Career advice

Reasonably serious discussion
21

Having been someone who came out of uni and ended up in admin for a long time on not a lot of money (11k in 1998 up to 21k in 2010 when I left having gone through a few teams for same company) whilst living at parent’s (on and off) - don’t worry about it. I know easier said than done. Although if you are paying your parents that amount in rent then you could get a single room in London for that and maybe have more independence? Or apply for jobs out of London where it is cheaper - I applied for jobs all over the UK and ended up living in Newcastle for a bit. I also did work experience via Erasmus abroad one time (although on another thread that seems to be out of the window soon re brexit). I really had very little direction back then after my first degree in languages didn’t bring any work. I did some courses in travel agents stuff as a possible change. In the end I went back to uni aged 35 and now have a qualification where I could work nearly anywhere in the UK and is sought after in Canada, New Zealand and Australia if I want to try something different again. I am on a lot more money but that’s not really why I did the course as I know I won’t earn that much in this area.

I sort of agree with what Cherts and Chutney have also said.

22

Wow, how did she get to become an assistant finance manager aged just 23!?

Yeah sure - I do understand the definitional difference between CIMA and ACA - I just wondered if you had any particular further insight (not asking you to Google that for me - just wondered if you did ACA whilst your wife did CIMA or something along those lines where you had a particular scope into the comparison)

23

Mate the reality is that I’m earning so little that I can’t _do _ anything or advance in my life at all. This isn’t some Gordon Gekko status issue! I am only interested in earning more money purely for it’s instrumental value in facilitating an independent lifestyle.

24

Woops. Should clarify this - I’m not paying rent to my parents - that £700 figure is my rough estimation of the price of a single room in London (i.e - what it would cost to move out and why a 21k salary isn’t enough)

I’m extremely lucky in that sense - being able to live in London in my parents house. I don’t want people thinking I’m bitching about my circumstances or that I have things particularly hard. I’m just shit at life - i’m not hard done by in the slightest.

25

Hey, you defined yourself as a ‘screw up’, not me.

26

Ah ok! Thanks for clarifying.

I don’t think you are being shit at life. You are unfortunate enough to be living in London which is just too bloody expensive for people on less than average or even average salary. I work in Islington and see both sides of people with money and those without (the people I work with). I see older children living with parents who are working who cannot get out there cuasing overcrowding. I hope that there has to be a cut off point somewhere with rents and house prices because no one with a modest wage will be able to live here.

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27

Assistant Finance Manager is just the same as a Finance Analyst…

Nope, know people that did ACA, and missus did CIMA.

28

I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make here. I generally define myself as a lad called Matt. If I’m playing football I’ll define myself as a pacey winger. If I’m watching Saints I’ll define myself as a fan.

…but when it comes to life and a career and whatnot, I’m generally sucking at it pretty badly. There’s no denying it I’m afraid. Better to take the bull by the horns and deal with the reality as is - IMO of course.

29

Afraid I agree with TCK. You don’t seem like a screw-up to me, just frustrated at cost of living and doing a job you aren’t inspired by. Two different things actually.

I have no useful advice other than to look outside of London and think about doing something you enjoy. I have never lived in London (nor wanted to), but its easy to see its a bit of an outlier in terms of cost of living. Why stay?

30

I admire self-deprecation, MrTrampoline. Some would argue it has been an essential not-get-killed tool.

However, a bit of swagger doesn’t go amiss sometimes. I am fully aware that without the experience, that can be difficult. Got a decent grade at Uni but knew relatively fuck all until I’d done five years. You’ve already done two,.

For your specific situation, I’d advise getting your arse in gear at work and banging it out of the park for a bit. It’s a win-win. If you leave, you’ll have built up the personal industrial capacity to hit the ground running in your new job. If you’re seen to be going above and beyond, you might not have to go through the bother.

31

Originally posted by @MrTrampoline

Evening all.

First point I should probably address before anything is why I’m seeking out career advice on this forum of all places. Well, without letting it go to your heads, you all seem relatively smart and successful but nontheless, down-to-earth and fairly friendly for the most part. On the other side of the coin you’re pretty straight-talking and direct, and that suits me just fine.

So, for the most part I suck at life pretty badly.

I’ve just turned 26, I’m living at home with parents, and earning a measly £21k in London, which amounts to about £1400 per month (which after ~700 for rent + bill and another -146 for a zone 1-3 travelcard leaves about 550 quid p/m before even the essentials of food/shavers & shower stuff/phone and whatnot) - so I think it’s fair to say that I can’t even afford my own independence at this stage.

Anyway, quick backstory - I graduated from Southampton in 2012 with a 2:1 in Philosophy - since then my CV has looked like this:

Jul 12- Sep 12: Languages teacher/tour guide (summer job I did between years at uni and for one more summer after)

Jan 13 - Mar 13: Short stint as a content editor for a very small construction conference company (literally like 4-5 people) (£18k pro-rata)

Apr 13- Nov 13: Call-centre work & a bit of building/roofing on the side for a family friend (about £9p/h)

Feb 14 - Aug 15: Journalist/Newsletter editor for a crummy company that has since fired & outsourced all its staff (£17k)

Aug 15 - present: Financial journalist for media company in London (£20k rising to £21k after 6 months)

Essentially I quickly got into the no-job-because-no-experience cycle after university. Ended up getting too comfortable living at home and working for pocket money in the call-centre and needed to get a decent stint at what looked like a ‘proper company’ on my CV for a significant amont of time before I could move on - which I did so last year. Unfortunately the company that I’m at pays very poorly (although journalism in general is a bit of a dying industry) and I don’t really see much of a future for me (it goes up to £22.5k after a year, then £23.5k after 18 months and finally £25k after 2 years if you hit your hard-ish to attain targets).

Now happily enough, the work experience that I have got under my belt (plus the exposure to the world of financial services), coupled with the fact that I know what I want to do career-wise (get an accountancy qualification - either CIMA or ACA) has put me in a slightly better position than I have been previously. I’ve applied to PwC’s graduate scheme and after the initial application, the online tests and finally the telephone interview, I’m through to the assessment day. However, there is obviously a very decent chance that I won’t make it through. (If I did get the PwC job then literally all my woes and problems are basically instantly solved - would happily go into the ring with Conor McGregor for 3 minutes and fellate a crocodile if it would guarantee me an offer)

Anyway, should I fail, I’ll nevertheless keep applying to similar positions/graduate schemes because, hey, that’s my aim. I really am not hugely fussed about how much I earn, how hard I have to work or how exciting the work is - I just want to earn enough to build some kind of a life for myself and y’know, not be a total screw-up.

Anyway, a little opportunity has come up at a company that I applied for as a bit of a backup called Preqin, unfortunately, as you can see from the glassdoor reviews, it sounds like it sucks pretty bad. However, the pay is £24k (with a £2k bonus) and as I say, I don’t see a future at my current employer. Nevertheless, Preqin would be just as much of a stepping stone and I’d literally be coming home to apply for jobs on day 1 anyway.

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Preqin-Reviews-E399026.htm

So I guess my question is whether I should go for it, or stick with my current employer given that wherever I’m working will represent a stepping stone either way.

I applied for the EY, KPMG and Deloitte grad schemes in London (not PwC as everyone I know working there hates it and the work life balance is shite) and got offers from EY (where I work from next week) and Deloitte and got to the final interview for KPMG before withdrawing (it was my third choice so cba to do the interview).

I’d be happy to email you some of the stuff I used that helped me to get the job and some of the stuff I wrote down for interview prep, my 5 minute presentation for the partner interview etc.

Also, if you’ve got any questions about the process in general or the sort of interview questions I was asked I’ll be happy to help if I can :slight_smile:

p.s I’m doing Financial Services - Assurance so would primarily be useful for that. EY are the only ones to do ICAS rather than ICAEW so exam structure is slightly different and you’re a CA rather than an ACA at the end but can advise on that too

p.p.s Once you’re through to the Assessment Centre about 60% have already failed so the ball is very much in your court!

32

Well done jxgr. I worked at EY for 20 years, starting in the regions and doing the last 12 years in London, though I always commuted from outside. I left in 2010 and it was not my best decision. Sometimes it takes leaving to realise just how good the environment / experience is. Since leaving EY has grown (just in the UK) by about 45%. What tough market?

Tramp, my experience was always in Insolvency / Restructuring, not the audit side, and relatively unusually I did not train as an accountant. EY did put me through the (very tough) Insolvency qualifications though. Good luck with the applications. I did a lot of recruitment while at EY. My advice is research - once you are confident in what you have to offer / why you want to be there, be impressive in what you know about PwC (or whoever) and the issues they are facing in the market. Always amazing how few people know any more than a couple of tiny things they have found on the website.

33

As for Tube Driver, go on the mainline as a cleaner or platform and work your way up, the demand is too high to go right in, don’t let money blind you happiness is far more important.

The happiest person I ever met was a girl who had a degree but dedicated her life basically to animal rescues and rights, a brilliant person and one of the best people I have ever met my life and she hasn’t got a pot to piss in and couldn’t care less about careers or money.

Fast tracking wont happen unless you’re a mason, in a family business or exceptionally good.

Best of luck.

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34

Originally posted by @Barry-Sanchez

As for Tube Driver, go on the mainline as a cleaner or platform and work your way up, the demand is too high to go right in, don’t let money blind you happiness is far more important. The happiest person I ever met was a girl who had a degree but dedicated her life basically to animal rescues and rights, a brilliant person and one of the best people I have ever met my life and she hasn’t got a pot to piss in and couldn’t care less about careers or money. Fast tracking wont happen unless you’re a mason, in a family business or exceptionally good. Best of luck.

Can’t agree with that.

35

Cherts disagreeing with Barry shocker…

36

Well it’s bollocks isn’t it? You’re saying no one has ever done well without connections or being exceptional. That’s just pure bullshit.

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37

I’m ACCA qualified which I did in practice at a regional firm.

My view of the qualification is this:

ACA if you want to be in practice

CIMA if you want to be in industry

ACCA gives you a bit of both and has a very strong international recognition

Cipfa if you want to go into public sector

For me, being in practice bored me shitless. Auditing was just awful, although I guttted it out for 5 years whilst going through my exams (AAT and ACCA). However it really is horses for courses. Some people love it, I guess it just depends on how you are wired.

I am more comfortable in industry where the role is more varied (SME sector). Not sure I would have survived / thrived in a blue chip due to an unfortunate habit of saying what I really think too many times and a lack of patience to play the political game.

The real up side of a financial qualification is a good grounding in understanding financials which will always stand you in good stead whatever you may end up doing.

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38

If you are serious about accountancy, have a look at the second tier and the larger regionals - the application process will not be as berserk and they tend to be slightly less cut throat

There is your application list :lou_wink:

39

Exactly this. Don’t go in at blue chip level, they initially pay shit and will drop you like it’s hot if you’re not making the grade.

40

Accountancy? fuck he wants to be happy for FFS - I mean this is what accountants look like…

Image result for dodgy accountants

NB. I google dodgy accountantans and this came up - no shit! :lou_lol:

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