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Reply 20
Where do you work wstroud? PM me if you don't want to say.
Reply 21
aaaaz
Not true. I know several senior managers who are not ACA/ACCA qualified. However, most people you'll meet will be.


yes but in the big 4, i highly doubt these senior managers lack of ACA/ACCA is due to all of them failing the exams. the reason they do not have the ACA/ACCA is probably because they chose to do an alternative qualification. i doubt that someone who had failed everything would be kept on to that level.

i have heard at Deloitte the exam policy is that if you fail the first paper ever, then you get chucked out, but after the first paper, for all other papers they give you a second chance if you fail it first time. but if you fail the resit you get the chuck. despite what people on here are saying i think it is very rare/doubtful that people are kept on after failing a paper more than twice. from my experience with deloitte, the employees said the exam policy was quite strict as above . after all how can a senior manager be supervising people better qualified
to do his job than he is?

no offence to cortez, but i think his comments are not accurate to the big 4.

also, i have heard that if you choose to leave you do have to pay back your course costs, but if you get the sack, you dont.
Reply 22
Me and WStroud took the later comment to PM's and it depends where you work.
Reply 23
shinytoy
yes but in the big 4, i highly doubt these senior managers lack of ACA/ACCA is due to all of them failing the exams. the reason they do not have the ACA/ACCA is probably because they chose to do an alternative qualification. i doubt that someone who had failed everything would be kept on to that level.

i have heard at Deloitte the exam policy is that if you fail the first paper ever, then you get chucked out, but after the first paper, for all other papers they give you a second chance if you fail it first time. but if you fail the resit you get the chuck. despite what people on here are saying i think it is very rare/doubtful that people are kept on after failing a paper more than twice. from my experience with deloitte, the employees said the exam policy was quite strict as above . after all how can a senior manager be supervising people better qualified
to do his job than he is?

no offence to cortez, but i think his comments are not accurate to the big 4.

also, i have heard that if you choose to leave you do have to pay back your course costs, but if you get the sack, you dont.


No offence but you don't have a ****ing clue. Rather than criticise people like Cortez who do, maybe you should listen? It seems its like talking to a brick wall with you.
Reply 24
The Deloitte policy for the new ACA is essentially two tries and you're out. It varies slightly depending on what stage exam you're sitting (its possible to have a third attempt at advanced stage papers). If you get less than 45% in the application papers in your first sitting you'll also get kicked out.

If you decide to terminate your contract then the maximum you'll be liable to pay back to the firm is £5000.
I'd check with your company - is probably the best advice you'll get - it will probably vary a lot.

The most they can make you pay back is course materials and thats only a thousand or so per exam..so ownt be a HUGE amount in the first few months/year.
Reply 26
just to clarify, i have checked my firms (big 4) exam policy, and they state that if you CHOOSE to leave before completion, you will be required to pay all course costs etc UP TO A MAXIMUM OF £5000.

this isnt really too bad i think.

EDIT: i just noticed fubu's post above which is the same - as we are both Deloitters!
Reply 27
I worked for PwC and resigned in June. Yes you do have to pay back training costs. I had to repay £2000, having sat 4 exams. This wasn't the total cost of the training I'm sure, which would have been more like £4-5k.

PwC policy is that if you fail an exam twice you will be sacked, or if you get less than 45% in a sitting, you will also be sacked. The pass mark is 55% but a lot of people fail, and quite a few get sacked (including some my peers).

It's pretty tough, I'll admit that.
Chris.
http://www.notgotajobyet.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3
Reply 28
Do you mind me asking why you left Chrism??

It may be irrelevant but it might make some of my decisions easier!
Reply 29
Yeah definately. Basically I hated it. Not the company, just the work. Audit work requires you to be very meticulous and methodical, to like things to be in order and exactly right, and my personality is very much the opposite, I prefer to see the bigger picture, and am more interested in doing my own thing than what process dictates. Audit doesn't let you express my creativity, and, in my opinion, the work is very dull, and the hours can be extremely long in busy season.

If you are an A-Class candidate, you should apply for corporate finance, consulting or transaction services, but these are by far the hardest to get into. (e.g. i think consulting takes 15 grads a year in london).
For me (again Big 4 company), repayment of course costs depends on when you leave - a proportion of costs are repayable up to a year after, or 6 months before, each stage of qualification.
Reply 31
Why do you suggest corporate finance or transaction services? Are these much more interesting?
Reply 32
Undoubtedly. And the pay & opportunities are much better in these fields. Note however that 70% of PwC's revenue comes from audit, with all other lines of service making up tha balance. It is much easier to get into audit than into corporate finance/consulting.

http://www.notgotajobyet.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3
Reply 33
Cortez
I doubt they'd fire you over failing your exams, you gotta have a pretty good reason to fire someone these days and I don't think exam failing is a good enough reason.

No idea how likely they are to make you pay them back though.


I recently undertook work experience at PwC and there policy was simple:

1st try they'll pay and support you etc. If you fail you get one more chance BUT you've got to pay for everything (apparantly this can be rather expensive). If you fail that, you're out.
Reply 34
When you say the pay and opportunities are much better in these areas can you give me an idea what you mean?

What sort of salaries are attainable?

And do these areas involve long hours?
It is really expensive to be trained. before you ebven join the firm they take you on an induction week to meet everyone. This happens at a conference centre, so accommodation, food, learning etc is all included. Then they are obviously paying your salary, expenses and college.
It is not true that they will expect their money back, not everyone stays on for the duration. However, a bad fail means that there will be a review and two bad fails or more is a deifnite indication that you may lose your job. They do take into account exam technique, and performance around the office. They are only looking to keep people that actually bother though, so if you fail badly twice or more there is something wrong.

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