Career Change - Wise move? How do I go about it?

Norinoco

I have a Degree in IT and Telecoms. Have worked in IT operation, helpdesk and QA testing for the last 2 years. Im 25.

Left home for Australia last October and have realised that I don’t want to go back working in the IT industry. I want to go in to Accounting and Finance.

Now the big question is - how do I go about doing this!

I return home in December. Is it possible to start a course as soon as I get home, or do I have to wait for September to come around again.
In the mean time, would it be possible to find a temp job working in an accounts department getting some experience?

I have heard it will take 3 years+. Is the best option to start back at college as an undergraduate of the 4 year degree.

Has anyone else made the change from IT to Finance?? Am I completely mad??!

Imposter

DCU have (or at least had about 4 years ago) a postgrad in accounting for people coming from other degrees. It might be worth a look.

p.pete

Yeah - try taking a look at cross-over post grads as it'll probably a better route for you then starting into a fresh course. You'll have to do the leg-work pretty quickly do and get contacting colleges straight away and find out what the deadlines are, fingers crossed you'll be able to squeeze into something.

On another note, I've telecoms degree too and am in the process of moving into a vastly different area - and so wish you lots of luck!

daveg

My wife is in a simular position - Business degree with a post grad in computing. She's been working as a software developer for the past 5 years and now wants to move into accounting. She plans on doing the accountancy exams (ACCS or something) which will qualify her as a chartered accountant. You can do these through distance education as well so you could keep working..

bringitdown

DCU's PDA (professional diploma in accounting) is a fast-track into an accounting career.

A mate did it and landed a pre-qual job in IBM having spent 2 years in Eircom tech support. He says both jobs were / are the most soul-less boring crap he has ever done however he gets paid much better in IBM. When he qualified the money was almost double the Eircom salary.

DOLEMAN

I went from programmer -> financial controller without any training. Accounts/etc. is actually fairly easy. There are very set processes for everything so it's not as if you need to use your brain too often.

Your best bet would be to apply for an accounts role in a small company (<20) where you are the only accounts person. It means you have to do everything - payroll, accounts, budgets, credit control, audit etc. With a bit of cop on you'll be grand!!

PS you're not mad about wanting to leave IT... but... I left IT and now I'm back in it... You can never escape!!!!

newestUser

Norinoco wrote:

I have a Degree in IT and Telecoms. Have worked in IT operation, helpdesk and QA testing for the last 2 years. Im 25.

Left home for Australia last October and have realised that I don’t want to go back working in the IT industry. I want to go in to Accounting and Finance.

Now the big question is - how do I go about doing this!

I return home in December. Is it possible to start a course as soon as I get home, or do I have to wait for September to come around again.
In the mean time, would it be possible to find a temp job working in an accounts department getting some experience?

I have heard it will take 3 years+. Is the best option to start back at college as an undergraduate of the 4 year degree.

Has anyone else made the change from IT to Finance?? Am I completely mad??!

Why do you want to change to accounting? (I know that it's irrelevant to your question, you're asking how you'd make the move, not why you should, but I'm always interested to hear why people want to move out of IT)

bringitdown

/yeah why not consider doing something you actually would like - fair enough if accounting is your bag ...

Norinoco

Thanks for all the replies.

Had a quick look at DCU's professional diploma in accounting and it looks good. Only problem is that it starts in September and I’m not home til December, plus i will be completely broke when I do get home so wont be able to afford the fees!!

Thinking of possibly getting a temp job with accountancy firm to be sure that I like the area before making the move.

The reason I have been thinking about moving to accounts and finance is that I have been working the account departments over here and I’m finding it interesting. I also love working with figures and like the world of investments too. Maybe not concrete reasons but its a start...sure I can always fall back on IT if all else fails!!

Cheers