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Because I graduated 8 years ago so already have a degree. I didn’t plan on doing it originally!
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
oh thats cool youre doing it through a degree route im tryna go uni to do it too even though most people generally go for apprenticeship. Can i ask why you chose a degree route over apprenticeship?

Most people don’t do the apprenticeships - degree entry is still more usual.
Original post by Seba.fr1
Because I graduated 8 years ago so already have a degree. I didn’t plan on doing it originally!

what degree did you do?
Original post by ajj2000
Most people don’t do the apprenticeships - degree entry is still more usual.

hm interesting. What career/degree you working towards or are already in?
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
hm interesting. What career/degree you working towards or are already in?

I'm a Chartered Accountant working in industry.
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
what degree did you do?


Economics. Scrapped a 2:1 at 59.6% because I was a lazy 20-year-old and didn’t do any work. Luckily they don’t ever ask for the mark on your application...
Original post by ajj2000
I'm a Chartered Accountant working in industry.


What is industry and would you say becoming Chartered is very difficult?
Original post by Seba.fr1
Economics. Scrapped a 2:1 at 59.6% because I was a lazy 20-year-old and didn’t do any work. Luckily they don’t ever ask for the mark on your application...


Pretty good eh ahaha how was economics I considered that but opted for accoutring and finance
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
Pretty good eh ahaha how was economics I considered that but opted for accoutring and finance


Quite enjoyed it, despite not doing any work. Was a bit more varied that studying straight accountancy I think - defo more varied than the exams I have to do now 😭😂
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
What is industry and would you say becoming Chartered is very difficult?

I guess a dictionary definition of industry would be businesses which manufacture things. In accountancy people tend to refer to working in either industry or in practice. Practice means working for an accounting firm - such as PWC, BDO or the small practices which exist in every town. Industry is used to mean 'non practice' - working within a business as opposed to the specialists who provide services to that business from the accounting firms.

I'm not sure how you would calculate how hard it is to become Chartered. You need to find a job that will sponsor you which can be tough, and also need to pass a load of exams. The subject matter is not particularly hard - it ain't like trying to understand the level of physics or philosophy taught at top universities - but there is a lot of content. By and large people with strong A level results tend to get through ok.
Original post by Seba.fr1
Quite enjoyed it, despite not doing any work. Was a bit more varied that studying straight accountancy I think - defo more varied than the exams I have to do now 😭😂

would you say content being varied is good ahahah is it not easier if its all similar?
Original post by ajj2000
I guess a dictionary definition of industry would be businesses which manufacture things. In accountancy people tend to refer to working in either industry or in practice. Practice means working for an accounting firm - such as PWC, BDO or the small practices which exist in every town. Industry is used to mean 'non practice' - working within a business as opposed to the specialists who provide services to that business from the accounting firms.

I'm not sure how you would calculate how hard it is to become Chartered. You need to find a job that will sponsor you which can be tough, and also need to pass a load of exams. The subject matter is not particularly hard - it ain't like trying to understand the level of physics or philosophy taught at top universities - but there is a lot of content. By and large people with strong A level results tend to get through ok.

did you go through degree route if so what degree?
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
would you say content being varied is good ahahah is it not easier if its all similar?


I guess it’s fine when you’re studying for a few days a month in between working, but I think I would have found accountancy for 3 years a bit dry. In economics I did politics, history and environmental studies so there was a bit more to keep me interested.
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
did you go through degree route if so what degree?

A non related humanities degree.
Original post by Seba.fr1
I guess it’s fine when you’re studying for a few days a month in between working, but I think I would have found accountancy for 3 years a bit dry. In economics I did politics, history and environmental studies so there was a bit more to keep me interested.

Hm thats true. I have 2 offers from manchester uni one is accountancy with requirement of 3AAA and one is BAEcon accounting and finance along with elements of economics and social sciences with requirement of 2AA and 1B. Which do you think would be better? another thing is i have an offer from a local uni of BCC and personally would prefer to go there but its a bit lower ranked and not russel group so do you think this could affect me in terms of future jobs/opportunities etc
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
Hm thats true. I have 2 offers from manchester uni one is accountancy with requirement of 3AAA and one is BAEcon accounting and finance along with elements of economics and social sciences with requirement of 2AA and 1B. Which do you think would be better? another thing is i have an offer from a local uni of BCC and personally would prefer to go there but its a bit lower ranked and not russel group so do you think this could affect me in terms of future jobs/opportunities etc


Personally I’d go with the second Manchester offer simply as it would keep options most open and give you the best ability to chose your career at the end of it - you might find there’s something in like econ or social science that you really like and want to do more of.
When you graduate, Manchester over the local uni will further keep options open. I’m sure plenty of jobs will allow non-Russel group in (infact I don’t think I’ve seen a grad scheme application that explicitly says it’s prefers one uni over another), but Manchester will just help give the extra help to applications, that I think you would regret not having if you went local.
Unless you a

Original post by Fayzan_Ali
Hm thats true. I have 2 offers from manchester uni one is accountancy with requirement of 3AAA and one is BAEcon accounting and finance along with elements of economics and social sciences with requirement of 2AA and 1B. Which do you think would be better? another thing is i have an offer from a local uni of BCC and personally would prefer to go there but its a bit lower ranked and not russel group so do you think this could affect me in terms of future jobs/opportunities etc

Unless you are very strong at maths and want to do quantitative courses (in which case don't take A+F) go the the BAEcon course at Manchester. It can be far broader. If you don't take to studying accounting at university level you have a straightforward get out of jail card without any real cost of time or money.
Original post by Seba.fr1
Personally I’d go with the second Manchester offer simply as it would keep options most open and give you the best ability to chose your career at the end of it - you might find there’s something in like econ or social science that you really like and want to do more of.
When you graduate, Manchester over the local uni will further keep options open. I’m sure plenty of jobs will allow non-Russel group in (infact I don’t think I’ve seen a grad scheme application that explicitly says it’s prefers one uni over another), but Manchester will just help give the extra help to applications, that I think you would regret not having if you went local.

Hi could you have a look at the two courses just to confirm your thoughts.Thanks. 3AAA , 2AA 1B
Original post by ajj2000
Unless you a


Unless you are very strong at maths and want to do quantitative courses (in which case don't take A+F) go the the BAEcon course at Manchester. It can be far broader. If you don't take to studying accounting at university level you have a straightforward get out of jail card without any real cost of time or money.

in what ways is it a get out of jail card without real cost/time?
Original post by Fayzan_Ali
in what ways is it a get out of jail card without real cost/time?

A real problem a lot of people have with their degrees is that they don't take to them. Perhaps its not what they expected, they find the courses don't meet their skillsets or that they don't like the subject in a university environment. I doubt A+F is the worst for this but lots of people end up being a bit or very fed up with it. Even worse if they struggle with the course (especially in the second year) it can mean getting lower grades than they were capable of on another course.

Now, you could start a new degree if that happens - but at the cost of a year extra in university if you make this decision after the first year. if you are in the second year when you are getting very fed up is a real disaster - very hard to finance a new university course.

The benefit of the BAEcon degree (worth a good look at course options to see what might interest you) is that you can take non A+F courses for pretty much whole years without starting a new degree course. Plus your degree won't show that you were ever studying accounting so nothing difficult to explain in interviews for accountancy based jobs.

I don't know what percentage of people this would benefit - a pretty fair percentage I would imagine. Definitely worth considering.

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