You're a Qualified Chartered Accountant - What Next?
12 Oct 2018
Michelle Massey
We had the pleasure of joining the ACA Autumn Conferring yesterday and in the words of Barry Dempsey (CEO of Chartered Accountants Ireland), it was “impossible not to feel the palpable pride in the room” as the newest members of Chartered Accountants Ireland became ACA qualified.
Years of hard work culminating in a fantastic ceremony and celebrations with loved ones.
Now the dust - and the champagne bubbles - have settled the biggest question you are probably asking yourself is “now what?”
The opportunities as an ACA qualified accountant are endless, stay in practice, move to industry, continue studying, go traveling, the list goes on. In fact it goes on so long that it could very well become a little overwhelming – and that’s ok – that’s where we can help.
With that in mind, here are our top tips to help you navigate the next step in your career as a Chartered Accountant:
- Discover what drives you: finding a role and industry that you have passion for will set you up for longevity. Ask yourself what part of your current role and your studies did you enjoy most and why, what do you really care about professionally, where do you want to spend your time?
- Know your worth: think about your strengths, what are you really good at? Highlight them in your CV, give examples of how you’ve used them to provide value to your current employer. Don’t rush to take the very first job offered to you, rather take the time to understand what that role will look like on day one and then over the next few years, are you valuing yourself? Then make your decision.
- Use your network: Social networking via LinkedIn can provide you with wonderful opportunities and also give you an insight into the career paths of other Chartered Accountants. Update your profile “ACA Newly Qualified”, tick the ‘open to opportunities’ box, reach out to people from companies you are interested in and ask them how they got where they are today and do they have any advice or recommendations.
- Understand the jobs market: Whether you want to move into industry, financial services or a different practice it’s important you understand the current market. Working with specialists such as the team at Brightwater Recruitment who have over 20 years’ experience will help you understand the number of roles available to you and help match your skills to your chosen career path.
It can be easy to freeze in the face of opportunity but developing a strong idea of who you are and what you want to do next will help you make the next step.
We at Brightwater are here to lend a hand with this. Over the last 3 months we have seen a marked increase in the number of roles available to newly qualified accountants. Working across industry, practice and financial services we have roles to suit every need and excellent relationships with our valued clients.
Reach out to the Accountancy division in our Dublin office on (01) 6621000 or our Cork office on (021) 44221000 and find your dream job.
Michelle Massey is a Consultant in Brightwater’s Accountancy division, specialising in the placement of qualified accountants into industry.