Becoming an accountant in my mid-20s without a degree
So, since I left school in 2017 with fairly modest academic success in A-levels and GCSEs I've basically just messed around for the last few years just working minimum wage jobs during the week and having a few drinks with pals on the weekend, had a great time and been very content.
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
Hi, thanks for replying
Bs in maths and english GCSEs
A* in ICT a-level, Bs in a-level history and English Language
Bs in maths and english GCSEs
A* in ICT a-level, Bs in a-level history and English Language
Original post by ajj2000
What were your A level results and subjects? What were your grades at GCSE maths and English?
Original post by Pyromemenia
Hi, thanks for replying
Bs in maths and english GCSEs
A* in ICT a-level, Bs in a-level history and English Language
Bs in maths and english GCSEs
A* in ICT a-level, Bs in a-level history and English Language
Wow - thats good! Really changes things but does make offering advice more complicated as you have more options open than I expected.
I'm pretty busy at the moment and would prefer to write a complete answer. Would be useful if you could advise as to which area of the country you are in and what type of minimum wage jobs you have been working in. If I haven't responded in the next couple of days please give me a nudge.
Original post by ajj2000
Wow - thats good! Really changes things but does make offering advice more complicated as you have more options open than I expected.
I'm pretty busy at the moment and would prefer to write a complete answer. Would be useful if you could advise as to which area of the country you are in and what type of minimum wage jobs you have been working in. If I haven't responded in the next couple of days please give me a nudge.
I'm pretty busy at the moment and would prefer to write a complete answer. Would be useful if you could advise as to which area of the country you are in and what type of minimum wage jobs you have been working in. If I haven't responded in the next couple of days please give me a nudge.
Hey, honestly, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to reply and advise, it really is appreciated.
I live in the South-West of England, rural area, semi-deprived but not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. Though, personally I would prefer to work and house share in a slightly more trendy city area like Bristol or Cardiff.
In terms of my menial jobs, I guess the one I'm doing at the moment arguably has a tenuous link to accounting, I'm doing stock auditing for a large retail business. Which involves auditing the quantity of stock, inputting the data, making a paper record of my findings and corresponding with my line manager for issues I'm not authorized to deal with. In the past, generally retail, warehouse work, factory work.
(edited 1 year ago)
So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home.
Doing AAT to get into accountancy is a perfectly achievable route. You are correct in your impression that you don't need a degree.
AAT isn't the only route but is a perfectly good one. You can either study this by yourself in your own time or at colleges. Unfortunately the college route has got very expensive if paying for yourself following funding changes a few years ago so do be a little cautious if you receive advice encouraging you in that direction.
Another route which you should absolutely consider and be prepared to apply for in the next month of so if interested is the apprenticeship route. Most large accounting firms have apprenticeship schemes for those with appropriate A levels (broadly speaking BBB plus). If you google something like top 50 accounting firms uk you will find a lot of apprenticeships in Bristol or Cardiff.
The A level leavers schemes differ between firms in the route they offer towards professional qualifications:
- AAT then ACA
- ACA in 4 or 5 years
- ACCA with or without AAT as an initial step.
Smaller accounting firms tend to go the AAT route and then you decide how you want to progress.
Its better to apply than get overly concerned about the exam pathways unless you have some very specific circumstances.
You could also look for apprenticeship schemes in areas such as local government, civil service, and private companies. The government apprenticeship website and 'not going to uni' will have links. Equally searching on reed and indeed give lists of current vacancies. In particular you should consider enquiring about opportunities with your current employer.
I think its best to apply for apprenticeships first and then consider paying to self study. Having strong A levels puts you in a different position to most who raise similar questions. Absolutely do look into self study routes.
Have you considered apprenticeships and the differences between working for a professional firm and being an accountant in industry?
Doing AAT to get into accountancy is a perfectly achievable route. You are correct in your impression that you don't need a degree.
AAT isn't the only route but is a perfectly good one. You can either study this by yourself in your own time or at colleges. Unfortunately the college route has got very expensive if paying for yourself following funding changes a few years ago so do be a little cautious if you receive advice encouraging you in that direction.
Another route which you should absolutely consider and be prepared to apply for in the next month of so if interested is the apprenticeship route. Most large accounting firms have apprenticeship schemes for those with appropriate A levels (broadly speaking BBB plus). If you google something like top 50 accounting firms uk you will find a lot of apprenticeships in Bristol or Cardiff.
The A level leavers schemes differ between firms in the route they offer towards professional qualifications:
- AAT then ACA
- ACA in 4 or 5 years
- ACCA with or without AAT as an initial step.
Smaller accounting firms tend to go the AAT route and then you decide how you want to progress.
Its better to apply than get overly concerned about the exam pathways unless you have some very specific circumstances.
You could also look for apprenticeship schemes in areas such as local government, civil service, and private companies. The government apprenticeship website and 'not going to uni' will have links. Equally searching on reed and indeed give lists of current vacancies. In particular you should consider enquiring about opportunities with your current employer.
I think its best to apply for apprenticeships first and then consider paying to self study. Having strong A levels puts you in a different position to most who raise similar questions. Absolutely do look into self study routes.
Have you considered apprenticeships and the differences between working for a professional firm and being an accountant in industry?
Original post by Pyromemenia
So, since I left school in 2017 with fairly modest academic success in A-levels and GCSEs I've basically just messed around for the last few years just working minimum wage jobs during the week and having a few drinks with pals on the weekend, had a great time and been very content.
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
Beware of etoro, they are known to sell your trading data to market makers who stop your trades out in losses when leveraging trades! Etoro are scammers with high fees and are based in tel aviv so if anything happens you won’t get money back! Same with plus500, known for scamming ppl eventually!
Original post by Pyromemenia
So, since I left school in 2017 with fairly modest academic success in A-levels and GCSEs I've basically just messed around for the last few years just working minimum wage jobs during the week and having a few drinks with pals on the weekend, had a great time and been very content.
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
Original post by Pyromemenia
So, since I left school in 2017 with fairly modest academic success in A-levels and GCSEs I've basically just messed around for the last few years just working minimum wage jobs during the week and having a few drinks with pals on the weekend, had a great time and been very content.
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
However, the last few months I've realised it's time to knuckle down a bit and start taking life a bit more seriously. So, I've been looking into doing the AAT course to go into accountancy, I could be wrong but I get the impression that you don't really need to take a degree to go into it and I'd be happy to do it myself and study from home. I'm still living at home with my parents and I think they'd be fairly sympathetic to me actually getting a career for obvious reason. So, my plan would kind of consist of doing three days a week at my current menial job and studying for the AAT qualification in my spare time. Also, part of my plan would consist of volunteering to do one day a week's unpaid slave labour at a local accounting firm for the purposes of my CV, even if it's just making coffee or doing the printing or whatever, at least it'd look good on my CV, I think anyway.
I do actually have some formal and informal experience of finance and accountancy. In 2014, which I know seems like the dark ages now, I did my year 10 work experience for a local accounting firm. More recently I've been on the online stockbrokerage website, etoro, swing trading stocks and for about six months managed to outperform the S&P500 index, UK100 index and Berkshire Hathaway's publically listed portfolio holdings. I used both technical and, to a lesser extent, fundamental analysis while doing this, also obviously there's an element of a good luck in this.
That's my initial thought process, plan and some of the things I think are in my favor. I feel there are one or two things that count against me. The last few months I've felt really down for one or two various personal reasons, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anything drastic but I do feel like I seriously need help with my mental health and I'm considering going to cognitive behavioral therapy on the NHS which is a kind of mental health therapy. I know in an ideal world this shouldn't count against me but I'm aware not all employers are as liberal and easy going as that. I haven't registered yet but I'm toying with the idea, would this negatively affect my career and application process if they found out about it. Secondly, would they look down on me for spending years of my life doing menial jobs and not consider me as a result?
Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, hope everyone's doing well!
I hire into finance roles from apprentices, through to senior managers. Experience of your other work would be seen as a positive in some of my warehouse finance roles. You'd be able to relate to the tier 1 associates, and interpret financial decisions from an operator perspective.
It's more about which route you take. You have an advantage over some candidates in appreciation of menial jobs. Look for a finance position (trainee management accountant, or trainee finance analyst) in companies which would value your input.
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