[aewart]

I am about to be made redundant in my present job within the scientific sector, and I am looking into a career change from science into accounting. As soon as I found out about my redundancy situation I had been applying to all kinds of science jobs until someone suggested accounting, as I am from a scientific/technical background. Now I am seriously considering it as a career move as ACA could set me up for life - job security isn't great in science and neither is the pay, hence why i'm looking into accounting.

I have 180 UCAS points (crap I know) and a 2.1 BSc Hons in Chemistry. I do not have maths A-Level and I have no prior accounting/finance experience.

I am looking into doing the CFAB (Certificate in Finance, Accounting & Business) as this could give me a bit of knowledge about the subject. I would also like to get some work experience at an accountancy firm to see if I would actually like to do accounting (would look good on the CV too), however my position is complicated slightly from where I was applying to science based jobs - I have more or less netted a fairly decent paying permanent position, and fairly local too. Not exactly two-a-penny. So I would have to turn down this job should I be offered it for something that I may end up hating after 3 months.


So:

*Can anyone offer me any insight into what accountancy is like, generally? What sort of person does it take to be a good accountant?

*Do I need to be a maths genius?

*Is it worth applying to smaller, more local accountancy firms who sponsor ACA training? Is this qualification worth the same wherever you obtain it from?

*Is CFAB worth it and am I realistically going to be able to get a training contract?

Thanks for reading,
Alex

[Kemik]

You're going to be looking at training with a smaller firm unless you can convince any of the big accounting firms HR departments that your science jobs so far make up for the A Levels (most require BBB).

Are there a range of accounting roles from management, to audit, to tax. My best advice would be read up on the different schemes available, including in industry, and see which sounds the most suited for yourself.

[aewart]

(Original post by Kemik)
You're going to be looking at training with a smaller firm unless you can convince any of the big accounting firms HR departments that your science jobs so far make up for the A Levels (most require BBB).

Are there a range of accounting roles from management, to audit, to tax. My best advice would be read up on the different schemes available, including in industry, and see which sounds the most suited for yourself.

Thought as much, I figured the big ones probably won't even consider me for an interview...do you have any insight into what it's like being an accountant?

[Kemik]

(Original post by aewart)
Thought as much, I figured the big ones probably won't even consider me for an interview...do you have any insight into what it's like being an accountant?

Like I said, there's tons of different accountants. That question is really, really broad. It's like asking "What's it like to be a scientist?"

[aewart]

(Original post by Kemik)
Like I said, there's tons of different accountants. That question is really, really broad. It's like asking "What's it like to be a scientist?"

Fair enough, I have some more research to do! What I think i'm going to do is if this science job is offered to me, i'll take it and in the meantime do the CFAB, that way I can see if I like the accounting module or not. When I pass the CFAB and if I do want to do the ACA i'll get exemption from 6 modules I'll be 25 by then so I don't think that's too late to start the ACA...

[M1011]

(Original post by aewart)
Fair enough, I have some more research to do! What I think i'm going to do is if this science job is offered to me, i'll take it and in the meantime do the CFAB, that way I can see if I like the accounting module or not. When I pass the CFAB and if I do want to do the ACA i'll get exemption from 6 modules I'll be 25 by then so I don't think that's too late to start the ACA...

Sounds like a reasonably well thought out plan. 25 is by no means to late, in fact on the Deloitte joiners Facebook page there's a thread about older joiners, and there's lots of replies from people in their late 20s to early 30s who are joining the grad scheme this year on an ACA training contract. Good luck with it.

[aewart]

(Original post by M1011)
Sounds like a reasonably well thought out plan. 25 is by no means to late, in fact on the Deloitte joiners Facebook page there's a thread about older joiners, and there's lots of replies from people in their late 20s to early 30s who are joining the grad scheme this year on an ACA training contract. Good luck with it.

That's encouraging, thanks a lot! I'm studying for CFAB now and applied to a few graduate trainee jobs as well, let's see what happens...