Finally some sense and the long hard trek of being an accountant..opinions

cizolin

If you were me what would you do? I'm 27, working as a barman. To give you a little on my educational background I left school in 2000 with a below average leaving certificate, c2 in ordinary maths, a2 in ordinary level business, something like a b3 in ordinary english, basically i was out every weekend and didn't study. In 2001/2002 I enrolled in the iati course, passed foundation year, 2002/2003 failed all admission year subjects, studied but not enough, 2003/2004 the same again so i opted out.

2006/2007 decided to go back and get the iati qualification in the last year of required time, failed the april exams but passed all four just about in the autumn, got out of the last chance saloon.
I chose to enter cpa formation 2 for 2008/2009, Have failed all the exams again.....Finally i have know realised i haven't been making any sacrifices in terms of where i want to go. Have had an obsession with a particular sport and practised obsessively while being niaive in thinking I would do well in exams. This sport is out the gap recently and from now on in.

I can be a very driven and competitive person, never really satisfied. I don't want to be an acccountant for the money but for the opportunity and the challenge it gives to me as a person.
I could improve on my communication skills but that willl come with more practice i believe.
I am very confident that I will be successful in my formation2 results come next april with the way i'm going to dedicate myself.

The one niggling doubt is that under the current economic conditions and with the competition i'm up against, i.e people with college degrees and successful results prospective employers wouldn't look at me.

I'm thinking of offerering to work for free 2 days a week to gain some all important experience but not sure i'll get that.

Have read many of the accountancy threads and there seems to be some really good info and advice from people. I would appreciate any input.
Anyway cheers and ciao for now:)

boa-constrictor

Hello Cizolin

I'm not going to pretend I have all the answers to your queries - I'm just commencing ACCA but it seems that your questions are not really around the qualification anyway.

I too worked as a barman before I did my degree and I decided to get out because of the hours and the lifestyle. I didn't realise it at the time but when I look back now I know that most of my friends at the time were alcoholics. Not much of a future in that.

I'm not sure what qualification your are now going to pursue but I have done quite a bit of research and am completely satisfied ACCA (mature student entry route) is the one for me. You don't have to go into practice - the qualification will be an asset anyway.

If you feel that you need to improve your communication skills do it now. If you are not inclined to do it now I think it will be even harder to do it when your older. Toastmasters is excellent for this.

I wouldn't worry about the recession - you could apply this to any career you might choose at the moment. The recession won't last forever (although I think it will be protracted). There will always be people less qualified and more qualified than you - again, no justification for not pursuing your career of choice. At 27, you shouldn't be including your leaving cert on your CV anyway. Its almost irrelevant at this stage. When I interview candidates I would be far more focussed on their experience, communication skills and how they come across. I would run a mile from a candidate with 9 X A1's who couldn't speak well or relate to people.

Normally I'd be against working for free but I don't know how that works in accountancy. Maybe someone else here can give you advice on that.