Accounting career - post degree with 3rd

I wrote a big post answering all your questions but it went into "review" and now i got a message that the staff team have declined it. I have no idea why, or even how to contact staff here. Edit: i've made a thread in the ask staff section and waiting for a response on why it was removed. Took me a good while to write it so i think best to just wait and hope they don't revoke it.



I mean that how is someone suppose to get accounting experience if all the jobs require experience? you can't get experience if the jobs require it? Apprenticeship is not osmething i want to do, it's for people who are coming out of college and usually the apprenticeships require A-levels, it's not the best route because of a few reasons, mainly i need to get relevant job experience and pay for exams so i can self-study as i take it that university route of completing ACCA exams are not available to me.

I mean that how is someone suppose to get accounting experience if all the jobs require experience? you can't get experience if the jobs require it? Apprenticeship is not osmething i want to do, it's for people who are coming out of college and usually the apprenticeships require A-levels, it's not the best route because of a few reasons, mainly i need to get relevant job experience and pay for exams so i can self-study as i take it that university route of completing ACCA exams are not available to me.

Every single person working in accounts got a job without experience.


you can't get experience if the jobs require it?

If they require it - you won't get the job. Others will not take that view.


Apprenticeship is not osmething i want to do, it's for people who are coming out of college and usually the apprenticeships require A-levels,

Apprenticeship is a generic word. Its also a term used where government regulations concerning pay rates and funding mechanisms apply. I recently looking into an apprenticeship for someone with a masters degree for example.

It doesn't matter if some apprenticeship are for people coming out of A-level ( many entry level jobs are open for people without a degree). Right now your biggest problem is that you have no experience at all, so you're a huge risk for company to take in and will be costly to them to train you from scratch until you're competent enough for the job, which they don't want to do. Many apprenticeship are open to graduates, and pay similar rates to other graduate jobs advertised. As Ajj2000 mention, its a pretty generic word (the same with some graduate jobs which are apprenticeships, e.g. bbc internal audit apprenticeship for graduate which is 21k per year, although its very low to the market average, salary increase rapidly after 2yrs).

Every job require some form of experience yes. My whole point earlier is that you can find an admin or data entry jobs that are willing to take you on regardless of lack experience, as its very easy to pick up and doesn't require much training at all. You must have some form of experience, for example research and reporting skills learnt from a dissertation, and since you have done an accounting degree, it is likely that you already have some basic financial and accounting knowledge (regardless of your degree classification). It's a matter of selling yourself at this point to convince them you are competent.

21k may be low but i've seen trainee accountant jobs at 15k-18k on reed website but they're willing to take you on with no prior experience and support through ACCA.

I’d honestly say take it, it’s a good starting position and honestly in the long run low wages for a few years is rather meaningless. However the long term gain is large as you get your foot in the door of the accounting industry

21k may be low but i've seen trainee accountant jobs at 15k-18k on reed website but they're willing to take you on with no prior experience and support through ACCA.

Upon further checking i've found two more ads that are 22-27k and 25-27k, requirements are
AAT or Degree qualification
• Experience is not required but recommended
• Confident in building strong relationships
• Diligent but efficient working practices
and the other job is similar too
AAT qualified or Degree in Finance, Accountancy or Business Administration (Desirable)
No experience necessary as training will be provided.
Good numerical skills and attention to detail
Fluent in English
Soft skills:

High regard for confidentiality
Work ethics
Problem solving and troubleshooting skills
Well organised
Strong team player

So these seem better in regards to pay than the previous one i found and there doesn't seem to be anymore on reed, i will have to take a look at other sites but so far these two seem promising but i know a lot of people have probably applied with better qualifications than me, even though it states no experience is required but recommended, etc.

I’d honestly say take it, it’s a good starting position and honestly in the long run low wages for a few years is rather meaningless. However the long term gain is large as you get your foot in the door of the accounting industry

I've made a big post above, don't know if you've read it or not, it was declined at first but has reappeared. I have taken a look at some sites that offer accounting jobs near me. someone mentioned to check out reed and i did and came across a few jobs near me that are:
Training/Experience:

No experience required full training will be provided

Role includes Study support for AAT/ACCA

You will need excellent communication and IT skills

So these are ideal since i need to complete my ACCA exams and get my professional qualifications before i move further and doing this job will give me relevant job experience and they will apparently support me through the ACCA exams. I do have excellent IT skills but average communication skills but i'm sure i can make it work, not sure what they have in mind though. I will also take a look at the other sites mentioned alongside reed to see if there are any better paying jobs as this one is 15k-18k which is quite low, even for trainee. Any thoughts on this and the above post i made in response to all your questions. Thanks.

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So these are ideal since i need to complete my ACCA exams and get my professional qualifications before i move further and doing this job will give me relevant job experience and they will apparently support me through the ACCA exams. I do have excellent IT skills but average communication skills but i'm sure i can make it work, not sure what they have in mind though. I will also take a look at the other sites mentioned alongside reed to see if there are any better paying jobs as this one is 15k-18k which is quite low, even for trainee. Any thoughts on this and the above post i made in response to all your questions. Thanks.

Not sure what more you want us to tell you tbh. If I was in your position I'd take the low salary even if it's just for 2-3yrs, save enough money and then after being qualified change jobs to a far much higher salary (£40k+for newly qualified accountant).

Sure it may suck to earn such low salary compared to others, but it's only temporary and it's the experience and qualifications that counts.

My advice is apply for all of them, it gives you the interview experience you need to succeed in the long run. See what job offers you get then think it through afterwards I would say. I applied to quite a lot of jobs I had less interest in and they provided good interview experience.

(Original post by Octa122)

Most people i know graduate and then continue to do their ACCA exams through the university as it's easier due to the assistance the lecturers are giving to you all along the way until you sit the exams at the ACCA exam centre. It's usually recommended to get some experience in an accounting job whilst studying for the degree but of-course i wasn't able to do as much. I haven't taken an exact look but i don't think the price difference between self-study and university route is that big of a difference. So why would self-studying through the exams be considered cheap?

- Self studying can be done somewhat cheaply - lots of people do pass the exams that way. I think if you check my previous posts I've worked out the costs for people a few times. If you post a link to the university course you were considering I can work out the price difference. The biggest cost of ACCA for most self studiers is exemption and institute fees plus exam fees - it depends whether the university course covers these or not.


Accounting is not exactly my ideal dream job but it's the only thing i've got that i can possibly make a career out of and i can't go back to university or study something else. I don't really see any other options for me at this stage that can result in a successful career change, and i don't have anything in mind either. One of the reasons i did poorly at university was due to me not being interested in the subject. That's why i'm trying to focus on figuring out what i need to do in order to make a career out of this, otherwise i'll be stuck working jobs with no advancement and little pay.

- There are lots of routes you can take without specific degrees, and most careers neither expect nor demand specific degrees. That being said a couple of years of working in account would give some useful experience and some time to think about what you want to do if accounting work isn't for you. It isn't wasted time.




I'm not exactly sure but i'm assuming if i got a 2:1, i would be able to study for the ACCA exams through university and pay for it via post-graduate grant/loan? I didn't look into it too much because i didn't have the grade so it was a waste of time but i think it works like this.

- I think the main loans are for masters degrees so some universities are artificially making masters degrees which allow you to sit ACCA exams at the same time. This is a pretty new thing so developing. I'm dubious about it but can see some attractions.

Could you link to the ACCA programme you are considering?
What do you mean? I mean post a link to the website of the course you are considering.



So i take it that courses which are actually ACCA specific are basically stated as masters due to the government giving out loan for masters degrees and thus allowing students to be qualified in receiving a grant/loan to pay for the masters course which is actually ACCA? That's good but i think the difference between masters and ACCA at the universities that I've checked are quite clear and the ACCA qualifications that i need are clearly a separate course from what i can see in comparison to masters. YES - no guarantees you will pass the ACCA exams and you get a lot of debt from it.


I don't think that very representative. Strong applicants get jobs which pay for course as well as paying a salary - no-one offered one would do a university course. I've not yet seen a CV from anyone who did ACCA exams on a university course (other than undergrad exemptions). I see a lot of CV's from people who self studied or went to Kaplan etc.

Can i ask do you work for a firm/company and are ACCA qualified or why have you been able to look at CV's?

I'm ACA qualified from a big 4 firm but have worked in industry for many years. I've recruited enough to have seen plenty of CVs and interview candidates, and learn about how they have progressed and passed exams.




I have 8 exemptions, usually universities give you 9, i just had an issue and could only get exemptions for 8. I think i need to do the 9th via self-study if i am to do the ACCA professional ones that come after university. I don't think there's only 4 remaining though, i do remember my lecturer saying more, i will have to take a closer look on the ACCA website and figure it out.

Which exam do you need to pass to have covered the first 9? I'm fairly sure there are 4 final stage exams at the moment - you really need to check this out and be sure about the details before you show up at an interview which might give funding for studying.




You will have a harder time getting into a first job which offers training/ grad scheme benefits. You have a perfectly reasonable chance if you have the ability to perform in the job, and ideally to pass professional exams.

That is correct and i expected as much but what do i need to do to ensure i follow through on the reasonable chance that i may have? where do i even find something? i checked prospects/indeed and nothing i've seen has been suitable, not familiar with any other platform to seek out a suitable job.

I'll write some notes separately about this.


Yes the prospects website has been difficult to find a job with my qualifications, or lack thereof. I have to be honest and say i have forgotten a decent amount of what i studied over university but my IT skills are exceptional and i am fairly able with excel but can learn quickly and i'm also looking to learn about SAGE since i know this software is used in many accounting practices. Where do i look for a temporary job in accounts? I will try make as good of a CV as i can (even though i have no job experience and a poorly ranked degree) and look through the platforms you mentioned. I did think about applying for things even though i didn't fit the requirements and see where it takes me, i haven't been to an interview before but i will try my best if i get to that stage. Thanks for your response, my internet has been down for a week and i haven't been able to take look and reply, appreciate it.

Try to go to your university careers office for advice and practice interviews. For temporary jobs look on the reed/ GAAPWEB/ Indeed websites and do a search for temporary and contract positions. Employers often have difficulty filling these so they can be a good way to start - although you need to accept that you will send a lot of CVs with no response as they would prefer specific experience.

Thanks, i was initially going to apply for them all but because i knew i'd maybe get one interview out of the 3-5 that are available near me if i got lucky, and there's also the reason of getting interview experience which definitely helps. So i am going to apply for them all and see where it takes me. How long do companies usually leave adverts up/hire for? 2-4 weeks or longer? want a timeframe so i know how long the opportunity to apply is available.

Thanks, i was initially going to apply for them all but because i knew i'd maybe get one interview out of the 3-5 that are available near me if i got lucky, and there's also the reason of getting interview experience which definitely helps. So i am going to apply for them all and see where it takes me. How long do companies usually leave adverts up/hire for? 2-4 weeks or longer? want a timeframe so i know how long the opportunity to apply is available.

A couple of years may help in deciding if Accounting is what i want to do for the rest of my life but if it's not then i would have just wasted another 2-3 years of precious time. Issue is that i don't know what else i can or want to do. I have to do something and right now this is the only one i can continue on if i can land job like ones i mentioned previously. Also is that really the best route for me to go or is there a better alternative that is faster/more effective in growing up the ladder into a better/higher paying position, what route would you recommend considering you're qualified and have a lot of experience in the industry. I see Accounting being a fairly boring career path, although i've heard it can be challenging and not too bad if you go into certain sector of Accounting that is not repetitive day in/day out. What ACCA programme do you mean? there's only one process of sitting the ACCA exams which is through ACCA officially, i don't quite understand this. Would you personally recommend self-study or doing it via Kaplan/something else, i've been told graduate schemes are the most effective route to getting to higher end position jobs quickly but i can't do it due to the minimum requirements. If i do decide to go through with it, i'd like to speed up the process and want to know how fast you can do the remaining ACCA exams as i'd like to be fully qualified as soon as possible. So far i see the ACCA exams are only taking place 4 times a year which is pretty bad if i'm understanding it correctly. Also i will verify what remaining exam i need to complete and which ones remain on the ACCA exam next. Right now i suppose my best option is to send my C.V to all the jobs available and see if i get any interviews and take it from there. You've stated that a career change isn't difficult and most don't require degrees or specific requirements but for example if i was to change to Law, i'd not have exemptions that law students who graduated from university would, so i'm esssentially already years behind them and have to catch up again. I have to be realistic i can't think i can become a doctor or something out of bounds for me. Realistically i can try and continue a career in accountancy or if i was to change and try and go into one of the other fields that are related to Accountancy in a way like Law, etc then i would be even further behind than i currently am and even then i don't know for sure if it would actually be that much better and more interesting to me than Accountancy. My problem is like most young adults, i don't have any real ambition or desire to go into a specific field or have a dream job so i'm just getting by until now on whatever is available to me. I'm in a weird position and my poor performance and non-existent work experience doesn't help drive me to making decisions and deciding on what career i want to do for the rest of my life. THanks for the response guys and sorry for the late reply, i am busy moving house.

I graduated with a 3rd in Maths with Finance & Accounting back in 2013 and I am now a chartered accountant. Feel free to ask me any questions that you might have

This thread from a while back by someone in a similar situation might be worth a read and also has a bit of background information on my own path - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5642534