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finance graduate scheme degree question

Hey! I have just completed my first year for a degree in Software Engineering BSc, and was wondering, even though i love programming, and the problem solving we get to do, I was thinking of pivoting to accounting or bookkeeping after university. Would it be realistic for me to do this with my degree? And how exactly on a CV would I ..spin it to make myself a good candidate?

I also have done Business at A level (idk if this matters) and so far have done a business and financial computing module in 1st year :biggrin:

Thanks for any help!

Reply 1

ajj2000

Perfectly realistic. You would be asked some searching questions in interviews.

Reply 2

Al3x235

Original post by ajj2000

Perfectly realistic. You would be asked some searching questions in interviews.

hey thanks so much! what's a searching question? is that like questions that like try and find out more about me / why I want to make the switch?

also how bad is not having specific accounting work experience for grad schemes? I did tutoring for a while and things but don't have much accounting experiencce so id just like to know :smile:

thanks for the response :biggrin:

Reply 3

ajj2000

Original post by Al3x235

hey thanks so much! what's a searching question? is that like questions that like try and find out more about me / why I want to make the switch?
also how bad is not having specific accounting work experience for grad schemes? I did tutoring for a while and things but don't have much accounting experiencce so id just like to know :smile:

thanks for the response :biggrin:

Exactly right about the questions you would be asked. It’s Diffferent going from a career related subject than, say, history.

Lack of accounting experience is rarely an issue, although accounts related years in industry tend to help a lot. To be fair any year in industry can be helpful.

You could visit your university careers office and see if they can point you towards any accounting related insight events. There are also some online free work experience type courses you could do to learn a bit more and show that you have tried to research the field.

Reply 4

Al3x235

Original post by ajj2000

Exactly right about the questions you would be asked. It’s Diffferent going from a career related subject than, say, history.
Lack of accounting experience is rarely an issue, although accounts related years in industry tend to help a lot. To be fair any year in industry can be helpful.
You could visit your university careers office and see if they can point you towards any accounting related insight events. There are also some online free work experience type courses you could do to learn a bit more and show that you have tried to research the field.

Oh okay thanks, idk if the university careers service is open right now as its summer break but one of my lecturers did do the switch from comp sci to accounting (and then back aha) so i emailed them :smile:

Would it be harder going from a career based degree to a grad scheme than from something like history? Or is the process just 'different' ?

Sorry for asking so many questions haha but you really helped calm my nerves about what i want to do in the future so thank you :smile:

Reply 5

ajj2000

Original post by Al3x235

Would it be harder going from a career based degree to a grad scheme than from something like history? Or is the process just 'different' ?
Sorry for asking so many questions haha but you really helped calm my nerves about what i want to do in the future so thank you :smile:

Ask away! It wouldn't be any harder than going from a degree such as history. You would need to be able to show a good, considered reason for going into accountancy and not something more IT related.

Reply 6

Al3x235

Original post by ajj2000

Ask away! It wouldn't be any harder than going from a degree such as history. You would need to be able to show a good, considered reason for going into accountancy and not something more IT related.

Oh okay thanks for the info! If i want to do maybe Big4 or some smaller firms , and not necessarily IB then does it matter so much what university I go to? Im not at a Russel Group so idk how much that hurts my chances ☹️ (i know being in RG would probably help but yeah)

Reply 7

ajj2000

Original post by Al3x235

My understanding is that choice of university matters a lot for IB especially for front office jobs. This isn't RG per se - its a handful of universities.

For big 4 accounting firms the name of the university doesn't matter in the slightest. One thing to be aware of is that A level grades can matter a lot although this seems to be becoming less of an issue than it was in the past.

Reply 8

ajj2000

Oh - and maths and English GCSE grades can matter also.

Reply 9

Al3x235

Original post by ajj2000

Oh - and maths and English GCSE grades can matter also.

Oh yeah, i heard this too, luckily my gcse grades for these are chill (like 7-9) so im not so worried about this :smile:

, i was just a bit nervous about the uni thing aha, but i probably wont go into the top IB stuff right away, but its still good to know :smile:

My a levels were ABB so i guess that is good? Obviously not like A*A*A good but i dont think itll put me at a huge disadvantage for Big4 and other firms?

Thanks for all the info it really helps!

Reply 10

ajj2000

Original post by Al3x235

Oh yeah, i heard this too, luckily my gcse grades for these are chill (like 7-9) so im not so worried about this :smile:

, i was just a bit nervous about the uni thing aha, but i probably wont go into the top IB stuff right away, but its still good to know :smile:

My a levels were ABB so i guess that is good? Obviously not like A*A*A good but i dont think itll put me at a huge disadvantage for Big4 and other firms?
Thanks for all the info it really helps!

ABB is fine - it tends to be a filter and that will get through. Are you planning to apply for summer schemes or years in industry? I'm assuming your degree is 3 years?

Reply 11

Al3x235

Original post by ajj2000

ABB is fine - it tends to be a filter and that will get through. Are you planning to apply for summer schemes or years in industry? I'm assuming your degree is 3 years?

yeah the degree is 3years- well, im still deciding if i really want to do a year in industry or something like this (i have some family reasons to consider), so im not sure yet, but i am looking at doing a summer scheme or something next year (idk if im eligible for the ones this summer because they say you have to be in your penultimate year).

i also do volunteering in a charity shop and at a music place (to like set up events and things), and applied for a TA position in the university to help in labs and stuff :smile:

if i dont do a year in industry, is it a lot harder / putting me at a big disadvantage?

that was another thing i was quite worried about because even though yk i do volunteering , and have experience as like a self employed private tutor during uni (i tutored gcse like maths and business) and am part of societies and ig play football (so this could show leadership / teamwork?), i never really had a job in like asda or tesco so idk how bad that makes me look, or if its even enough to get me a interview or something because others have worked since 17 or something :frown: