What Personal Qualities Do I Need?
The variety of jobs undertaken by Chartered Accountants calls for a wide range of personal qualities. A Chartered Accountant needs to be:
- A good communicator
- A high academic achiever
- A good team player
- Comfortable with numbers
- Able to manage others effectively
- Analytical
- Self-motivated
Fact: most students who start training pass their professional exams.
Everyone will tell you that training to be a Chartered Accountant is tough - they' re right! They'll also tell you that the qualities that get you through are commitment, hard work and determination - and once you've qualified many options and opportunities will be open to you.
The majority of trainees are graduates who enter three-year training contracts. But there are also opportunities for bright non-graduates. Contracts are open to BTEC and A level students.
Training contracts are offered by a wide range of firms, mainly in public practice but also in industry, and the terms and conditions of the contract may vary Make sure that you train with a firm that suits your temperament and careers objectives, and offers an adequate package of support for your tuition and examination.
Working for a large firm can have advantages, you will audit many large "household name" clients and the experience is valued by many employers. Most large firms offer a package of benefits that includes competitive salaries, excellent exam support and training and for some, a greater choice over the study methods available.
Working in a small or medium sized firm you will be trained more as an accountant than an auditor Many of the jobs will be for smaller clients and will provide a varied and interesting work schedule covering many areas of general practice. Many students appreciate the more personal, perhaps less pressurised environment that they work in with managers and partners often having more time to treat them as individuals.
Top Tips
- Study the subjects you're confident in - it's grades more than subjects that matter
- Try and get some work experience to see whether it appeals to you
- Talk to people about the work they do
- Choose a training form that suits you
Career Prospects
At the forefront of everyone's mind is salary. After all that hard work you want it to be worthwhile, not only through job satisfaction, but financially too. As a Chartered Accountant you can expect good rewards.
If successful, you gain the premier UK business qualification which can open the door to many career possibilities. It is no coincidence that some 25% of the top 500 companies in the UK have a chartered accountant as their chairman or managing director. With opportunities to work in industry or practice in the UK or abroad, the dilemma for Chartered Accountants is that of choice.
Lets Hear It From The Experts
This is all very well, but what do the people who know have to say? Here is just a few comments from students and newly qualified Chartered Accountants:
"I thought I wouldn't fit it in, that everyone would be hyper-intelligent, but they're just ordinary bright young people the same as me." - Stephanie Swan
"We provide a service in a competitive market and we have to be dynamic to thrive - being boring simply wouldn't be successful." - Mohammed Shafique
"Boring? Come and try my job: it 's definitely not boring - hard yes - boring, no way!" - Elspeth Dickinson
