Next Move

Next Move

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Hi guys,

I hope everyone is well. I had a question and would really appreciate for any feedback.

I have been let go from my senior accountant/auditor job today within a practice, the reason apparently was my technical level wasn't what they require, I have been there 1.5 years. The real reason is they were overstaffed, many people didn't have much to do over the last few months.

I am ACCA 2 years post qualified but to be honest I am not sure of my next career move. I don't particularly enjoy what I do, I haven't been given enough audit experience and many jobs out there require you to lead an audit.

I was paid well under the market rate and enquired about a raise as another qualified person was being paid £10K more than me, instead I have been let go.

I want to maybe try Industry but most of the jobs require some sort of experience within the indusrty, Then my friends tell me to set up on my own but I don't even know where to begin with this and to be honest I don't feel that competent just yet.

At the tender age of 34, I feel like I am older than most qualified accountants for the level I am at, then another part of me says do something totally different and go as a trainee financial analyst etc.

Questions, questions but I am just worried about the future.

Any tips or feedback will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Replies (21)

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By cheekychappy
05th Feb 2016 17:58

Someone that asks for a pay rise when the firm is clearly under pressure is not as astute as they think they are.

 

The best thing you can do is speak to a good recruitment agency as get a feel for the market.

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By kelvin_jones
05th Feb 2016 18:01

@cheekychappy the firm is under no pressure at all hence they have just given 2 newly qualified employees 6K rises. If by asking for a rise when there is a huge difference is stupid then they could just say no!

Thanks for the advice though.

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By cheekychappy
05th Feb 2016 18:08

The real reason is they were overstaffed, many people didn't have much to do over the last few months

They must be under some pressure considering the above statement. 

 

The 2 newly qualified accountants were probably on salaries that reflected their study support. Their increased salary will probably reflect that the firm now doesn't have to pay study support.

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By kelvin_jones
05th Feb 2016 18:11

They have hired 3 new people over the last 3 months.

Ok fair enough about the 2 newly qualified but then there was a senior same level being paid £10K more, is that ok?

I had no warnings about my work or no indications that it was under threat.

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By cheekychappy
05th Feb 2016 18:15

Ok fair enough about the 2 newly qualified but then there was a senior same level being paid £10K more, is that ok?

Quite possibly, yes. They may be more experienced, have more knowledge, have a good length of service with the employer etc etc etc.

If you basing your salary expectations on salary alone, you are going to bitterly disappointed.

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By kelvin_jones
05th Feb 2016 18:19

No I am not basing it solely on the salary, I want a company that keeps it's promise of career progression when they hire you.

Of course if a colleague of mine is more experienced and more capable than me they should be rewarded with a higher salary but the colleague in question started after me and was at the same level.

I am obviously disappointed having lost my job so may be speaking nonsense.

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Replying to Falcon:
By Bungo
05th Feb 2016 19:33

It happens

kelvin_jones wrote:
No I am not basing it solely on the salary, I want a company that keeps it's promise of career progression when they hire you.

Of course if a colleague of mine is more experienced and more capable than me they should be rewarded with a higher salary but the colleague in question started after me and was at the same level.

I am obviously disappointed having lost my job so may be speaking nonsense.

It sometimes happens that one person is paid more than another. They might have just negotiated better or were on higher in their previous place and company had to pay to secure them. Best not to know what other people are paid I sometimes think. Trying to close a £10k gap in one fell swoop is pretty unlikely, without an increase in your own level or responsibilities.

I am from industry and it is true that there are recruiters that want specific industry experience, sometimes I wonder if this is the agent more than the employer but even so they do block the gateway. But there has always seemed to be more flexibility at the part qualified / newly qualified / recently qualified level which you are in. So I think it is worth a shot.

Letting somebody go on a Friday or near Christmas was always an absolute no from an HR point of view in my working life. So this is a bit mean, but it is done now, forget about it for the weekend and hit the agents on Monday.

Good luck,

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By cheekychappy
05th Feb 2016 18:21

It's Friday. Go for a beer, gather your thoughts and then hit the job market on Monday. Feeling bitter and resentful will not help you get another job.

Good luck.

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By kelvin_jones
05th Feb 2016 18:24

Thank you, will do that. Have a great weekend.

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By kealy
05th Feb 2016 18:40

If you don't particularly like what you do try and see this as a huge positive and find what it is that you do want to do. Sometimes we just need a little shove. You are still young, so go have those beers and look forward to new opportunities!

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By tom123
05th Feb 2016 19:02

The days of a 'career' are behind us.

Kelvin, I wish you the very best.

As Cheeky says, try not to beat yourself up. This isn't really personal (although it feels like it) - they just needed to get the heads down - and you were in the wrong place.

Try to visualise where you want to be in a year from now.

In two years, you won't even remember much about what you did all day at this firm.

Everyone gets made redundant at least once, they say.

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By kelvin_jones
05th Feb 2016 19:44

Thank you guys really appreciate the positive feedback have a great weekend.

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By Tosie
07th Feb 2016 08:00

sympathy

It is an awful thing to lose your job but I suspect that you are better out of this particular one.I would try for a small firm and develop all round experience .Maybe study cta and work towards getting a practice certificate .

good luck 

 

 

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Out of my mind
By runningmate
07th Feb 2016 09:50

Fresh thinking

This may turn out to be the best thing that has ever happened to you (workwise).

Start with a blank sheet of paper & ask yourself what you WANT to do.

Do you want to be an accountant?

If so, what sort of work appeals to you? Practice / industry / banking, commerce / government / education?

After that you can further analyse.  Do you, for example, want to be involved in audit, or in tax, or be an adviser to small businesses, or a management accountant employed in a larger business, or an employee of HMRC, or have a finance function in a government office, or . . . or . . . or . . .

Good luck!

RM

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By kelvin_jones
07th Feb 2016 10:09

@running mate and Tosie
Thank you both for very good advice, I guess the problem I am finding is thinking that if I do t have an experience in a particular area, I won't be considered for those jobs.

For example I am very interested in tax and banking side of finance, however as all my experience has been in a practice, how can I get my foot in the door within these industries?.

I thought that once I have completed ACCA it would be easier to branch out to other areas but all the calls I get from recruiters are in practice and I don't hear from the other jobs.

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By Bungo
07th Feb 2016 10:34

Clarification
What do you mean by that? I was in financial services industry as an accountant for over twenty years and never heard anyone speak of the "tax and banking side of finance". Could you elaborate?

Anyway that aside, I think you have to get a recruitment agent onside for you. Don't just apply for jobs, make an appointment to physically meet up with some. Treat it as an interview.

A huge number of accountants that I have ever worked with whilst I was in industry did their training in practice. Many of them would have been from the big accounting firms, but not all, met plenty from smaller firms too. So there is nothing unusual about what you are trying to do as a fairly recently qualified accountant. But try to work out areas you are interested in and try to communicate that clearly, as I say I for one am a bit puzzled as to what you are interested in.

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By kelvin_jones
07th Feb 2016 11:03

@bungo
Sorry I should have been more clear.

By banking I mean working as an investment banker or within the finance team of the company.

By Tax I mean working in the tax department of a company or practice.

After finishing ACCA I wanted to further study and do CTA but one of my friends told me that unless you work in tax, CTA would be a waste of time.

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By Bungo
07th Feb 2016 11:28

That is what I mean
So you meant banking OR tax? I had wondered.

Working as an investment banker is not similar to working in the finance team of an investment bank. And then tax is something else entirely and again working in tax for a practice quite different to working in tax for a single company.

I therefore think it would be worth refining your thoughts a little further as you try to make this change and make some good recruiter contacts. You still have some quite diverse thoughts at the moment and quite possibly a recruiter won't know where to start looking for you. At the very least, I wouldn't discuss all these options with one recruiter, maybe discuss one avenue with one agency and another with a second agency.

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By tom123
07th Feb 2016 20:20

Out of interest what did you do before

I have just re-read your OP, that you are 34.

What did you do before accountancy, and what was it that lead you to pick it in the first place?

There is often the paradox of too many 'options', that can then make picking something difficult.

Within accountancy there is broadly:

Practice work (that you have already seen)

Tax work

or 'Industry', which covers everyone else.

 

Try not to get too hung up on which industrial sector you might like to work in. Most larger companies will have finance departments similar to each other, as will most smaller companies.

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By kelvin_jones
07th Feb 2016 21:07

@tom123
After finishing University I have worked in payroll and then went to a practice where I was working for 8 years, mainly doing payroll and VAT. I started ACCA 6 years after my degree because I didn't know my options or wasn't aware of them. At University I studied Economics. Even the thought of being a late qualifier gets me down as I have worked alongside 27 year old colleagues who are already senior managers.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
By Bungo
08th Feb 2016 07:59

Forget about it

kelvin_jones wrote:
After finishing University I have worked in payroll and then went to a practice where I was working for 8 years, mainly doing payroll and VAT. I started ACCA 6 years after my degree because I didn't know my options or wasn't aware of them. At University I studied Economics. Even the thought of being a late qualifier gets me down as I have worked alongside 27 year old colleagues who are already senior managers.

Great piece of advice I once heard. Forget about all the things that you cannot change and put all your energy and focus on what you can change. In this case, there is no point dwelling on you being a late qualifier or even that there are people younger than you that seem to have advanced further. It is what it is and nothing you can do about it.

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