The Student Room Group

Optometry VS. Accounts

im quite unsure what i want to take in the future eith optometry or accounts.... i dont really want to be stuck in a dead end job.... i want to progress in my career... i've heard that in optometry its bascially a dead end job and you really cant further your carreer.... but in accounts i hear you can progress further and eventually have a prosperous carrer and earn a whole heap on tha paper (money) :tsr:
Reply 1
I'm going in the accounts direction, there seems to be good prospects, a lot of qualifications....to become more and more qualified, and the money does look good from what i've seen. Do what your going to enjoy most though, you can always change your miind if you don't like it, or get work experience in both areas and that might help you to decide. :smile:
jeromekanoe
...and earn a whole heap on tha paper (money)



Why do we get so many of these threads ? :rolleyes:
Reply 3
I dont see how you can be stuck between these 2 specifically. One is a job with good career prospects and possible large amounts of money but involved playing with figures and working out how much has been spent/earned. The other has less prospects and a possible lower salary but involves an interesting part of science in the Human eye and treating any problems people might have.

It seems the main reason you like the other is because you think that you will be promoted almost immediately and that you will get lots of money.

I dont know how old you are but hopefully soon you will learn that money is by no means anything and that you would far rather be a bit poorer and love your job than be a rich miserable git!

Alastair
Reply 4
alastair
I dont see how you can be stuck between these 2 specifically. One is a job with good career prospects and possible large amounts of money but involved playing with figures and working out how much has been spent/earned. The other has less prospects and a possible lower salary but involves an interesting part of science in the Human eye and treating any problems people might have.

It seems the main reason you like the other is because you think that you will be promoted almost immediately and that you will get lots of money.

I dont know how old you are but hopefully soon you will learn that money is by no means anything and that you would far rather be a bit poorer and love your job than be a rich miserable git!

Alastair




well you dont know where i have come from ok so dont judge ... money is everything dont be silly and think that its not..... MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND....
Reply 5
I wasnt judging, off course i dont know where 'you have come from', i am just merely replying to the large number of threads saying should i do this or that, i know job b will get me loads of money. Yes money is important and does make the world go round but you really must factor how happy you will be as well. From reading your other threads you have just finished GCSE's, get a bit of life experience before deciding on what job you want and just how important money is to you (in case you are wondering I am a 20 year old 2nd year undergrad)
Reply 6
Some people regard money as alot more important than others. It doesn't matter if he wont enjoy his job as this guy is just asking a simple question.
I know people who have no qualifications and hate their crappy jobs but earn alot of money to support their families and make others happy. There are different reasons why people want to earn alot of money.

As for optometry, it's an interesting degree imo. I was going to apply for this untill i read up on audiology. Optometry has a good salary and you'll get that increased with experience. However, the salary is declining as so many people are doing it now - as you earn alot of money for a 3yr degree that isn't difficult.

I dunno much about accounts so maybe someone else can give you some good information.
Reply 7
Alastair you have a very blinkered view of accounts it is not just how much is spent/earnt and you should not talk in this way as it could put jeromekanoe off a rewarding career and how is he going to get promoted straight away??

jeromekanoe - I can only talk from the accouting side as a qualified accountant (CIMA, AAT). I would firstly expain the types of accounting you have. There is managememt accounting which is the profit and loss side and looks at trends, forecasts, budgets and other analytical duties that help management make desisions on the business.

There is Financial accounting which is more balance sheet analysis. This basicaly shows how the company is doing and the current status of the comapny. I.e It is no good making a £1m profit if it took £10m of investment to make it.

You have Audit and compliance which makes sure the accounting is within regulations and shows a true and fair view of the comapny etc.

You could specialise in an area for example tax.

All these areas can overlap depending on the size of the buisness, obviously in a big buisness you will have a small part to play in the overall bigger picture but you can progress further. In a small company you will cover more areas but will not have as much room for promotion.

As for the money side of things accounts jobs do not always pay well!! You can earn well if your self-employed but you have to get the clients. It takes a while to earn good money working for a company and you have to be good at your job as there will be many people in you office and externally going after the well paid jobs.

To me it seems you are unsure what you want as both jobs you mention are quite different. This is not a bad thing I started work as an electrician but if you can try and think what suits you it will make your working life easier!!!

If you go down the accounting route I would suggest doing AAT to sart with as it gives very good grounding and is a professional qualification. Then if you choose management accounting I would do CIMA other wise do ACCA.

When going for accounting jobs try to avoid accounts payable jobs as this is not really accounts it just data entry of invoices. This to me is just unskilled work that doesn't pay well even though they work in an accounts dept.

In this day and age you need to be multi skilled. I taught myself advance/power user Excel, VBA and VB to help in my accounting analysis roles. This stands me out from the rest of the staff and makes sure I get the better jobs and sallary, I am looking to learn a language now. This multi skilled thing is true for all jobs in all areas!!! Dont just blend in, do what everyone else can do and then learn some more stuff that will stand you out from the rest!! This is the key to getting the good jobs, Promotion and good pay.

Good luck what ever you choose :smile:

S
Reply 8
thankyou verry much...this has actually helped me... thanks for taking the timeout to reply and i know it takes a while to earn good money and ooh yea... is it possible if i can go into an acturial field after i did accounts?
Reply 9
optometry could become quite interesting with today's, and the future's, technology. if that did interest you, maybe you could go into a specific area (such as laser surgery, or the next big thing).

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