Cant find a job

gm1982

Hi all,

I have been looking for a job for the last 5 months and cannot get anywhere except for recruitment agencies who call you in and go through your CV and tell you the job advertised is gone and they have a job in an unrealted field.

I have a 2.1 degree in I.T and have completed 9 ACCA exams with decent marks.

I have no experience i have been working as a waiter for past 12 years. I am now 30 and have gaps in my CV.

I finished collage in 2005 and went travelling for nearly 3 years and came home and decided to do accounting i done the 9 exams in a year and then starting looking for work.

I then had an accident where I had to go through physical therapy and so lost another 20 months.

Has anyone got any advice on how to proceed.

danny29

Hi,
Since you have no experience it is probably a lot harder to secure a full time paid job.
Are you under social welfare? if you are there is a programme called Jobridge which offers unemployed people an internship to help
them gain skills and experience needed to secure a full time work in the future.

There is also a fantastic scheme set up by private internships company which provides internships for its clients.
There is a fee involved but you'll get the placement straight away. You can have a look at their website http://www.internships.ie/.
The managing director is David Walsh.

If the placement isnt your first option, you could have look at jobs.ie, irishjobs.ie and other related job sites but most of them probably need people with experience.

If you really want a job, you will have to send CV's like single day. Don't give up. There is a lot of competition in Dublin but probably less in other counties. Hope this helps. Good luck

CelticRambler

Good luck to you, but I've an accountant friend who's been told his job will evaporate when Nama have finished with the company. He's got two decades of experience and keeps being told its "the wrong kind" so be prepared for a tough slog ...

markeh

Hi,

I'm in a slightly similar situation so any advice would be greatly appreciated from anyone. From the age of 20-25 I worked for a small solicitors essentially as an assistant bookeeper, but since then I have been in China teaching for 3 years. I'm studying ACCA and will hopefully have passed up to the F5 exam when I return home this July.

I will be 29 years old, is the job market still so tight that any sort of trainee position is completely out of the question? and will teaching abroad be seen as a black mark?

I wish OP all the best!

Galego

Hi,

In my opinion, holding an ACCA (or any other accounting professional qualification) does not grantee a job in an accounting/finance department. The market is tight at the moment and employers do not just get the first person to show up in the door with an ACCA (or others) qualification. Experience is essential. Companies, more and more, want people to start the first day and work away in the new job. Many companies cannot afford to offer training or employ someone who will need one month (or less) to get up to speed.

Unless the market picks up soon, demand is higher than offer so it will not be easy for any new qualified accountant to get a "well-paid job".

RichieD1982

What are your wage expectations, where are you located?

Pawwed Rig

Hi
you could try applying through the milk rounds for a training contract in one of the Big 4/Top 20 firms. The wages would be pretty bad for a while but it is invaluable to have on your CV. Gaps in your CV are fine so long as they're explainable (although 3 years is a long time to go traveling). Some are happy to hire 'mature' entries. In the meantime could you get stuck into the ACCA professional exams?

dudara

jefferispet1

Please don't post if you don't have anything helpful to add.

dudara

reallyuseful

Hi

These are a few suggestions that might help
1. www.worklink.ie specialise in helping employers to create relevant and meaningful internships. They might be able to connect you with the right company

2. www.employability.ie will connect you with a job coach who will help you get a job and prepare for interviews etc.

3. Cork chamber skillnets offer free training places on a number of courses. These are great places to network.

Regarding the gaps in you CV. These gaps are less important now as the economic situation has created gaps for everyone. The thing is to have a reasonable explanation for the gaps.

Your qualification in accountancy is very useful, especially if you understand how organisations use financial professionals. Many F pros work in project management or other parts of the business.

Your skills as a waiter should mean that you understand customers, compliance, HACCP, reducing waste and team work. Don't dismiss this valuable experience.

last point, 75% of jobs in Ireland are never advertised, they are filled through word of mouth. Be sure that you are using your own network to identify any possible opportunities.

Good luck

gm1982

Thanks for all the replies

I am in Dublin and my wage expectations are pretty low anyway, I am registered for 2 more ACCA exams in december.

In regard to the big 4 I have sent in applications and been rejected and I called up and they said it is because they want ACA, is there a way to transfer to ACA I cant find anything on there website about ACCA.

I am going to start looking into internships more seriously now, how long do you think i will need to work as an intern the one at internship.ie seem to be a waste of time only 4 weeks and you pay nearly 1000 euro.

Pawwed Rig

Generally a degree in Accounting and Finance will be an equivalent to getting F1-F9. This will also generally give a candidate CAP1 exemptions for ACA. TBH you seem to be doing the right things wrt exams. If you can get your 5 P ACCA's you will at leat be academically qualified. You desperately need experience though.

Have you looked further afield for Big 4? Try applying in UK aswell as offshore (Jersey, Guernsey, Bermuda, Cayman etc.

Failing that contact smaller firms and ask can you give a dig out say 1 day a week just to have something relevant on your CV. Goto recruitment drives in the colleges when they come up (the info will most likely be somewhere on boards).

Ensure your CV is up to scratch and you may consider interview training if you're not experienced at that kind of thing. This sounds like wish washy advice but the interview is vital and there are techniques you can use that will make you a stronger candidate in the eyes of a company.

reallyuseful

If you are in Dublin contact Jobnet. They run workshops for professionals and it is a great networking opportunity. http://www.jobcare.ie/newsite/Jobclub/JobNet.php

There are a number of internships advertised on Jobbridge. I know it is not ideal but it might be the start you need. www.jobbridge.ie

Pauvre Con

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Generally a degree in Accounting and Finance will be an equivalent to getting F1-F9.

If only the degree gave you all 9 exemptions!

Pawwed Rig

It depends on where your degree is from. Mine gave me all 9 exemptions. I did say generally in that I understand there are some degrees that do not:o

markeh

But wouldn't those 4 places require previous experience in order to get visa/residency permits?

Pauvre Con

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

It depends on where your degree is from. Mine gave me all 9 exemptions. I did say generally in that I understand there are some degrees that do not:o

Ergh. I got just 4. But I suspect it's because I left it for to long after graduating and that the amount of exemptions are reduced as the years go by.

Pawwed Rig

Possibly but if applying for a training contract it may be possible to get a visa. For example Bermuda will always give first preference to Bermudians for Audit jobs but their is a waiver in place which allows companies to hire from abroad for tax positions and also other positions where a suitable Bermudian is not available.
No harm in applying anyway even

markeh

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Possibly but if applying for a training contract it may be possible to get a visa. For example Bermuda will always give first preference to Bermudians for Audit jobs but their is a waiver in place which allows companies to hire from abroad for tax positions and also other positions where a suitable Bermudian is not available.
No harm in applying anyway even

Thanks, my sister lives in Jersey so I know it's "complicated" at best there. No harm in trying I guess

littleredspot

I wonder are you wise to pursue your accountancy ambitions? I know your I.T. degree is not quite up to date, but might there be more jobs in that field?

Johnny_Fontane

This is very tricky. From an agency perspective, clients come to us generally because the skill set they are looking for is hard to find. This is why agencies are probably not going to help you out too much.

My advice to you would be maybe to look at IT Audit. Its an area that we find it extremely difficult to find candidates for and an area that has grown considerably in the last few years. The bigger practices (top 20)and banks generally look for people in this area. I think a good approach would be to try and find senior IT Auditors on Linkedin and maybe approach them from there. I'm fairly sure that not many people send in speculative applications to get into IT Audit.

As with all applications, make contact first by phone if possible, leaving a message or speaking to the right person. Submit your cv and then follow up after about two weeks if you havent heard. Then again in another 2-3 weeks(by email or phone) if you still havent heard. If still nothing, send them a letter referring to the day that you spoke/emailed in your cv. Basically just keep your name in their head until they say no.

First of all though, your cv would have to be very sharp. If you want to pm me, I can take a look at it and recommend some changes.

JF

gm1982 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have been looking for a job for the last 5 months and cannot get anywhere except for recruitment agencies who call you in and go through your CV and tell you the job advertised is gone and they have a job in an unrealted field.

I have a 2.1 degree in I.T and have completed 9 ACCA exams with decent marks.

I have no experience i have been working as a waiter for past 12 years. I am now 30 and have gaps in my CV.

I finished collage in 2005 and went travelling for nearly 3 years and came home and decided to do accounting i done the 9 exams in a year and then starting looking for work.

I then had an accident where I had to go through physical therapy and so lost another 20 months.

Has anyone got any advice on how to proceed.

Johnny_Fontane

Also Grad Ireland exhibition is on tomorrow at the RDS. It would definitely be worth your while going down and talking with some of the employers down there.

Make sure you have a definite focus on what it is you are looking for.

http://www.rds.ie/cat_event_detail.jsp?itemID=1099703

gm1982

Thanks for all the replies

A lot of stuff here that I can take a look at, dont want to leave dublin so the big 4 outside Ireland is a no go,

Thanks JohnnyFontane I sent you a pm

RichieD1982

gm1982 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies

I am in Dublin and my wage expectations are pretty low anyway, I am registered for 2 more ACCA exams in december.

In regard to the big 4 I have sent in applications and been rejected and I called up and they said it is because they want ACA, is there a way to transfer to ACA I cant find anything on there website about ACCA.

I am going to start looking into internships more seriously now, how long do you think i will need to work as an intern the one at internship.ie seem to be a waste of time only 4 weeks and you pay nearly 1000 euro.

Hi,

Not sure if you have found something yet but pm me, as I know we are currently looking for an accountant in work. Don't want to post a huge amount of info here by please pm me if still looking.

Regards