounting?

Where are you based/looking?

acbrom

persa wrote: »

Where are you based/looking?

Looking for Derbyshire, Derby City centre area.

marlasinger

acbrom wrote: »

A move in to industry sounds like an interesting possibility. Assuming that you work in industry yourself (?)...what opportunities does you role offer to progress in the company e.g promotions upwards? What does your usual working day consist of?

Many thanks.

I work for a medium sized (turnover around £30m) manufacturing company. My job has varied hugely in the 3 years I have been there. I started off doing basic cashbook transactions, fixed assets, nominal reconciliations, payroll, month end journals, credit control and a few other ad hoc duties.

I've now changed roles, due to a colleague leaving the company, so I'm now doing more of the management accounting role - tasks such as involvement in manufacturing orders, valuation of inventory, stocktake, analysis of efficiency and cost variances, cost rates, profit centre analysis, scrap analysis and loads of other bits that come up from time to time.

As far as progression, I suppose it depends on how willing you are to put yourself forward as someone eager to take on new jobs, but also the size of company counts. I found that (ironically) larger companies are harder to progress in as people seem to have very fixed roles and you can't get involved in anything outside your job description without treading on someone else's toes. With a medium sized company, and a reasonably small team, you can get involved in almost everything. And while there may not be another 'role' to progress into, your role can naturally change as you experience more and are more willing to take more on. My job title is officially the same as it was 3 years ago, but my day to day work has changed massively. I've never been that interested in being promoted and moving up the corporate ladder. What I have always wanted was a job that keeps me interested and doesn't have me dreading going into the office every day.

Also, if you find there is no room for progression where you are, then learn what you can, and move on.

marlasinger

acbrom wrote: »

Can you recommend any specialist agencies that deal with industry accounting?

Reed and Hays are the two big ones that spring to mind. No doubt there will be other agencies in your local area. Reed (and maybe Hays) advertise other agencies on their website, so that will be a good start.

MoneySavingUser

acbrom wrote: »

Looking for Derbyshire, Derby City centre area.

http://www.macildowie.com/

http://www.cherryprofessional.co.uk/home/

http://www.btgrecruitment.com/

http://www.chaseandholland.com/

also as mentioned the big ones - reed, hays, robert half, page personnel etc.