Paying for Work Experience???

Hey guys,

I happened to come across this firm that offers work experience but you have to pay for it.

One of my friends said that they went through with it and is now working at an accounting firm in central london, completely changed his life he said i should definitely consider it.

Lots of recruitment agencies are now saying your qualifications are not enough anymore without any relevant experience. Now i know i didn't get the best a levels but i did get a 1st class at uni in Accounting & Finance.

Not everyone can get into the BIG 4 firms so top 100 is probably good enough for me, I just don't want to be stuck doing sales/customer service anymore nor do i want to do grunt work for free at a small firm, working long hours with no pay.

1) Do you think investing in yourself through training is beneficial?
2) The theory you learn at university, does it apply in the working environment? I mean I paid £9000 for 3 years, was it really worth it?

1) I think it can be beneficial but be very careful if you go down this route. Some companies are scams and some don't offer the training you thought you would get, but it would be too late as they already have their hands on your money. I think the better way is to contact legit companies in your desired field and ask them for work experience. Having a real company's name on your CV will demonstrate that it took you more effort to land the placement and looks far more impressive than training that you paid for (employers can check this). Another advantage is that you can make professional contacts which will be more useful for job hunting.

2) What you learn at university is useful if you are looking for a career directly related to it. However, it isn't everything. Whilst working, you will need to combine what you learnt with practical experience. Working in real-life situations with real people. Going to university will help you, but you have to work hard to implement the theory independently.