New Career... New life

hockeygirl

Hi All

Can I first start by saying I hate recuitment agencies... they are not helping me at all!!

I graduated with a 2.2 Physics degree 2 years ago. I have banking experience... mainly high exposure credit control in personal accounts aswell as invoice discounting for medium to large businesses.

I have spent the last month trying to get into an accounting position preferrably within the banking sector to no avail. Every recruiter I have dealt with keeps telling me I need a business degree, a 2.1, or try push me back into credit control!!

My head is about to explode.!!!

Does anyone know a good recruiter to go through. i have just applied for the ACCA exams for December.

Or what are my chances here? Am I aiming for something I cant get?? Im in limbo at the moment.

Help please

jmcwobbles

My friend is a qualified accountant and she was studying and taking exams for years before she was fully qualified - and that was after her accountancy degree - so I don't think Accounting is something you can just stroll into with no related qualification. Sounds like if all the recruitment agencies are telling you the same thing, perhaps you should listen to them...

hockeygirl

Thanks for the reply.

I have found that alot of the recruiters straight away are interested in getting me into credit control roles beacause those are the positions they have on their books.

I'll keep slugging it out and see what happens. I'll be starting the ACCA exams in decemebr. if it takes another few years so be it.

Im currently on 36k in my job. I would be happy to take a salary drop ... even down to 26/27k to get into a trainee role. I wouldnt expect to get anywhere near the salary Im on at the mo.

I have a friend with an arts degree who managed to get into a company in the IFSC to train as a fund accountant. She didnt even have as much banking experience as me.... maybe Im just unlucky

board om

hockeygirl wrote: »

Hi All

Can I first start by saying I hate recuitment agencies... they are not helping me at all!!

I graduated with a 2.2 Physics degree 2 years ago. I have banking experience... mainly high exposure credit control in personal accounts aswell as invoice discounting for medium to large businesses.

I have spent the last month trying to get into an accounting position preferrably within the banking sector to no avail. Every recruiter I have dealt with keeps telling me I need a business degree, a 2.1, or try push me back into credit control!!

My head is about to explode.!!!

Does anyone know a good recruiter to go through. i have just applied for the ACCA exams for December.

Or what are my chances here? Am I aiming for something I cant get?? Im in limbo at the moment.

Help please

it isnt the recruitment agencies fault that you arent qualified. it sounds to be like they are being realsitic with you and you just dont want to except it. any accountant i know studied long and hard to get into accountancy, and even then they worked for next to no salary for years before they finally got good money. you have 2 years experience in credit control and now you want to be an accountant? if is was that simple then why do accountants spen all that time in colege and doing exams? tbh i think you are aiming a bit high and then taking it out on the recruiter when they point this out to you. when i was in recruitment i wouldnt have put someone who only had credit control expericne forward for an accoutnacy role becuase the client would think i was wasting their time or that i didnt know what i was doing.

it is hardly a comspiracy by the recruitment agencies against you. what you could do is go to a recruitment agency that specialises in accoutnacy positions, and if they say the same thing to you then you might as well take it as fact. because they will obviously have accountancy roles that they could put you forward for so if they dont put you forward then there is a reason why.

hockeygirl

board om wrote: »

when i was in recruitment i wouldnt have put someone who only had credit control expericne forward for an accoutnacy role becuase the client would think i was wasting their time or that i didnt know what i was doing.

it is hardly a comspiracy by the recruitment agencies against you. what you could do is go to a recruitment agency that specialises in accoutnacy positions, and if they say the same thing to you then you might as well take it as fact. because they will obviously have accountancy roles that they could put you forward for so if they dont put you forward then there is a reason why.

I know its not a conspiracy and of course I dont want to except it lol:) ... and I hope you dont think stormed out of recruitment agencies ...that would be funny... a bit crazy .. but funny. Im sorry it seems my first post gave an overly strong impression... ?? Im just a bit frustrated thats all.

Ive spoken with 4 (by phone) and only the last one was as blunt as you have just been. The rest were like .. Oh we'll out you forward for this and that... I would have preferred if they were honest with me from the very beginning...After all Honesty is the best policy! Then I wouldnt have got my hopes up. I appreciate that accountants spent a long time in college. Im not saying I'll walk into a job tomorrow and qualify over night

You've worked in recruitment and have some experience in this what do you think I should do? Will I go ahead and do the acca exams and wait to apply for positions once Ive managed to pass a few? Please be as honest as you just have been in your post. i really appriciate it.

I'm in complete limbo at the mo... maybe I shouldnt have posted... or waited until I wasnt so frustrated over the whole thing. Having a really bad day in work and was hoping for some poistive news

AARRRGH

hockeygirl wrote: »

I have a friend with an arts degree who managed to get into a company in the IFSC to train as a fund accountant. She didnt even have as much banking experience as me.... maybe Im just unlucky

Fund Accountancy is glorified admin work. A friend of mine, with no business experience, got a job as a Fund Accountant. Previously he was working on a building site.

Why not get a job in accounts and do your exams there?

fret_wimp

everyone knows recruitment agent's dont have a clue about the business they are recruiting for. they have a bunch of keywords, and if you have those buzzwords on your cv you might get an interview. if you have equivalent qualifications, but the recrutiment agent doesnt recognise the words used on your cv, your out of luck.

the classic example is the IT guy who went for a job that required some VB scripting. This dude has years of VB4,5 and 6 expirience.

The recruiter said " But do you have vb script expirience?". no matter how hard the IT dude tried, he couldnt explain to the recruiter that vb 6 is almost identical in syntax/keywords and much more intricate and deeper than vb script. any vb programmer could do vb scripting in their sleep. however he didnt have vb script on his cv so no job.

thats the way the these folks are im afraid. glorified salesfolk.

recruitment "Agent"!!!! sales person. may as well be selling vacum cleaners!!!


I would say you need some accounting qualification. Dont get me wrong, Im sure your degree in physics was fantastically difficult to obtain and you are a wiz with maths and numbers, but you still need to know accountancy, and a qualification to prove you know accountancy.

your best route might be an internship or something. best of luck.

board om

hockeygirl wrote: »

I know its not a conspiracy and of course I dont want to except it lol:) ... and I hope you dont think stormed out of recruitment agencies ...that would be funny... a bit crazy .. but funny. Im sorry it seems my first post gave an overly strong impression... ?? Im just a bit frustrated thats all.

Ive spoken with 4 (by phone) and only the last one was as blunt as you have just been. The rest were like .. Oh we'll out you forward for this and that... I would have preferred if they were honest with me from the very beginning...After all Honesty is the best policy! Then I wouldnt have got my hopes up. I appreciate that accountants spent a long time in college. Im not saying I'll walk into a job tomorrow and qualify over night

You've worked in recruitment and have some experience in this what do you think I should do? Will I go ahead and do the acca exams and wait to apply for positions once Ive managed to pass a few? Please be as honest as you just have been in your post. i really appriciate it.

I'm in complete limbo at the mo... maybe I shouldnt have posted... or waited until I wasnt so frustrated over the whole thing. Having a really bad day in work and was hoping for some poistive news

Hey hockeygirl,

your niceness paid off . i just Pm'ed you a plan of action so let me know how you get on.

all the best

board om

fret_wimp wrote: »

everyone knows recruitment agent's dont have a clue about the business they are recruiting for. they have a bunch of keywords, and if you have those buzzwords on your cv you might get an interview. if you have equivalent qualifications, but the recrutiment agent doesnt recognise the words used on your cv, your out of luck.

the classic example is the IT guy who went for a job that required some VB scripting. This dude has years of VB4,5 and 6 expirience.

The recruiter said " But do you have vb script expirience?". no matter how hard the IT dude tried, he couldnt explain to the recruiter that vb 6 is almost identical in syntax/keywords and much more intricate and deeper than vb script. any vb programmer could do vb scripting in their sleep. however he didnt have vb script on his cv so no job.

thats the way the these folks are im afraid. glorified salesfolk.

recruitment "Agent"!!!! sales person. may as well be selling vacum cleaners!!!


I would say you need some accounting qualification. Dont get me wrong, Im sure your degree in physics was fantastically difficult to obtain and you are a wiz with maths and numbers, but you still need to know accountancy, and a qualification to prove you know accountancy.

your best route might be an internship or something. best of luck.

thats a very intelligent generalistation :rolleyes:. sure we all know that all builders wear trousers that show their ass crack, just like all accoutants were glasses, and of course everyone who works in IT is a nerd, and all gardai are from the country, etc, etc ,etc.

just becuase 'A' recruitment consultant didnt know what he was recuting for, that doesnt mean all of them dont. i recruited for sales & marketing, and i worked in the industry for 10 years before that, so i think i knew a thing or 2 about sales & marketing. one of my colleages recruited for medical staff, and she was a nurse for 8 years before she did that. and our IT Manager ended up doing IT Recruitment, so i think he knew a thing or 2 about IT, and i could go on and on. now, it is very unlikely that i worked in the only recruitment agency in ireland that had recruiters that were actually skilled in the area they recruited in. i would say it is more likely that you came across a Recruitment Consultant who wasnt. Just becuase there are a few jokers out there that dont know what they are doing, doesnt mean they are all like that. there are jokers in every industry, including yours i am sure.

so try and maybe think about that before you tar everyone with the same brush.

Lamps

Are you currently in an accoutns role or a phyisics type role? I presume the later given your on 36k

Tan Princess

You must have great maths if you have a physics degree why don't you apply straight to accounting firms or better still go back to do the MAcc in DIT you'd surely get through it after physics.

ixus

Don't see this as a piss take but -

What do you want to be when you grow up?

ACA, CIMA, ACCA or what? Are you definite it's accountancy?
Why not look at a 1 year Dip in DIT or something similar to give you some exemptions?

Accounting sector within banking means jack sh!t...

If you're on 36K you're doing well enough at the moment.

Ok, a 2.2 in physics is not a bad result, what was your stronger area?

Why the hell do you need to wait until December to do exams? Couldn't you do the preliminaries of CIMA which is a Computer Based Exam to get a Cert in this. This may help you get a job early enough. Why do you need to take a 10K cut in wages to start in accounting? If you have an interest in business and a degree in accounting, there's no doubt you could achieve a 2.1 in a Bus Degree...I've a low opinion of recruitment agencies & HR departments.....

charmed83

if you're set on doing the ACCA exams you could apply for a job in fund accounting. they would pay for you to do the exams and give you study leave etc. the pay isn't bad, about 30k. at least you wouldn't have to take too big a salary decrease and then you could leave once you're ACCA qualified.

fret_wimp

board om wrote: »

thats a very intelligent generalistation :rolleyes:. sure we all know that all builders wear trousers that show their ass crack, just like all accoutants were glasses, and of course everyone who works in IT is a nerd, and all gardai are from the country, etc, etc ,etc.

just becuase 'A' recruitment consultant didnt know what he was recuting for, that doesnt mean all of them dont. i recruited for sales & marketing, and i worked in the industry for 10 years before that, so i think i knew a thing or 2 about sales & marketing. one of my colleages recruited for medical staff, and she was a nurse for 8 years before she did that. and our IT Manager ended up doing IT Recruitment, so i think he knew a thing or 2 about IT, and i could go on and on. now, it is very unlikely that i worked in the only recruitment agency in ireland that had recruiters that were actually skilled in the area they recruited in. i would say it is more likely that you came across a Recruitment Consultant who wasnt. Just becuase there are a few jokers out there that dont know what they are doing, doesnt mean they are all like that. there are jokers in every industry, including yours i am sure.

so try and maybe think about that before you tar everyone with the same brush.

Just going by the expirence of myself, many of my friends and of work collegues. Apologies if you were offended. Perhaps its only the IT recruiters that are affected by the lack of knowledge of the area they recruit for.