Hi guys have just completed my accounting degree and have gotten exemptions from cima and acca. Not from ACA (icaew) though.
I am applying for jobs etc put not really getting anywhere ( terrible levels probably dont help)
I am debating starting the professional paperwork from acca or cima. Or instead trying to land a job more towards finance, but unsure if being chartered would be an advantage in that sense.
And if I were to get a starting salary in Middlesbrough would be 20 to 22k. Would I expect that to increase overtime to only once the chartered exams etc are completed.
Cheers
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And if I were to get a starting salary in Middlesbrough would be 20 to 22k. Would I expect that to increase overtime to only once the chartered exams etc are completed.
Not in Middlesbrough!
It will not help your job applications if you write in this ungrammatical and incomprehensible manner. What exactly is your question?
Yes, the exams are pretty well useless from an employment point of view without relevant experience.
Take the ACCA exemptions (apologies, CIMAs) and work your way through the rest of their exams. It can make things a little easier if you're in a relevant job at the same time, although that's not absolutely essential. Here's why:
The major leap comes when you have to jump from theory to "real world" putting it all into practice; and
when you're young and keen and learning all about the theory, bedazzled in academia world, it's all about scoring well and getting first time passes. Make the best fist you can of that first of all. Working eg in a practice at junior level will only slow down your academic progress, and quite probably fill your head with non-relevant ticking and bashing.
Just my take. But, then again, I'm not from Middlesbrough :)
If you do the ACCA route make sure there is someone working with you who is qualified to sign off your work experience. It may seem irrelevant when you start but if you can't get your 2 years signed off as you go you could miss out on the letters after your name for quite a while after passing. I speak from experience.
Rather than ask the question whether being chartered will help you need to think about what you want to do in your career. Cima is mainly based towards working in industry/government, local government and ACCA practice. I'm Cima and when I crossed over into practice 15 years ago I found there is little requirement for management accounts and the focus is on tax etc. Therefore before I took on a client I had to spend 12 months just working on getting myself up to speed. I still use what I learned as a management accountant but only as an add on. Work out what you want to do before worrying about whether you should be Chartered or not. In both cases doing the exams won't help if you are doing a day job that is unrelated to accounts.
Do the 'terrible levels' relate to exam results? If so, dont use the exemptions because you will learn something new that liekly hasnt been covered in your degree and also will help get you used to the exam format, which Im sure is very different.
Be careful who you choose to work for if progressing through ACCA, the point about signed off experience is absolutely key with ACCA, so worth a read up of their rules/call to the association.
As an employer, were I hiring someone with no relevant experience, I absolutely would not want them to have a professional qualification, and were I to hire someone with a professional qualification but no experience, I would still expect to pay them a trainee's wage until they got some.
You would still start at the bottom with no practical experience. The university course will help with exemptions but would advise not to rush through this, as you would still need 3 years practical experience signed off.
Go for ACCA in a professional firm as it will give you more flexibility, and get your experience signed off to get your letters asap. You can then either stay working in professional firms or move over into industry/commerce depending on the job market goes. If you do CIMA - as I did - it is very difficult to move into a professional firm unless you have additional relevant qualifications or special experience they want to buy.
I possibly have a different take on this, from a lot of the guys on here, as I have not worked in practice, or for myself as an accountant. For me, in the early years of the career, experience trumps exams every time, so get a job (at the bottom, I am sure) that has relevant learning and skills attached to it. If they will pay for you to learn, as well, so much the better! Working in practice at the lower levels would certainly (to my mind) give you varied experiences, but also has drawbacks, for me. I am afraid that to me, as an employer, you are not much use racing out of Uni with a degree and nothing else. Hurtling through the exams also does little to give you the experience you will so badly need (a) when trying to get ACCA or CIMA accreditation and (b) when looking to move up the ladder in work. Having a thorough practical grounding in the basics creates a solid foundation on which to build. I have seen so many people who stormed through exams, with degree exemptions, only to think they are now fit to become managers and leaders, when they know very little of the basics of what they will need their teams to be doing. I worked first, and qualified later, and that is not necessarily the best way, either, but it did make the exams feel a little less abstract, when I could relate it to some of the things I had been doing in the day job! This should be something that will help set you on an upward path for the rest of your work life. Whichever way you choose, good luck.
I would study for ICAEW and get a training contract with a firm in London.
It will be hard going for a few years but worth it in the end.