Moving forward in career pathway and earning more - what can I do? (Accounting/Business/Finance)

MrGorsky

It’s an ideal age to even just star career planning. At 23 I was straight out of uni, shelf stacking at Asda and working part time in an accountants office For free to get some training. Fast fwd next 15 yrs, I qualified ACCA at 28, spent 9 yrs around £50k, and recently in last couple of yrs moved jobs to £90k . Make a plan, get qualified, it’sa great career with lots of opportunities. And it can be, not glamorous, but certainly not boring. With accountancy I’ve traveled to many different countries for meetings, had experiences I would never have had, and been involved in interesting business ventures.

Middlestitch

MrGorsky said:

It’s an ideal age to even just star career planning. At 23 I was straight out of uni, shelf stacking at Asda and working part time in an accountants office For free to get some training. Fast fwd next 15 yrs, I qualified ACCA at 28, spent 9 yrs around £50k, and recently in last couple of yrs moved jobs to £90k . Make a plan, get qualified, it’sa great career with lots of opportunities. And it can be, not glamorous, but certainly not boring. With accountancy I’ve traveled to many different countries for meetings, had experiences I would never have had, and been involved in interesting business ventures.

And yet according to your footnote, you have a history of debt?

MrGorsky

Yes, that’s correct, debt from house renovations... I’m working on it, and have no regrets.... it’s all manageable

noclaf

If I had a a time machine....would go back and of followed either CIMA or ACCA (or ACA) as I do think it provides a relatively secure career(nothing is ever 100%). That's mainly from a earnings potential perspective e.g: whether in industry such as banking or in audit practice you can earn in excess of £100k (providing you get the qualification and then build your experience etc). Be under no illusions, the hours can be long and stressfull, I know because I work in audit though should add I took a slightly unorthodox route and am not a qualified accountant. 
To the OP, 23 is the perfect age to crack on and get the qualification under your belt (or your partners in this case),before 30 ideally which then nicely sets them up to really push up their earnings during their 30's. I did not do this as unfortunately I was not disciplined or motivated enough to complete the studies during my early 20's. It takes a LOT of discipline and determination to do the studying and exams especially whilst balancing it with working and personal life etc I have contemplated giving it a second shot but am in my late 30's now and for the sacrifice it will now take to complete the 3/4 years of study not sure if it's as worthwhile in terms of likely career progression etc Relatively speaking it would of been much easier to complete by my younger self with no responsibilities then etc if your partner struggles with the content or simply doesn't enjoy it then they may struggle to motivate themselves for the required studying and exam prep. Best of luck!

MrGorsky

Great post noclaf, and get those qualifications done, plenty of years to Surge ahead in your career.

Doshwaster

Our head of accounting didn't qualify until her late 30s. She's had a previous career, took a few years out to have children and then decided to do something different.  

Sandtree

You seem to be missing out the bit about what HE wants to do.

Others have given some ok advice on career options, others have importantly pointed out that no everyone wants a 6 figure salary. 

I did 10 years in call centres and at 26 I was on £15k for a banking group but applied as an internal applicant for their graduate scheme (no degree required for internal applicants) and that started my career. I know earn materially more than £15k with no major qualifications beyond my A-Levels (and technically S-Levels but they confuse everyone).

Large corporations, like banks, have a vast array of options and often are fairly generous with training and secondments but it is somewhat dependent on if you live near any of their major offices rather than just the branch. But he either needs to decide what he wants to do or, like me, may fall into something. If he is happy having a stable job with an ok income that is fairly low stress and he can work 9-5 without concerns then why push him into a career that he may hate?

kayson11

Sandtree said:

You seem to be missing out the bit about what HE wants to do.

Thanks for the info; the post was made based on a conversation we had where he shared what he would like to do. I think it has been a common misconception on this post that I'm pushing him into a career he doesn't want. I want to help, not taking over at all  

theoretica

As well as planning, make space for serendipity.  Even when happy in a job, keep an eye out on adverts for other opportunities that might be worth a punt. 

Sandtree

kayson11 said:
Thanks for the info; the post was made based on a conversation we had where he shared what he would like to do. I think it has been a common misconception on this post that I'm pushing him into a career he doesn't want. I want to help, not taking over at all  

Glad to hear.... so what does he want to do? If he's working in a bank and spending time trawling their intranet he may well see there are possibly hundreds of different careers out there and I'd expect some are things he never heard of before... I know I knew next to nothing about actuaries, catastrophe modellers, treasury departments etc before starting to work in Insurance.

There was a mention of accountancy... has he particularly decided that this is an area for him or is it just "he likes numbers" and therefore anything else in the number field may be of interest.

Not saying I wouldn't do what I did do if I was suddenly 26 again, I enjoy my work and its well paid, but I may be more tempted to try and get into the data sciences route as I like maths and programming, its a rapidly expanding field and if you are very good at it there is some crazy money out there... plus its still seen as relatively new so not dealing with people with 40 years experience and ways of doing things.