Advice for a graduate looking to become an accountant?

Random_Fate

Hi all,

I know threads like this are ten-a-penny, but I would like your advice all the same. I am an unemployed graduate, having completed a B.Comm degree and an Economics/Finance Masters. The area of accountancy never really interested me before now, but lack of opportunities led me to research the area, and I think I'd really like to pursue the exams and gain an accountancy qualification.

Finding a trainee accountant role would seem to be quite difficult, and I would love to know any tips or advice that people have to get my foot in the door and get a contract somewhere. Also, as I'm debt and commitment-free, I'm open to doing my training abroad too, if this would be easier/more beneficial?

I'm kicking myself that I didn't pursue this route in the beginning, but I'm a hard worker and I really think I could enjoy a career in the area if I get a chance. I'm willing to travel if necessary (how could it not be in this climate, I'm in Galway!) and would like to hear of any options or alternatives that people might be able to suggest.

I'm aware that plenty of better qualified people are in my position at the moment too, and I'd really like to know if there's anything I can do to help get me into a trainee position!

Thanks guys.

seven-iron

Register with one of the bodies and start your studies because your not going to get a position as you are.

Keep sending out CV's. After that send out some more.

luapenak

seven-iron wrote: »

Register with one of the bodies and start your studies because your not going to get a position as you are.

Keep sending out CV's. After that send out some more.

What he said except there's no need to be completely negative. An accountancy background is not a must. The business background will be helpful.

Keep an eye on the the careers sections of the institutes websites for vacancies http://www.charteredaccountants.ie/General/About-Us/Chartered-Accountancy/Becoming-a-CA/Training-Vacancies/

I don't know about the other bodies but on the CA website you can find a list of training firms. Just start ploughing through that sending out CV's http://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Training-Firms-by-County

aka accounts 2010

Do some research in relation to the accountancy bodies and your ability to claim possible exemptions due to your degree and masters qualification.

If you can get exemptions approved it will make you much more appealing to potential employers as it will not cost them as much in relation to the amount of exams that you will need to do.

I followed the above steps and got my training contract so I would reccommend it.

Random_Fate

Thanks for all your advice so far. I looked into exemptions and I would be exempt for the F1, F2 and F4 exams. I know that isn't much compared with the accountancy grads but I guess it is a start, right?

I'm off to trawl those websites for anything of relevance!

aka accounts 2010

Its a good starting point at least.All you can do is gather all your results and see which body offers you the most exemptions.

Then you must decide what body will best work for you in relation to doing exams without actually working in practice. Some bodies are better regarding this point. At least then you can progress although your not currently in practice/industry and can work up the ladder.

premier10

If you do decide to travel abroad for work, I'd recommend to you study ACCA, it's an international accountancy body plus if you decide to move back to ireland in a few years time all you will have to do is complete the irish variant of tax exam to be fully recognised.

From my experience it does seem to be the most flexible if you do intend on going abroad for work,

Best of luck anyway

EDudder

Could someone explain to me why he isn't well placed to get a training contract as he is?

As far as i can see hes perfectly placed to get a graduate trainee position. You in no way have to have an accounting specific degree. The big 4 will take people on with geography degrees etc as long as their application and interview are good.

Hackysack

Yeah i'm surprised no one else has recommended the graduate training contract route.

And i'm guessing the milkrounds are going on as well. Definitely apply to the big 4 (KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and the other not as big firms (Mazars, BDO Simpson Xavier etc.) and try to get in on their graduate recruitment campaign. It'll be tough this time, but it's definitely not impossible.

If you're successful in getting the job, you'll have your training contract for approx. 3.5 years and additionally, they'll pay for you to sit your exams and provide study leave. As far as I know (someone correct me if i'm wrong), if you're going the regular audit/tax trainee route, all of the above insist on you working for your ACA qualification, so I doubt the exemptions you listed will continue to apply...

But anyway, i'd seriously recommend looking into it and spending the time on the application forms (and an additional tip - if you are doing it, ALWAYS keep a record of whatever you put up for each firm. They refer to what you've written a lot in the interviews).

Good luck!

seven-iron

luapenak wrote: »

What he said except there's no need to be completely negative. An accountancy background is not a must. The business background will be helpful.

Keep an eye on the the careers sections of the institutes websites for vacancies http://www.charteredaccountants.ie/General/About-Us/Chartered-Accountancy/Becoming-a-CA/Training-Vacancies/

I don't know about the other bodies but on the CA website you can find a list of training firms. Just start ploughing through that sending out CV's http://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Training-Firms-by-County

Its not negativity, its reality.

Random_Fate

Thanks for all the advice guys. Checking out the Big 4 and more, off to unearth my exam results for the application forms!

r.dunne7

Hey Random Fate

I dont want to be discouraging or anything, but the reason accountacy didnt appeal to you much is because you are not intered in accountancy, you were more attracted to economics and finance which in my opinion is far more intresting.

Accountancy especially audit with a big 4 firm is very soul destroying, coupled with the really hard exams and your in for an awful 3.5 yrs of your life, doing something you proberly will want to leave when you qualify.

You have a b comm and a masters aswell, there both good qualficaitons , that can be used elsewhere and in differnet fields. albeit it is obviously harder to break into those careers than accountancy. But given the economic climate that we are in, accountancy is going to be difficult to break into aswell.

The years of 50k after qualifcation, walking into FC jobs are a thing of the past. So what your left with is a qualifcation that is hard to get, and its obvious your not intrested in the filed otherwise you would of picked it.

There is no golden goose, there is not pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.. I would advise you to take a MBTI test, personaitly test to see waht jobs amy suit your personailty type.

If the test mathc your carer as an accountant then amybe jsut amybe you should go into the field.

I wouldnt go into this lightly, ... im sorry for sounding negative but, im just telling it as it is.......

Its an over crowded market and if you dont get big 4 or first time passes that FC job that pays well is going to be toguht to obtain!

After your contract you mgiht jsut come to realise that , u have very little intrest in debits and credits and accounts in general, and will want to do something else , youll look back and curse the day you decided to go into accountancy.

Youll think waht the feck was all that hardship and crap for.....

scouser82

r.dunne7 wrote: »

Hey Random Fate

I dont want to be discouraging or anything, but the reason accountacy didnt appeal to you much is because you are not intered in accountancy, you were more attracted to economics and finance which in my opinion is far more intresting.

Accountancy especially audit with a big 4 firm is very soul destroying, coupled with the really hard exams and your in for an awful 3.5 yrs of your life, doing something you proberly will want to leave when you qualify.

You have a b comm and a masters aswell, there both good qualficaitons , that can be used elsewhere and in differnet fields. albeit it is obviously harder to break into those careers than accountancy. But given the economic climate that we are in, accountancy is going to be difficult to break into aswell.

The years of 50k after qualifcation, walking into FC jobs are a thing of the past. So what your left with is a qualifcation that is hard to get, and its obvious your not intrested in the filed otherwise you would of picked it.

There is no golden goose, there is not pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.. I would advise you to take a MBTI test, personaitly test to see waht jobs amy suit your personailty type.

If the test mathc your carer as an accountant then amybe jsut amybe you should go into the field.

I wouldnt go into this lightly, ... im sorry for sounding negative but, im just telling it as it is.......

Its an over crowded market and if you dont get big 4 or first time passes that FC job that pays well is going to be toguht to obtain!

After your contract you mgiht jsut come to realise that , u have very little intrest in debits and credits and accounts in general, and will want to do something else , youll look back and curse the day you decided to go into accountancy.

Youll think waht the feck was all that hardship and crap for.....

Poor spelling and grammar aside the man actually has a point (for once!). If you do not have an interest in accountancy DO NOT JOIN! Too many people (myself included) enter despite not having any interest whatsoever in the field and end up regretting the day they put pen to paper.

Being honest Big 4 Auditing is a horrible existance, and unless you actually think you will have an interest in it then I would avoid like the plague.

The exams are no gimme either. The days of `when I qualify`are gone. There is no guarantee that you, or any particular person will ever qualify under the new system. You could take 4 attempts to get through the CAP 2´s they are that rough, and then the new FAE´s...... These exams are not a case oif work hard and you will be rewarded. You could study for months and still get screwed over on the day. And the Big 4 tend to fire people who fail at the 2nd attempt for CAP 1 and CAP 2. There really is no guarantee that you will makle it out the other side.

r.dunne7

scouser82 wrote: »

Poor spelling and grammar aside the man actually has a point (for once!). If you do not have an interest in accountancy DO NOT JOIN! Too many people (myself included) enter despite not having any interest whatsoever in the field and end up regretting the day they put pen to paper.

Being honest Big 4 Auditing is a horrible existance, and unless you actually think you will have an interest in it then I would avoid like the plague.

The exams are no gimme either. The days of `when I qualify`are gone. There is no guarantee that you, or any particular person will ever qualify under the new system. You could take 4 attempts to get through the CAP 2´s they are that rough, and then the new FAE´s...... These exams are not a case oif work hard and you will be rewarded. You could study for months and still get screwed over on the day. And the Big 4 tend to fire people who fail at the 2nd attempt for CAP 1 and CAP 2. There really is no guarantee that you will makle it out the other side.

My spelling and grammer are poor becasue i jsut type it once and dont bother checking my spelling at all..... After all people get the jist of waht im saying anyway... so no need to worry

A lot of people will come on this foruma dn berate me for being negative and discourgaing people but i think i tell, the truth, accountancy is actually quite a boring job, what they tell u in the brochures sounds great but to be honest, audit is like watching paint dry, unless your very detailed and like ticking and bashing and finding numbers on a list, i think audit is not for you.

It amkes sense that you obvisouly picked fiance or waht ever in your b comm becasue accountancy didint appeal to you, that was your intial gut reaction so i would stick to it, no point in going into something you will most likely dislike or find ok at best.

I know a lot of people who have gone into your situation and regretted it,

Ask yourself what you really like about accountancy?
Take the money and the job security out of it and ask yourself , i fi was getting paid 20k a year would i enjoy this job.
What actaully tasks will i be doing as an accountant?
Am i detailed orientated and do i enjoy repetitive tasks?
Why didnt i pick accountancy in my B comm or do a masters in accountancy?
I think u will only learn about waht you truly enjoy by asking yourself these ahrd questions instead of adopting a follwoing the herd mentallity?

What i have gathered so far from your psots is that , u are not intrested in it but think its a good secure qualifcation, and also since u cant find any other job ur going to look into accoutancy.

Thess are big no no and there is a highe than average chance that you will regret the day when you join, becaue once you sign up and start doing the exams, its very hard to leave half way becasue you ahve committed yourself both emotionally and finacailly to the situation.

Ull have no choice but to finish it...

Random_Fate

Thanks for taking the time to write those really big replies!

I'm considering all my options at present. Yes, I avoided accountancy before because I wasn't really into it and preferred other subjects. But, as someone who's out of work for over a year, having a weekly wage and a secure job would mean a lot. Perhaps a few years ago it would've been easier to branch out and do something I really find interesting (I'm not sure what that would be though!) but at this stage I need to move out of home and get a life basically!

Obviously, I've been thinking of going abroad, but without foreign contacts or the spare money, this is tough. I couldn't afford to go and end up with no work somewhere else. It's the whole risk/reward thing I guess though.

As it stands, I would imagine that people that majored in accountancy, as well as the many accounting masters students, would be a far better choice for the Big 4 and the other practices/firms. It does seem like it would be very, very difficult to break into the area, especially as my degree would be getting a little 'stale' in comparison to the fresh grads that graduated this summer. Plus they would have much more exemptions, and it makes sense to pick those people over me.

If anyone knows how to find a job, let me know! :P

seven-iron

If anyone knows how to find a job, let me know!

I am not sure why previous posters are giving advice retrospectively. Ignore it.

I have anecdotal evidence and contacts who are partners and directors in small practice that tell me one is far more likely to get a job if registered to sit exams.

So I repeat...

Register with one of the bodies and start your studies because your not going to get a position as you are.

Keep sending out CV's. After that send out some more.

This is the last time I'm posting. No point in having a discussion about it from both mine and (especially) your perspective.

CaptainOats

seven-iron wrote:

"Register with one of the bodies and start your studies because your not going to get a position as you are. "

I totally disagree, you're as good a candidate to get a job at this point as any other. You don't need to have an accounting background to get a job in accounting.

The milkrounds will be going on over the next month or two so there is absolutely no harm in applying, it will be good form-filling and interview experience if nothing else.

And... if you are unsure as of yet whether you would like to work in accounting I recommend that you contact the Big4. If you are interested in the bigger firms you should think about trying to get an internship or some work experience. Even if it is only for a month or two it will give you an idea of the work environment and whether or not it will be right for you. It is a gruelling 3.5 years so I wouldn't enter into it lightly but I do think that you have just as good a chance of getting a job as anyone else.

scouser82

Random_Fate wrote: »

If anyone knows how to find a job, let me know! :P

Go to Korea or Japan for a year or two and teach English. Anybody I have met who has done it has nothing but good things to say about it. You would learn a lot of life skills and earn decent money in the process (probably better than what you would earn in Big 4 Audit). It would look good on the CV and it would give you time to figure out what you want to do and when you come back the economy hopefully will be in better order. Just a thought.

thisguy

hey OP, if you dont't have an accounting background i'd advise you to apply to the bigger accountancy firms, as they tend to take on people with a wide variety of degrees. I have just started a training contract myself, and there are quite a few starting with me who have no exemptions and little or no background in accountancy, so it shouldn't hold you back.

r.dunne7

hi

Randome fate, i think you have jsut as good an oppurtunity as any other to secure a training contract given you have a masters and a b comm.

The bulk of my message is that you dont want to go into accountancy lightly, as it is a stressful 3.5 yrs and exams are very tough aswell.

I honestly think you have to broaden your career search and look outside the box, dont be like the majoirty of irish people ( either law or accountancy) , you can see how screwed up the law graduates are.

There are a lot of oppurtunity, tefl teaching in japan and china sounds really good. Its a lot of fun and good, good for developing skills, and pays quite well . Im sure that a more attractive alternative than accountancy.

It really seems like you dont know what to do in life , am i right in my assumption,

I think the best thing you should do given your current circumstance is consult some career guidance and do some personailty test, skills test , to see what kind of area would suit you.

You really have to know yourself first before, you can find a role that will suit you.

There has been a lot of research done , and there seems to be a lot of people who dont like their jobs.., that could happen with yourself.... !

Hope this post has helped you.....