Masters

cson

Has anyone any experience of doing an accountancy masters? Its a route I'm considering at the moment, though it need not be strictly accounting; business management and structuring would also be in the field I'm looking to go into [Consulting]. My basic questions are [a] Difficulty Relevance [c] Value of the masters in terms of furthering & improving job prospects [d] Usefulness overall.

Cheers

dlocko

If you want to do a masters in September, I seriously advice you to submit an application as soon as possible, most places in big universities will be gone before the deadline.

If you do a master in accountancy, depending on where you go, you will get an exemption from CAP2 (ICAI). It also means in your first year in a firm you will have no exams and can just focus on learning the job at hand.

Sinemo

I'm planning to do a masters in accounting from September. What I have found (from talking to accountancy firms) is that there is no such advantage of doing a masters (apart from personal skills/knowledge advancement). It may be easier however to get the CAP2 exemptions, as you wouldn't be working full time during the day. When it comes to applying to firms in the milk round, jobs/interviews are based on a wide variety of things with academic achievements only being a fraction of them. It will also result in a three year contract in firms rather them a three and an half year training contract if you have a masters. It should be noted that may firms will terminate contracts if students fail any of their exams (before I think they would be given two goes at them?) so it may be less stressful to go the masters route from that aspect...
Many of the masters are done provisionally on a first come first served (pending exam results).

dlocko

The fact that you have a masters seriously improves your chances of getting an interview

Ghost.

In my experience I havent seen any great benefit to getting a masters. It will get you an exemption from CAP2 (ICAI). But no extra exemption from ACCA, you would still have to sit the same number papers.

It would only be of benefit if you dont plan on going any further with your studies. If you plan on doing ACCA it isnt of benefit. Just go for the exams. If you do ICAI it gets you extra exemptions so I would be an easier option than sitting CAP2.

As for getting a job, prior to getting fully qualified it MAY give you an small advantage. In most cases I dont think so, but then the way the job market is at the moment every little helps. But once you become a qualifed accountant it wont make any difference if you have a masters or not.

Everyone will have a different opinion on the value of a masters in accountancy, thats just mine.

An Citeog

cson wrote: »

Has anyone any experience of doing an accountancy masters? Its a route I'm considering at the moment, though it need not be strictly accounting; business management and structuring would also be in the field I'm looking to go into [Consulting]. My basic questions are [a] Difficulty Relevance [c] Value of the masters in terms of furthering & improving job prospects [d] Usefulness overall.

Cheers

Do you have an exemption from CAP1 already or will you if you're in final year of your undergrad? If not, you wont be eligible to do a masters in accounting.

cson

Thanks for all the replies.

Yeah I'll have the CAP1 exemption hopefully when I graduate next year. Its the ACA route I'm leaning towards and I'm thinking in terms of doing a masters because it'll give me another year before I have to go to the jobs market [which will have picked up a bit more than it is now I'm hoping]. In theory I only lose 0.5 of a year on people who decide to go straight into the training contract as I think its only 3 yrs with a Masters versus 3.5 without.

R0N BURGUNDY

a masters is pointless. its all about practical experience. degrees/masters are only a means of separating people and getting rid of those who are incapable. so if u have a degree, it would be better use of your time to get to it and start working. granted it does buy some more exemptions but sure u forget all the crap u learn at uni by the time ur working. if ur working and studying, u will probably keep it in your brain far better. thats what i reckon anyway

Cookie_Monster

IMO a professional qualification would be much more valuable than a masters. if you did an accounting degree you may well have many exemptions from the prof exams anyway so could complete them in a short space of time rather than doing a masters then doing the prof exams

defiantshrimp

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

IMO a professional qualification would be much more valuable than a masters. if you did an accounting degree you may well have many exemptions from the prof exams anyway so could complete them in a short space of time rather than doing a masters then doing the prof exams

Yeah, for the ACA anyway it always takes longer to go the masters route. They knock six months off your training contract buy you spend the guts of a year doing a masters and thesis. Plus you get less study leave because you have fewer exams to do.

jonnybravo

I did the Masters in DCU and found it to be a tough year. Glad I did it thought as I'd prefer to do one year of a Masters than 6 months in Audit.

Qualifications wise - IMO any additional qualification will enhance anyones CV

I didn't have a job when I started my Masters but I got one easy enough in the Milk Rounds so firms must place some value in doing a Masters

Sinemo

jonnybravo wrote: »

I didn't have a job when I started my Masters but I got one easy enough in the Milk Rounds so firms must place some value in doing a Masters

So just to clarify (sorry I'm still a bit sleepy!) you went through the milk round applications before the masters and got nothing?

086dubdublin

I did a masters last year and I defo prefered doing that than doing it through a contract!

Its gives you another year in college and I didnt mind that as my undergrad degree was only 3 years. Also you have your own time to study aswell without having to work full time! It is a tough year, much harder than my undergrad final year but if you start going over everything on a regular basis you'll be fine!

I hav to say also it really did give me a few other advantages...the thesis for one, isn't a huge thesis so its easily managable but as I never had to do anything like that on my undergrad it has given me something else to add to my CV. I did group assignments, presentations and group presentations for the first time aswell throughout my masters course!

MCannon

The way I see it is that accounting firms are a lot more interested in your work experience as opposed to qualifications. While the masters may bulk up your CV (and of course if you are up against an undergraduate you will look more employable), most firms would prefer to hire someone with 2 years experience then someone with a 2 year masters qualification.

defiantshrimp

While in general I'd say a master might be a good thing to have, the masters in accounting is a peculiar animal. It doesn't cover anything you don't cover in your training contract, thesis aside (though you can do one of those at undergrad if you want).

I will go so far as to say that there is no employer who is looking for a Big 4 accountant would care if they had the masters or not. They have the same qualification. Now the masters may suit people, particularly those who have done a three year degree. But I'd choose it for personal rather than work reasons. It's not going to give you a career advantage, unless you can't juggle working and studying, in which case you'll struggle with FAEs anyway.

censuspro

As someone who didn't do as Masters, I would recommend that you do a Masters and the Chartered exams. Previous posters outlined the value of work experience which is true. However, on the balance of probability your career as an accountant will span over 30 years, which means you have loads of time to get experience, and as the older you get the harder it will be to do a Masters. In 10 years time when you're pitching for a senior position, an extra years work experience when you were 22 won't mean Jack. When the jobs market is tight, thats when people should touch up on their qualifications.

kellyj77

Hi im currently in my final year of BESS in Trinity. I have definitely decided i want to go down the accounting route. I have consistently done accounting modules throughout. However the one problem is that we dont obtain CAP1s. I unfortunately missed the milk rounds due to family circumstances. However now i am trying to decide whether to wait around for the next set of milk rounds or try enter into a postgrad such as a professional diploma in accounting eg in DCU as most MSc require CAP1S. Would doing such a post grad be a waste of time. Also would it look bad if in the next set of milk rounds if i hadn't done a post grad since leaving in may?

jonnybravo

Sinemo wrote: »

So just to clarify (sorry I'm still a bit sleepy!) you went through the milk round applications before the masters and got nothing?

Yeah - happened to a few ppl in my Masters that didn't get the big four in their degree milk rounds but got them during the Masters

the long lad

the majority of people who are doing the masters in ucd this year had jobs at the start, but almost all who didn't have a job at the start of the year, do now. the masters is in no way beneficial in the long term, but in terms of getting a graduate position it seems to be very important. i know that the big 4 are taking less and less people straight from their degree but they are sponsoring the masters so that helps. there seems to be very little recruitment by smaller firms at the moment so its a route worth considering. dont over-estimate its value, but at the same time recognise that it might get you a good graduate position.

LightningBolt

I found the masters to be only beneficial for the exemptions which I could have easily gotten whilst working had I opted for it. In hindsight I'd have foregone the masters and just gone into contract. Actually, I'd have stayed away all together:)

The real positive the masters has for some people in my place is that allows them to go on and do some of the cfa exams during their contract if they want to. Admittedly it's only a small number of people who choose to do so but it is worth bearing in mind if it's something you'd like to explore because chances are you ain't going to want to stick around in audit after 3/3.5yrs!