Best way to check whether accountancy and law are careers I would even enjoy??

Am considering goign through the As qualification, at least a good chunk of both , obviously not just reading but doing the exercises.

Background: Am a mature student that just failed an engineering degree, had catastrophic life events, but still dont want to retry it regardless.

As I was a private student, I couldnt even get any A level qualifications during covid, the uni was nice enough to give me a skype invigialted maths exam though to enter.

So I now have no A-levels, and just my really old crappy GCSE from when I was a delinquent in my youth... Still managed to get GCSE B in maths and English somehow though (was formerly at or near the top of my class)

Anyway, another relevant point is I wont be able to get any work experience as a mature and private student.

Main question again though, do you think there is a better way for me to figure out whether Id enjoy a career in law or accounting than the As text books? I need to figure this out asap.

Thanks all.

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by moomin valley

Am considering goign through the As qualification, at least a good chunk of both , obviously not just reading but doing the exercises.

Background: Am a mature student that just failed an engineering degree, had catastrophic life events, but still dont want to retry it regardless.

As I was a private student, I couldnt even get any A level qualifications during covid, the uni was nice enough to give me a skype invigialted maths exam though to enter.

So I now have no A-levels, and just my really old crappy GCSE from when I was a delinquent in my youth... Still managed to get GCSE B in maths and English somehow though (was formerly at or near the top of my class)

Anyway, another relevant point is I wont be able to get any work experience as a mature and private student.

Main question again though, do you think there is a better way for me to figure out whether Id enjoy a career in law or accounting than the As text books? I need to figure this out asap.

Thanks all.

Typically, you won't know what it's like to work in either areas by going through the course material (not they are accredited anyway). It's going to be a lot easier if you did an internship/work experience and ask people in your network who work in either sectors.

Accounting - typically a lot of processing, just processing and putting together reports. There's usually a demand on time for month end when you need all the figures ready.
Law - a lot of paperwork. The more senior levels involve less actual paperwork and more face to face contact with clients talking about ... paperwork.

Due to the regulatory nature of the work in both areas, you need to adhere to standards, and there is often a lot of office politics involved i.e. bureaucracy typically. Competition for the roles is usually fierce. You would also need qualified work experience in order to qualify, and the people working in these areas tend not to be very lenient giving this out i.e. you need to work under someone who is already a qualified accountant (in the body that you want to qualify in) or a qualified lawyer. You typically can't go into self employment until you become qualified either.
Both industries are also very heavily people oriented, so if you don't like people (or they don't like you) you're in trouble. Your people skills need to be on point, and you need to navigate through the ups and downs of other people, especially your bosses.

Unless you specifically intend to become a barrister, you typically don't need to go to uni to get into either sectors.
For accounting, the relevant thing is to get the right professional qualification for the sort of role that you want. They typically segreate into: financial accounting, management accounting, and public sector accounting (I once came across a teacher who pointed out economics accounting is also a thing, but that's more economics than actual accounting). Professional accounting qualifications require A Levels (or equivalent e.g. BTEC, Access to HE, etc.) with appropriate number of GCSEs at the correct grades.
For law, you can go into a degree apprenticeship, CILEx (professional qualifications) at levels 3 and 6, or you can do a degree in any subject (although some say you should do a PGDL if your undergrad isn't an LLB for some reason). An LLB or PGDL is required if you want to become a barrister.

You can do a degree for either areas, but they would be somewhat different to how they are at A Level, hence why they are no required subjects for either degrees (some accounting and finance degrees can ask for A Level Maths, but that's due to the more quantitative modules in finance than anything else).
Note: Taking the degree route for A Level would typically mean you take longer to qualify.

Reply 2

moomin valley

OP

10

Thanks for the information! At this point I'm looking for apprenticeships while waiting for a February start on an open uni degree that incorporates elements of both law and accounting, I just have to be careful on how I structure it.

Best way to check whether accountancy and law are careers I would even enjoy??

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