Career Change

John_D80

Apologies to forum Mods and regulars if this is in the wrong place. Feel free to relocate as nessecary.

I am considering a career change in the next few years and as I have always felt drawn to accountancy/bookeeping, I'm very keen on investigating it as an option. I always enjoyed business studies & accounting in school. They were the only subjects really that interested me enough to apply myself at all.

My current job, thankfully allows people the flexibility to explore and most importantly pursue further education so from this point of view I am very lucky.

I went for an informal chat with a girl in a nearby branch of the Pitman Training Centre. They offer a wide variety of courses in many areas. I am strongly considering their 'Book-keeping Module 1' course. Hopefully this would give me a good intro to the subject and give me a better indication whether or not this is the right path for me. From here I could go onto other modules with a view to becoming qualified as an accounting technician. The module 1 course costs approx €400 or the entire accounting technician course (4 modules I think) can be done for about €2000.

The girl I spoke to assured me that any qualifications gained through their centre are the equivalent of anything gained through a third level instituion and are also as well regarded in the employment arena. Also she assured me that they are as internationally recognised and respected as their fetac/hetac equivalent.

So basically I'm hoping that anyone in the know here might be able to confirm this for me. Are these Pitman quals really any good?

TLDR; Will qualifications earned from Pitman Training Centre's get me a job in accounting or as an accounting technician?

mad_shopaholic

I would recommend going straight into the Accounting Technicians Ireland course it is much more highly regarded and you would have a better chance of getting an accounting position I think it is also around the same cost. I took this route and got a position as an accounts administrator continued direct entry into the 3rd year of BBS in Accounting and now have a position of Accounting Manager for a multinational.

thomlin

I would second Mad_Shopaholic,

I have the Pitman Accounting Technician Diploma and also the ATI Accounting technician qualification.

I only did the Pitman one as i had to have prior experience of accounting in order to do the ATI back then and half way through the requirements changed and I had already committed myself to the Pitman one.

Pros for Pitman they are very well laid out and you learn at your own pace so you can do it as quickly or as slowly as you need to take it.

Cons some employers recognise them but not very many and you won't get any recognition by the professional bodies if you decide to go on and qualify as an accountant.

ATI pros well recognised and respected by employers and also by the professional bodies and you will get some exemptions for it if you go on to qualify. ITT Dublin allow you an exemption of the first two years of a 4 year degree once you have your ATI completed which earns you more exemptions if you go onto qualify.

ATI Cons the course is rigid in that you have to complete it in two years and can't do it faster if you wanted to also the classes are tutor led and you could end up with a useless tutor for one or more subjects (4 subjects means 4 exams in four days) so you need to choose your provider carefully.

HTH and the best of luck with your choice.

mad_shopaholic

Just with the accounting technician you can split out the subjects i.e do two in May sitting and two in August sitting I would have done this to make it more manageable for myself.

Also ATI are now also doing online classes and have online workshops and tutorials.