CIMA - Job offer and career path advice

Beau

Hi,

I am currently working as an operations specialist within a multi national investment bank, I have been there five years. I have the CIMA strategic level papers to sit in November. All going to plan I will be qualified next year. Although, I will need to check what kind of experience I need to gain the qualification.

I am likely to receive an offer for a similar role with a different multi national next week. The new role would be a large increase in salary (10k+) with bonuses.

However, I am not sure if this would be the correct career move right now, my current employer has agreed to arrange some shadowing experience with some added responsibility for some small tasks with the finance department. I pushed for this as I currently do not have any accountancy experience and my excel skills would be relatively weak. I have also been told I have a good chance for promotion.

I'm not 100% sure what I want to do post qualification, but I see myself as a management accountant or getting into consultancy. I feel getting this limited exposure would greatly increase my prospects of getting a job in this field in the future.

So, do I follow the money now or sit tight and see how this shadowing goes? Would a move within the same industry hinder my chances of a career change down the line?

If I was to take the job, I was thinking that I could volunteer for my rugby club and help do their accounts, to show that I am still interested in developing my skills in this area.

Pros of moving:

• Increased salary.
• Opportunity to get good bonuses (current employer has them banned).
• Working in Dublin city centre instead of the outskirts, reducing the time and cost of my commute and increasing the craic factor of working in town near friends.
• Sounder employer and not as tight as current employer.
• Better hours (9 to 5).
• They do have accountancy roles in the new company (I applied but didn't get an interview), I could work hard for a year and gain contacts and pursue this path at a later date.
• In the new role I will need to use Excel in a more advanced way than I do now.
• No guarantee of passing immediately so moving for more money now might make sense.

Cons:

• Potentially liable for 5k study fees paid by current employer.
• Losing out on exposure to the finance department.

smcgiff

I'm not going to suggest either option, but the more pay you get in your non finance role the harder it will be for you to leave and start a career as an accountant.

Is that a bad thing? Do you enjoy what you do?

Beau

smcgiff wrote: »

Is that a bad thing? Do you enjoy what you do?

I do enjoy what I do, to an extent! It's something I find hard to explain why I enjoy it as it's not very interesting at all. I don't see myself doing this long term. I'm telling myself that for the right opportunity I would take a pay cut as I believe in the long term the salary potential would be greater, plus I'm curious to see if I would be any good at it and if I'd like it.