Starting out - no qualifications

Hester

Hi guys,

Earlier this year I dropped out of college. Was doing a science related course that I had no interest in so left and got a job in a bank. Anyway, long story short, I'm not happy there and thinking of getting into accountancy.

Does anybody have any experience of starting off with no qualifications? Do most places only look for graduates? I have a good leaving cert - A1 in accounting and I did in total about 5 months work experience in an accountant's when I was in school, back home. I'm looking for somewhere in Dublin now.

Any ideas how to go about starting out like this? Can I hope to get anywhere in this line of work without a degree??

ircoha

u can do all the accountancy exams while in the bank so explore that option first. u dont need to work in an accountancy office to do the exams.

Unless u have what are referred to as a 'yellow pack' job in the bank, I would stay put and talk to ur line manager.

I became an accountant while in a bank!
PM me if u wish

greydiamond

Whats a yellow pack job? Am considering getting into accounting myself, but am hopefully going to join a bank and go about it that way. How easy was it for you to join the bank?

ircoha

greydiamond wrote:

Whats a yellow pack job? Am considering getting into accounting myself, but am hopefully going to join a bank and go about it that way. How easy was it for you to join the bank?

Yellow pack is a very pejorative term used to describe people who were hired by the banks many years ago at much lower Terms and conditions!

I had a degree joining the bank so may not be of help to u: the point i was making to the op was if he had a decent job in a bank keep it and use the bank to do the accounting, what ever else u may say about them the do train people and do it well.
HTH

Hester

Never heard of this "yellow pack" before either!

I've only been in the bank a few months. Currently doing customer service in a branch, started off as a cashier. It's no trouble getting a job in a bank if you're prepared to start at the bottom. All the current cashiers in the branch I'm in have degrees.

I'll have to look into getting accounting exams while in the bank, thanks ircoha. Suppose my main problem is that I don't really like the work I'm doing now. I'm overworked and underpaid. But I'm willing to stick it out if I gain from it in the long run.

ircoha

Hester wrote:

Never heard of this "yellow pack" before either!

I've only been in the bank a few months. Currently doing customer service in a branch, started off as a cashier. It's no trouble getting a job in a bank if you're prepared to start at the bottom. All the current cashiers in the branch I'm in have degrees.

I'll have to look into getting accounting exams while in the bank, thanks ircoha. Suppose my main problem is that I don't really like the work I'm doing now. I'm overworked and underpaid. But I'm willing to stick it out if I gain from it in the long run.

Dont knock customer service for experience. As the computer does more and more of the work, the ability to deal with customers is becoming more and more important. If you have good interpersonal skills then u are in good shape, if not start reading up on the stuff: look at negotiation skills for a start: the utimate skill, IMO, is to be able to work WELL with people you dont actually like:)

Newaglish

Hester wrote:

I'm overworked and underpaid.

Your first year in accountancy wouldn't be a whole lot different!