Career change

Liam McPoyle

Hi all.

Just looking for some advice.

Im currently working as a commercial underwriter for an insurance company but over the last few months Ive been considering my options.

Ive always had an interest in and aptidude accountancy, did well in it in school and in college it was my highest scoring subject by a good stretch. Rather than going for the accountancy stream at the end of my second year I regretfully elected to do a degree specialising in HR rather than the "harder" accountancy stream. Post graduation I worked in recruitment for a couple of years but when the recession hit that went tits up and after being unemployed for 9 months I got a job in an insurance call centre, more out of necessity than desire.

Fast forward 6 years Ive worked my way up to being an underwriter, completed the professional diploma in insurance and have gained some excellent knowledge of the industry as a whole. But Im feeling rather blah about the whole thing. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy my job to a certain extent, its interesting and challenging, but I dont really feel Im getting any satisfaction from it any longer.

Over the years I pondered trying to break into accountancy but never did. Recently I heard an ad for the ACCA exams on the radio and its piqued my interest again.

So I guess what Im asking is, what chance, if any, would I have of getting into accountancy at this stage. The problem as I see it is that as I dont have any accountancy based qualifications aside from a national cert in accountancy and computers, and Im not working in accountancy/finance.

Im 36 now so well past the "graduate" level that most companies would look for.

If I was to pursue the ACCA, how difficult would it be to actually pass the exams while not working as an accountant? How many of the exams would I realistically need to have done before any company would consider me? I dont have any illusions of working for a "big 4" or anything like that so would not be expecting the world.

One thing that I think could be of benefit is the fact that Im currently working in a heavily regulated, financial services related field and that Ive proven that I can work full time and study at the same time.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, feel free to be as brutally honest as is necessary, Im not the sensitive type so can take it!

KlausFlouride

Is there any opportunity within your existing company to move across?

Liam McPoyle

KlausFlouride wrote: »

Is there any opportunity within your existing company to move across?

I haven't made any enquiries but they announced this week that they are seeking voluntary redundancies so I would think there would be a moratorium on recruitment.