CIMA Qualified Accountant - Ask me anything

Hi,I am thinking of changing jobs after completing all of my exams in 2 years. What happens to proving my 3 years experiwnce?

Hi how long did it take for you to get your first finance job? I'd imagine you are quite good at interviews to pull that off with a 3rd. Also congratz on getting qualified.

Thanks - I think somewhere around 9 months. I'm not sure that I am any good at interviews. I think i had near 10 interviews before i got a job. Its a numbers game - the more applications / interviews you have the more likely it is that one will end up in an offer.

Thanks for responding, did you work retail while you applied for finance roles?

I've accepted a grad scheme offer with involves CIMA. How did the CIMA exams compare to the modules you completed during your degree? I presume even if the CIMA difficulty was equal to them, working full time simultaneously still made it difficult nonetheless? If you had to give advice concerning the DO's and DONT'S, what would it be? It could be relating to CIMA studying, work/life balance, workplace advice or even life advice haha. Also, your story is inspirational and it's cool to see you make a thread helping other people out thanks for your time.

What industry do you work in?

I am half way through CIMA and would be stunned to be on 50-55k upon qualifying. Before, I get motivated by the financial gain just want to know if you are just stating the numbers for FS/Bank/oil and gas?

I work in financial services, it's not a company which is a household name but still has ~4,000 employees worldwide across ~25 different countries so they are fairly large. It's also worth noting I work in Central London so the salaries will be higher here than anywhere else.

There are also other factors to take into account:

I work in financial services, it's not a company which is a household name but still has ~4,000 employees worldwide across ~25 different countries so they are fairly large. It's also worth noting I work in Central London so the salaries will be higher here than anywhere else.

There are also other factors to take into account:

Thanks for the reply. one more question.

How difficult is it moving into FS while once CIMA qualified when all the work experience completely unrelated industry? I take it FS/Banking are the two areas where you kinda need technical knowledge of the industry to know what is going on as opposed to moving into retail or TMT sector,

how long did it take you to qualify from when you joined?

I moved jobs whilst doing my exams but I think the whole thing took about 3 and a half years (Although there was around a 9 month period where i didn't do any exams in the middle due to changing jobs, probation period etc)

that seems to have worked out quite well then, 50k at 24-25 is impressive!

Hi All,

I've been reading these forums for years and I've come across loads of useful posts and thought I would start one of these threads in the hope that I might be able to share some of the things I've learned over my life / career.

Some background info - I graduated from one of the London Russel Group universities in 2013 with a 3rd (Yes I know a 3rd...) class degree in Mathematics with Finance & Accounting.

Since I wasn't able to get into any grad schemes I started out as a Finance trainee at a start up / SME firm where I worked for two years and started my CIMA qualification. After 2 years of working there (Around the time I became part qualified) I moved to a Global Investor Services firm where I am still working and completed my CIMA qualification. I currently have 1 year PQE (Post Qualified Experience) and work in a Finance Manager role.

Happy to answer any questions.

What was the salary like while you were studying?

I am 37 and wanting to start CIMA from scratch. Is it worth it? I may have to take a pay cut to get training and not sure if automation will go against me.

I have no exemptions to use, so i will really be starting at the bottom. I currently work in FS

Any advice?

thanks

To be honest that's quite a unique situation and i think i would probably need a bit more information around your circumstances before i can give advice. Why do you want to do CIMA? What work do you currently do in FS? Is it accounting related?

In order to become fully qualified you also need minimum 3 years of relevant experience but considering you will be starting from scratch and will need to do the certificate level exams as well as the professional the average person will probably take 3-4 years. (It can be done quicker but everyone is different) If your current work is not accounting related then you will have to start with junior roles to cover the experience requirements. Is this something that can be done at your current firm or would you also have to look for a new accountancy related role?

There are also other points to consider, E.g. how much of a pay cut you will need to take over the next few years to qualify. Will your accountancy courses be funded by your employer etc.

In relation to the point on automation - from personal experience this is impacting the lower skilled roles more and some of the lower skilled roles are now more and more being off shored to countries where labour is cheaper (Asia, Eastern Europe etc) but most or all of the senior finance roles seem to be remaining in or around London without too much impact due to automation.

One thing i would say is that it will be a significant commitment. Depending on the study method or providers you use there will be a lot of evening or weekends spent either studying or attending classes. If you are married / have kids etc this may also make it more difficult from a time point of view. If you do decide to go down that path you need to be 100% sure that is what you want to do and will see it out until you are qualified because if you don't you might end up in a worse position job wise, CV wise and also financially.