Bachelor of Bus. in Acc (hons) or Accounting Technician?

Pippa!

So, after beeing home raising kids for the last few years I'm about to do some retraining in order to be able to get back in the work force. All going well I should be starting the Bachelor of Business in Accounting honors degree at GMIT after the summer.

But they now offer the Accounting Technician course over 2 years, so I'm thinking, would I be better off doing the ATI qualification?

If I do ATI I'll be finished in 2 years and I'll have an actual professional qualification, will I be that much better off after finishing the degree? Which ever option I chose I'm hoping to get a job and continue getting either an ACCA or CIMA qualification part-time.
so, considering I'm a bit older (not quite 40 yet tho!) would anyone have an opinion as to which would be my best option?

(to clarify - which would be my best option jobwise - AIT or degree? )

Many thanks! :-)

Itslulu

Pippa! wrote: »

So, after beeing home raising kids for the last few years I'm about to do some retraining in order to be able to get back in the work force. All going well I should be starting the Bachelor of Business in Accounting honors degree at GMIT after the summer.

But they now offer the Accounting Technician course over 2 years, so I'm thinking, would I be better off doing the ATI qualification?

If I do ATI I'll be finished in 2 years and I'll have an actual professional qualification, will I be that much better off after finishing the degree? Which ever option I chose I'm hoping to get a job and continue getting either an ACCA or CIMA qualification part-time.
so, considering I'm a bit older (not quite 40 yet tho!) would anyone have an opinion as to which would be my best option?

(to clarify - which would be my best option jobwise - AIT or degree? )

Many thanks! :-)

I done the accounting technicians and was apply to get exemptions into 3rd year of accounting and finance degree. Just finished this year and was able to get a job last year and do my degree at night. Accounts technician is harder as it's a broader course and you have 1 set of exams which could be on anything whereas in college we had exams in jan and May and while tough we had a certain percentage built up from continuous assessment and it's only stuff we've covered in that semester

Immy

I would go with the technician. It's the qualification i would be looking for when hiring

Pippa!

Thanks for the replies!

Immy - yes, that's kind of what I was thinking, I worked as a recruiter for a good few years and I would think it easier to place someone with a ATI qualification rather than just a degree...

Arrrrh! Have to decide by Monday!!!

ruthy_2504

I was in a similar experience to you OP last year, and spoke to a local accountant who advised he would be quicker to hire someone with ATI as it is practical in terms of 2 yrs work experience and not soley theory!

It's a tough slog but hopefully worth it... As we speak I'm waiting for my first year results to be published!

Good luck!

Running Balance

As a qualified accountant working in practice for ten years who has an accounting degree definitely going the aiti route..
Practical experience makes you way more hireable.
College is more the route if you are around the early twenties and fancy wasting time and watching day time tv..

wally1990

I chose accounting technicians Ireland and was double-guessing myself but after reading the above posts I feel a bit better that maybe I've made the right choice.

Thanks all,