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Advice For Newly Qualified Accountants

The market for newly qualified accountants continues to thrive, offering a wide range of opportunities beyond traditional practice. Making the right choice for your first job outside of practice is crucial, as it can shape your career trajectory for the next few years. In this updated guide, we will explore key factors to consider and provide relevant insights for today's job market.Determine Your Preferred Job Role:As a newly qualified ACA accountant, your experience is highly sought after by various employers. Instead of settling for any role that isn't external audit, take the time to identify the type of job you genuinely aspire to pursue. Consider roles in financial accounting, financial reporting, financial analysis, internal audit, and more. Choose a position that aligns with your interests and offers long-term job satisfaction. Explore Industry Preferences:With several years of audit experience, you have acquired first-hand knowledge of companies across different industries. Reflect on the organizations you audited and identify those you would personally like to work for. Dublin, in particular, offers numerous opportunities in sectors such as banking, insurance, funds, multinationals, and even Irish-owned SMEs and start-ups. While transitioning to a similar industry may be easier, some employers recognize the transferability of your skills and may provide opportunities to change sectors. Consult with your recruiter to learn which companies can offer this flexibility. Practice or Transition?While many accountants in audit eagerly leave practice after their training contract, staying in practice can also be a viable option. Advancement to managerial roles, leading larger teams, and engaging with senior stakeholders in different companies can benefit some individuals in the long run. However, if staying in your current role offers no new challenges or growth opportunities, it may be advisable to explore other options. Consider shifting to a different accountancy practice after completing your training contract. Big 4 and top-tier audit firms often seek talented auditor seniors. Changing practices can expose you to new clients and sectors, particularly if you trained in a Top 20 practice. Gaining experience in a Big 4 firm can be advantageous if your ultimate goal is to secure a role in a multinational or financial services organization. What is most important to you in a new job? All candidates will have different motives for leaving practice. Every candidate has unique motivations for leaving practice. Some seek organizations that offer continuous progression and development over the next 5-10 years, while others prioritize roles that provide variety and mental challenges. After working long hours for several years, some individuals simply desire a job with regular work hours. Whatever your priorities, there are diverse options available to suit your needs.When working with a recruiter, be transparent about your preferences, which will help them identify the most suitable companies and roles for your skill set.Additionally, reach out to former colleagues who have transitioned to industry roles to gain first hand insights into life outside of practice. Update your CV:Until you interview your CV is the only document you have to describe your skills and experience. Until you secure an interview, your CV serves as the primary document to showcase your skills and experience. Despite the availability of resources like CV templates and online advice, preparing a strong CV can still be challenging for some qualified accountants. Ensure your CV accurately represents the relevant experience gained during your training contract. If you're uncertain about the layout or content, consult a recruiter who can assist you in this process. In general your CV should be clear, concise, easy to read and very informative (facts and figures). If you have trained in audit list the different clients you have audited and describe their size (turnover, number of employees etc.) and industry sector. Recruiters see hundreds of CVs from Big 4 candidates every year and most CVs look very similar – what distinguishes one from the other is the different clients that you have worked on. Your audit clients will also be the first thing employers will look at when reviewing your application along with your educational record. In certain cases your recruiter may get you to tailor your CV for an application to a specific role – this will significantly increase your chance of securing an interview. Engage with a recruiter:Meeting with a recruiter in person offers more benefits than a mere phone call. In an initial meeting, you can have an open and honest conversation about your desired job and preferences. This ensures that you are only considered for roles that genuinely interest you, rather than being submitted to multiple positions solely due to your skill set. Applying to jobs of no appeal to you is a waste of the recruiter’s and the client’s time and does not reflect well on you either. By meeting with the recruiter at the beginning of your job search you will also distinguish yourself from the other hundred candidates coming out of training contracts at the same time. A good recruiter will also be able to match you to a company environment that will suit your personality as well as your skill set. Don't wait to be approached by recruiters; take a proactive approach and contact them yourself. While being headhunted for a specific role is appealing, recruiters with the most relevant opportunities might not have the time to extensively search LinkedIn. By registering with a reputable recruitment consultant, you'll stay informed about suitable job openings. Even if you are not looking for a role immediately the best way to find out about good jobs is by having a relationship with the recruiter that will be speaking to these companies. Also, recruiters that have worked with companies for a number of years tend to be able to influence clients into meeting candidates that they have met and can personally recommend. By applying to a job through an agency you should be able to gain a competitive advantage over applicants that apply directly. Your recruiter will be able to give you advice about the company, the work environment, the hiring manager and also be able to conduct interview preparation with you. They will also be able to keep you better informed of the timelines involved in the process and will be able to ensure the hiring manager makes a quick decision if you are interviewing with a couple of different companies. Consider Salary Expectations:Naturally the salary you attain in a new job is an important factor when making your decision about what company to join. As a qualified ACA accountant in Dublin's current job market, you can expect a competitive salary. Companies in different industries pay different various salaries so have a look at salary guides for an idea of what you may be eligible for. Some companies may offer lower initial salaries with a clear path for increased remuneration and benefits as you progress. Others might provide a higher starting salary but limited opportunities for career advancement over the next few years. Maintain an open-minded approach and seek advice from your recruitment consultant, colleagues, and managers.Taking a short-term view of salary expectations may not be in your long-term best interest, as slight differences in salary will have minimal impact on your monthly take-home pay. Should I take a contract job?Many candidates focus exclusively on permanent positions when considering career changes. While this approach is understandable in certain circumstances (e.g., mortgage applications), dismissing contract roles can limit your options. Large multinational and financial services companies in Dublin often offer contract roles initially, which often extend beyond the initial fixed term. These roles are typically permanent in all but name. Consult your recruiter for insights into which companies are more likely to offer permanent positions. Can I go travelling after my contract ends?On completion of a training contract or within a year of qualifying, a large percentage of accountants will go abroad to travel or to work. Depending on your personal circumstances you may be better off staying in your current practice for six months before going away whereas in the majority of cases it may be good to try and get 6-12 months industry experience before going away as this will make your CV look more marketable when you decide to return to Ireland. Of course this is dependent on individual circumstance and jobs on offer.What if I fail my FAEs?If you fail your exams you will still have a significant number of options available to you. The first thing you should consider is whether you plan on repeating your ACA exams the following year. If this is the case, the best option will likely be to stay working in practice as no company in industry will offer you the amount of study leave that you will get in practice. If you are unhappy in your role maybe consider joining another audit firm that will offer a new environment and new clients to work with. A good option for a lot of candidates is to change to ACCA. This is still a prestigious qualification that will be hugely beneficial to you over the course of your career. You will be exempt from most exams and should be able to qualify within a year. The exam format is much friendlier to people in full time jobs than ACA exams are. The majority of accountants that train in industry will undertake ACCA exams rather than ACA ones. If you want to stay doing ACA maybe consider taking a contract role until next summer and then take a couple of months off to study for your FAEs once again. You will still have lots of options available to you to move into industry. You have the same amount of work experience as those that are qualified and your skillset will still be in demand to employers. You may not command the same salary that qualified accountants can but you will still get a good package. You will also have a year’s experience in industry (rather than another twelve months in practice) and when you qualify next year you should be able to command the same salary as your work colleagues who pass the exams this year. If you have any questions on your current position or are interested in roles that Sigmar has on offer please contact our Accountancy Recruitment team by email at accountancy@sigmar.ie or call 01-4744 600.

Engineering Week: Battle of the Sexes in Engineering

A polarizing topic and a polarizing question, who wins in the battle of the sexes?The topic of equality in the workplace and lack of transparency has come to the forefront of many internal and external discussions. According to the Society of Women’s Engineers, in 2003 only 20% of new graduates from an engineering discipline were female in the United States. Compare that to a recent study in 2018 by Roberta Rincon, PH.D., Manager of Research at the SWE, where only 30% of women who earn a bachelor’s degree in Engineering are still working in that profession 20 years later and only 13% of engineers are women in the USA. However, there was a 54% increase in women being awarded engineering and computer science degree between 2011 and 2016.If we bring this closer to home, just 11% of the UK’s engineering workforce were female in 2017, a 2% increase since 2015. The UK also has the lowest percentage of female engineers in the EU, under 10% where the likes of Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus have nearly 30%.One step closer again and we are in Ireland where less than 25% of the people working in STEM related professions are women. Accenture conducted a survey which conveyed that there are negative stereotypes towards STEM subjects and careers.Certainly, there is still a long way to go before we reach true equality, it is a highly important issue. Yet, how about we move away slightly from representation and focus on pure achievement and contribution when discussing women and men in engineering? We provide the engineering icons and their achievements, and you decide who wins in a casual five-a-side match up!Let’s start at a time when engineering was starting to make waves across the whole of society and specifically focus in on electrical engineering, our first match up is Nikola Tesla and Edith Clarke. Edith ClarkeFirst Female Electrical Engineer and First Female Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University, teaching for 10 years.Invented the calculator while working as a Supervisor in GE.Also invented Clarke Transformation and was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of FameTwo of her papers in mathematics won awards from the AIEE, best regional paper in 1932 and best national paper in 1941. Nikola TeslaThe famous Croatian began working in Edison Machine Works, troubleshooting installations and improving generators patented over 300 inventions but is most well known for the Tesla Coil and oscillator.Advised on the electrical system for Niagara Falls.Invented a radio remote control boat, dubbing it “teleautomation” but the general public considered it magic or even made the outlandish claim a small monkey was driving it. This would later go into mass use in World War I for torpedoes with Tesla getting little acclaim.Effectively dying bankrupt, he was well known for his eccentric behaviour, working everyday from 9am to 6pm, walking at least 8 miles every day and possessing an eidetic memory.So, who was the bright spark who outshone the other between this duo of electrical engineers?Next up we have the Civil Engineers who paved the way in their fields, Gustave Eiffel and Emily Warren Roebling. Emily Warren RoeblingContributed massively to the completion of the Brooklyn bridge.After her husband, Washington Roebling, the chief engineer for the Brooklyn Bridge, contracted Caisson Disease and became bed-ridden, she developed an extensive knowledge of Materials, Stress Analysis and Cable Construction. She also became the only person to relay instruction to his assistants and aided in the plans for completion of the bridge itself.She took over a lot of the chief engineer duties and jointly planned the bridges completion and was the first to cross the bridge by carriage.Campaigned for women’s rights and against discriminatory practices targeted at women, winning wide acclaim and awards for her essay “A Wife’s Disabilities”. Gustave EiffelMost famous for the Eiffel Tower but also contributed to the liberty statue and also designed the Garabit Viaduct.The Eiffel Bridge, and Gustave’s first major work, which is in Bordeaux has been protected as a French Historical Monument.Even though he was only a contractor for the Panama Bridge project he was implicated in the financial and political scandal.Contributed massively to aerodynamics and civil engineering, he died on 27 December 1923 while listening to Beethovens 5th SymphonyThe Brooklyn Bridge vs the Eiffel Tower, who built more of a legacy, Gustave or Emily? Both certainly had their issues to overcome but left a lasting legacy behind them but who made the bigger impression on the civil engineering world?Following on from Civil Engineering, we have a match up between a physicist and a chemist who both revolutionized their own respective fields and the world as we know it. Stephanie KwolekOffered a position at the DuPont facility in New York, the vacancy arose as the majority of men were overseas in World War II but developed a career spanning 40 years, becoming the only female employee in 2015 to receive the Lavoisier Medal for outstanding achievement.She became the fourth woman to be added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame after creating Kevlar and had an illustrious career in working with polymers.Stephanie never profited from the discovery as she signed it over to DuPont, but Kevlar is used in hundreds of different products that we use daily such as mobile phones and cables.She won a publication award for her Nylon Rope Trick which created Nylon from a beaker at room temperature but also received the Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists and an award for Creative Invention from the American Chemical Society.The Royal Society of Chemistry awards scientists the ‘Stephanie L Kwolek Award’ to exceptional contributions to the area of materials chemistry outside of the UK. John BardeenAwarded the Nobel Prize for Physics twice, first in 1956 for the invention of the transistor and secondly in 1972 for a fundamental theory of conventional superconductivity known as the BCS theory.His development of the transistor helped with almost all modern technology such as telephones and computers, effectively bringing in the information age.In 1990, John was included in Life Magazines 100 most Influential Americans of the Century.Worked on magnetic mines and torpedoes during World War II.Sony have created a John Bardeen Professional Chair post at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bursar of $3 million.With both inventors and engineers leaving a massive legacy behind them both in academia and in real life application of science, it is a hard-won battle about who comes out on top between this pair.Now to look at more of a celebrity type of engineer and inventor with a flair for the limelight. Hedy LamarrAn Austrian born, inventor and actress who both helped develop a radio guidance system for allied torpedoes and starred in the likes of Algiers, Boom Town and Samson and Delilah.With no formal training, she created improved traffic stoplights, torpedoes that could resist frequency jamming and advised Howard Hughes on changing the design of his aeroplanes to sleeker, streamlined versions.In 1939, she was awarded the “most promising new actress” and has a Hollywood walk of Fame star.She became the first woman to receive the Invention Convention’s BULBIE Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, was awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundations Pioneer Award and also was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.She has had her fair share of controversy with her film Ecstasy being banned in numerous countries for its content, being convicted of shoplifting twice and a few other scandals. Elon MuskThe South African entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Co-Founder and CEO of Tesla with other massive companies such as The Boring Company which cover infrastructure and construction to Neuralink, a neurotechnology company.He founded X.com which later became PayPal and was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion and also Zip2 who were later acquired by Compaq for $340 million.Elon has stated that the goals if SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity are humanitarian in reducing the effect of global warming by increasing the use of sustainable energy and even found a colony on mars.He has been ranked as one of the most powerful people in the world by Forbes, was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Business Insider named him in the top ten of business visionaries creating value for the world.Who has the bigger wow factor, the movie star who escaped Nazi occupation to become a massive film star and inventor or the modern-day entrepreneurial engineer changing the landscape of the world?Up next are two engineers who have represented two of the biggest companies in the world with very different backgrounds but still inspirational stories. Ann KelleherBorn in Macroom, Co. Cork who was one of 5 women in a class of 55 studying engineering in UCC. She continued her studies achieving a master’s in electrical engineering and became the first ever female to receive a PHD from the NMRC.She began her career as a process engineer in Intel Ireland later progressing to factory manager, eventually site managing Intel’s New Mexico plant.She became the first woman in Intel’s history to be named Vice President, later becoming senior vice-president.In 2018 she became one of 25 women to be recognised in “Ireland’s Most Powerful Women Award” and was even tipped by Forbes as a good candidate to replace Elon Musk at Tesla.She is a huge advocate for women working in engineering and has called for more girls to study engineering and that more women should be applying for senior management roles. Steve WozniakElectronics engineer who co-founded Apple who is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the personal computer revolution.After a traumatic plane crash, he suffered from amnesia using Apple II computer games to regain his memory but later leaving apple to invent and patent a universal controller.He has a long line of philanthropic programs he works on, ranging form founding the Electronic Frontier Foundation, sponsoring the Tech Museum, the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose and provided the entirety of the budget for the technical program for his local school district in Los Gatos.In 2014 he was induced into the Manufacturing Wall of Fame while also acting as the Innovator in Residence at High Point University and receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Museum of Natural History.As well as holding an electrical engineering degree from the University of California, he has 10 honorary degrees from American, English, Canadian and Spanish degrees.Is it the Cork native with her extremely impressive CV who comes out smiling or is it Woz with his contribution to Apple and personal computers? Overall this is not to split opinion or be divisive, it is an insight into the major engineering feat’s that have been achieved by men and women. Despite low female representation in the engineering sphere, female leaders such as Hey Lamarr and Ann Kelliher still emerged changing the world for the better. These female leaders went against the grain in spectacular fashion portraying that we can do more to further the conversation on diversity in engineering.

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Navigating College Admission Setbacks: A Guide for CAO Students in Ireland

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Advice For Newly Qualified Accountants

How To Avoid Feeling ‘Burnt Out’ When Applying For Jobs

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Engineering Week: Battle of the Sexes in Engineering

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In-Demand Business Support & Customer Service Skills

In-Demand Business Support & Customer Service Skills

Navigating College Admission Setbacks: A Guide for CAO Students in Ireland

Navigating College Admission Setbacks: A Guide for CAO Students in Ireland

​In-Demand Areas for the Future: A Guide for Leaving Cert Graduates

​In-Demand Areas for the Future: A Guide for Leaving Cert Graduates

How Do I Get A Job In Digital Marketing?

How Do I Get A Job In Digital Marketing?

Office Support Staff In Demand Now More Than Ever

Office Support Staff In Demand Now More Than Ever

Advice For Newly Qualified Accountants

Advice For Newly Qualified Accountants

How To Avoid Feeling ‘Burnt Out’ When Applying For Jobs

How To Avoid Feeling ‘Burnt Out’ When Applying For Jobs

What to do When You Lose Your Job

What to do When You Lose Your Job

Engineering Week: Battle of the Sexes in Engineering

Engineering Week: Battle of the Sexes in Engineering

CV Tips

CV Tips

Interview Tips

Interview Tips

Personal Branding

Personal Branding

Salary Guides

Salary Guides

Career Planning

Career Planning

Work Smarter

Work Smarter

Jobs Market

Jobs Market

Graduate Advice

Graduate Advice

In-Demand Areas for the Future: A Guide for Leaving Cert Graduates

In-Demand Areas for the Future: A Guide for Leaving Cert Graduates