Career Advice

shanderby

Hi,
I know this is not the correct place to be posting about jobs but I thought there is a lot of people in the know in this section

Little background info, Im 21 years old and was a sparky working with my dad up until 7 months ago! But unfortunately have seem to have developed a rather frustrating medical condition which is very unusual as they keep telling me LOL. Which means its looking like i wont be able to carry on doing manual work.
So I have decided to start an open uni degree in business studies with either economics or accountancy (have not decided which one yet). I have always enjoyed reading this thread about investment strategies and things on the economy. I was wondering if a career in financial advice would be an good career choice? would I be able to get into this sort of thing going down the degree route?
I also have enjoyed helping my dad with his books and wondered if anyone's got anything to say about accountancy as well?
Any advice would be much appreciated as I am just considering my options at the moment

Thanks

doughnutmachine

Sorry to hear about your bad news. It's good that you are making pragmatic decisions though.


I considered reading economics at University, but I wasn't convinced that there were many economics jobs at the end of a degree (unless you wanted to move to London).


If I could make my career choices again I would consider accountancy: it's a nice warm office environment, the professional exams are easy, lots of fit birds in the office, jobs throughout the country.

chewmylegoff

You may get a better response to this on the Employment, Job seeking and Training board in the Work and Benefits section.

Doing a degree in accountancy isn't going to really make much difference if you want to build a career in accountancy.

There are two main routes in - either as a trainee for an accountancy firm, or working in the accounts department of a business. In both routes you take accountancy exams whilst building work experience.

Accountancy firms take both graduates and non graduates on training contracts. If you join without a degree you normally do an accountancy qualification called AAT first and then you can go on to take ACCA or ACA exams. As a graduate you would skip the AAT level but of course you would also have a load of student debt and wouldn't have been in full time employment.

Having an accountancy degree makes little if any difference to your chances of getting a graduate training contract. Accountancy firms accept people with pretty much any degree subject - the university you go to and the grade you get in your degree are much more important than subject in my experience.

I don't know much about working in an accounts department because I have never done it. You usually take ACCA or CIMA exams although you can take ACA exams outside accountancy firms these days. I expect you will get much narrower experience in a business compared to working for an accountancy firm.

There are other options but those are the main ones that combine on the job training with further qualifications.

If you do want to do accountancy I would recommend considering the AAT route instead of an accountancy degree. It will accelerate your career compared to going to uni. I know a few people who have done very well for themselves by going down this route. Of course if you want to go to uni for the experience of going to uni as much as for the career prospects then that is a different matter.

racing_blue

shanderby wrote: »

I have always enjoyed reading this thread about investment strategies and things on the economy...
I also have enjoyed helping my dad with his books

This is your starting point. Follow what interests you, what you enjoy. My snap instinct is that a work based apprenticeship, where you study and learn on the job, will bring quicker results. Could you combine what you enjoy (finance) with what you know (electrics) for double gold dust CV leverage?

Lokolo

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Accountancy firms take both graduates and non graduates on training contracts. If you join without a degree you normally do an accountancy qualification called AAT first and then you can go on to take ACCA or ACA exams. As a graduate you would skip the AAT level but of course you would also have a load of student debt and wouldn't have been in full time employment.

Some degrees have modules which mean you can skip modules on ACCA/CIMA.

There are even some degrees which means you complete your CIMA at the same time. http://www.cimaglobal.com/Study-with-us/CIMA-and-a-degree/

However back to the OPs main question. You need to decide which area of finance you want to go in to. Finance adviser role is very different to accountancy (I say very different, its Finance but its like comparing a Software Developer and a Business Analyst, entirely different roles). If you aren't sure then a general degree might be useful, but it is a lot of hard work and a lot of money to do so.

Becoming an IFA I imagine is very much trainee route whilst doing exams, more information here

http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/independent-financial-advisor.html

I think most IFAs would start off doing Certificate in Financial Planning

http://www.cii.co.uk/qualifications/certificate-in-financial-planning-qualification/

I also think that a lot of them start in banks "sales" team. An unfortunate neccessity (I suspect from a cost point of view, banks will more freely give away training and exams than a local IFA business).

dunstonh

I was wondering if a career in financial advice would be an good career choice?

If you get it right then yes. However, you cant just jump into it as you used to be able to. Also, most fail. Over half of new advisers leave the industry within 2 years (usually in a financially worse position than they started). Those that go on and do well can do very well. Biggest reason for failure is lack of clients. Don't expect to be spoon fed clients. You either need footfall or contacts. If you do happen to work for a firm that can spoon feed you then dont expect to earn much from it.

The old route to become a proper adviser was to start in a bank or insurance company. Make your mistakes on clients that wouldnt know any difference without taking on personal responsibility. Whilst tied agents and IFAs require the same qualifications, there is a big jump in knowledge required between the two. Jumping in as an IFA from the start is risky. Hence, the other route is quite common which is to start as a mortgage adviser and get qualified and learn on the job. Many mortgage advisers also help advisers in a PA style role to some extent and can pick things up as well as earn whilst they study.

I wouldnt want to start out now. The easy days have gone for new recruits. Also, as an employer, I am not really interested in new recruits and I fear many other employers feel the same. You would need to bring an awful lot to the table to persuade me. There is a glut of experienced advisers being made redundant who can bring clients and wont need the same level of handholding a new recruit needs. I estimate that it takes about 2-3 years for a lot of the initial knowledge to actually sink in and be understood. With things changing constantly you are forever learning.

kidmugsy

If you're interested in matters financial, and have a trades background, how about getting into the real estate business e.g. starting by becoming a surveyor?

Does anyone here know the prospects?

vectistim

kidmugsy wrote: »

If you're interested in matters financial, and have a trades background, how about getting into the real estate business e.g. starting by becoming a surveyor?

Does anyone here know the prospects?

That'll take you longer than becoming an IFA.

lalman

I am a chartered accountant and just moved to London because the money on offer was alot more than my old town up north... i recommend the career path.

I did a degree in Business Economics initially but it only excempted me from 1 exam for ACCA. You can finish CIMA alot quicker than ACCA as the exam resits are closer (worst case i know) and from discussions with friends.

Exams are tough though... you need to give up alot in life to get through them... particularly if you work whilst do them and dont forget there is a 3 year experience requirement!!!

shanderby

Thanks for taking the time to respond, plenty of useful info
As I mentioned earlier, I have started an open uni degree so it wont cost as much as actually going to a uni. Around 15,000 I think. But atm, as i am still attending regular hospital visits, it just passes a bit of time and with the hope it may lead to career.

Lokolo

If you study Business with Accountancy route, and do the appropriate modules, you will be exempt from the preliminary modules

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Study-with-us/Exemptions/Exemption-search/Open-University/?qualification=1-8T8D31

You would need to do both Core: B291 Financial Accounting and Core: B292 Management Accounting which is at Stage 2 of your degree (I believe they are compulsory anyway)

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/qualification/pathways/q70-2.htm

If you do Economics and then want to study CIMA then you will have to do the 5 certificate levels before going onto the big boy stuff.