A couple of months ago we published an article on accountancy jobs in the South East. But what about acountancy jobs in Greater London?
The recession is now starting to hit. What’s interesting is that house prices in the South East have fallen more than those in Greater London. That suggests that demand - and thereby economic activity - has fallen less in Greater London than the South East region in general. Does that hold up for the accountancy profession?
“It’s early days yet,” says Sam Walpole, “and using housing data to extrapolate much at this stage could be a mistake. And remember that a lot of professionals move out of London to the home counties when they decide to start families. So the sharper housing slump in the South East might be reflection of City workers losing their jobs. One certainly hears anecdotal evidence that it’s easier to find a seat on commuter trains into Waterloo, on the Waterloo and City line, and on the Norther line at rush-hour.
“But accountancy jobs in Greater London itself should prove more resilient. After all, firms will always need accounting departments, and they will need auditors. Rapid or systemic change - or, indeed, bankruptcy - should produce more demand for accountants, at least in the shorter-term. Those prepared to be flexible and prepared to take temporary accountancy jobs should do well. The best advice in the current climate is to keep your head down, put the hours in, demonstrate your value, keep your skills up-to-date, and be prepared to be flexible.”
“To QBE or not to QBE, that is the question”, says Sam Walpole. “Quite often we find some excellent candidates, with enviable experience, but who - because of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune - have been unable to finish their qualifications. Those are people we term accountants Qualified by Experience.
“The news is good and bad. The good news is that your experience makes you eminently employable, and it really helps if you’ve specialised in a certain sector. However, the bad news is that getting out of that sector might be more of a problem. As an aside, that should be a warning to those starting out in their accountancy careers - pick a sector that you think will interest you in the longer-term. Many employers, when looking to replace a qualified accountant will stipulate that the list of candidates constitutes people who are fully qualified. Solid experiece can trump that if the sector is relevant and the candidate exceptional.
Salaries are typically lower for a QBE. A qualified accountant might typically be paid £45k in the south east, but a qualified by experience job in the south east would perhaps pay £35k. That’s a big difference. But, as I say, experience and candidate quality is everything. It’s a great comfort and reassurance to be in a profession where experience counts for so much. But you really should do your utmost to get qualified as early as possible, and better late than never.”
“Before you put finger to keyboard,” says Sam Walpole, recruitment consultant, “make sure you’re in a positive frame of mind. I read so many CVs that talk in a negative way about the candidate and their experience. This is a sales job. You’re trying to make a company ‘buy’ you. And if your salary is £30k, then it’s got to look like a pitch for a £30k product or service. Use bright and positive language - use the word ‘challenge’ instead of ‘problem’, for example.”
Here are Sam’s top tips for a great accountancy CV:
- Emphasise goals you have achieved - successful projects, ad hoc changes you made to systems that saved time and/or money
- Use positive language ‘Achieved goal x’, rather than ‘Finally managed to get x’
- Be honest. Never, but never lie on a CV. Accountants are placed in positions of trust, and you will be found out eventually.
- If your academics are good, shout about them. If your academics aren’t that great, don’t mention your grades - though you must be prepared to be questioned about them at interview, and have positive reasons for them - e.g. “We were facing a hostile takeover and I was seconded to prepare weekly reports for the Group Board”
- Have several versions of your CV prepared. Depending on the type of post or organisation you’re applying to, you should emphasise different - and more relevant - aspects of your experience and character. Having different CVs will enable you to move quickly - competition is fierce, and being first in always helps
- Use good grammar, and check your spelling - communication skills are important in any role, as are accuracy and precision
- Ask some friends and colleagues to cast a critical eye over your CV
- Seek professional help - see the links at the bottom of this article.
Click here for additional CV writing advice or click here for our free professional CV rating service.
“‘Part-qualified accountant job vacancy’, is advertising copy that makes the heart of the young account leap,” says Sam Walpole, our resident recruitment expert. “There is a huge number of people out there who, for one reason or another, are part-qualified. They might be halfway through an in-house training programme, or they could be plodding along in a fairly mundane and unchallenging role. A lot of people ask me whether it’s a good thing to change jobs as a part-qualified accountant. My answer is that it depends. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but it isn’t and I’ll explain why.
“If you are part-way through an in-house programme with a great firm, the obvious question is going to be ‘Why did you leave?’. If you’re in that position, stick the job for as long as you can. Every stage you can get through under that programme with that firm is going to count.
“On the other hand, if you’re with a mediocre organisation and can transition as a part-qualified accountant to something much more relevant or prestigious, then I’d say ‘Go for it’ because you have everything to gain.
“But the key thing is that it’s important not to be blinded by an employer paying for your tuition and exam fees. If the job’s not going to do your career prospects any good, then the amount you’re being compensated for will not be worth it in the long run. I’ve met so many people who’ve got into dead-end jobs for the sake of a short-term gain like having fees paid, only to qualify and discover they’ve not got the prospects they expected. People often forget that qualifications aren’t the be-all and end-all: relevant experience counts for so much. After all, that’s why we have highly-paid accountants who are Qualified by Experience.”
With the downturn in the economy, there is speculation about the future of accountancy jobs in the South East.
“Some sources estimate that about a third or more of qualified accountants live in the South East of England. That would certainly tally with London’s dominance of the financial sector - teams of accountants are required in the back offices of financial institutions simply to run the businesses,” says Sam Walpole, financial recruitment specialist.
But the key question is whether accountancy jobs in the South East will be hit worse than others. “The key thing is that companies still need teams of accountants to look after the business,” says Sam. “If sales contract by 10%, you still have the same fixed costs and your operating profit would fall much more dramatically. You would perhaps need 10% fewer salespeople to service your clients, but you would still need the same number of accountants. If anything, it might be the lower-paid jobs in administration that might go. You don’t want to go cutting the jobs of the people who’re managing the money - that’s a recipe for disaster. And good credit controllers are worth their weight in gold at times like these.
“So I think accountancy jobs in the South East won’t be hit as badly as other professions. Of course, a cynic might point out that firms dealing with insolvency and bankruptcy must be licking their lips at the prospect at the prospect of a protracted recession. For businesses in administration, like Woolworths or MFI, the accountants are about the last people to leave because the insolvency teams need their expert advice. When Lehman Brothers went bust earlier this year, it was mainly the bankers and traders you saw with their cardboard boxes. Some of the accountants were heavily incentivised to stick around and sort out the mess.”
“Strictly speaking, there are no templates for accountancy jobs that will guarantee success,” explains Sam Walpole. “However, there are key things everyone should have.”
Chronological career history, listing key achievements in each role
Academic history, including any extra awards
Key examples of the different types of CV are available on http://www.justaccountancyjobs.com/CV-Writing-Advice
“Your CV is a sales-pitch, so you should treat it as such. Look at your CV and ask yourself ‘Would I want to see this person?’ Get professional colleagues to look over your CV for you. Get it checked for grammatical errors. And if you need some free professional CV writing advice you can get it by clicking on this link: http://www.justaccountancyjobs.com/CV-Writing-Advice.”
“Financial services have taken a big hit in the last quarter,” says Sam Walpole. “Over the last decade, financial services have grown to be the single biggest sector of the UK economy, accounting for approximately 30% of GDP. People at all levels have taken a hit, from call centre staff through to the big-hitters in the City. Obviously, the economic downturn - and especially the loss of faith in the financial sector - is going to have a huge impact on the UK.”
But Sam says that talk of the death of the UK’s financial sector is overdone. “London is still the financial capital of the world,” he explains. “It already has the infrastructure in place. There are hundreds of thousands of square feet of office empty now, and that actually bodes well for the future because rents will come down. The collapse of sterling against other currencies means that support staff are now much cheaper than in New York or Frankfurt - especially since there have been so many redundancies, which will keep a peg on wages. And you can’t change London’s geographic location, situated conveniently midway between the Asian and American time zones. Add to that mix the fact that English is the language of finance, and the future is still bright for financial service careers in London - we might even see an increase in market share in the next few months.”
In previous articles we’ve focused at what’s perceived to be the higher end of accountancy - Financial Controllers, Finance Directors, Internal Auditors and the like. But, as everyone knows, accountancy isn’t just about high-flying ACCA or CIMA qualified accountants.
“There’s a huge army of accountancy personnel out there - perhaps five support staff for each accountant,” says our expert Sam Walpole. “They really are the unsung heroes of the business world. It’s the bookkeepers particularly who are responsible for the basic work of balancing the books - ensuring costs and profits are allocated correctly, and enabling the accountants to focus on the more strategic picture.
“The traditional image of the bookkeeper is an ‘Aunt Doris’, a silver-haired lady who’s been with the company for decades and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of cost centres. The reality is quite different these days, and the bookkeeper is likely to have an enviable grasp of front-end packages like Sage. The certified bookkeeper with a couple of years of relevant experience is worth their weight in gold. HM Treasury has actually appointed the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers supervisory body status under the Money Laundering Act 2007.
“There is always going to be room in any organisation for good bookkeepers; particularly smaller and more entrepreneurial companies. Indeed, there are bookkeeper franchises available for those who would like their own business but would prefer the assurance of working under an umbrella organisation. For many businesses, an certified bookkeeper is a great substitute for an accountant because they’ve got other organsations on their books who they’ve guided through similar situations.
“But people often forget about the public sector, and that there are bookkeeper jobs in the NHS and Housing, for example. There are thousands of great bookkeeper jobs in Greater London - all of them great career challenges, with excellent remuneration for the right candidates.”
With the recession beginning to bite, employers are cutting back. We asked resident recruitment expert, Sam Walpole, what the implications are for accountancy recruitment over the next couple of years.
“The first area to be cut in any recession is recruitment, particularly where an organisation faces high personnel costs. The first stage of this is a freeze on new hires. In large companies, this can lead to a gradual erosion of head-count as staff leave through natural wastage. What often happens is that these organisations will begin to recruit people for temporary accounting positions. It’s impossible to say what proportion of chartered accountant vacancies are currently temporary, but it will start to increase substantially.
“It used to be the case that there was some stigma attached to temporary accountant jobs, but I think that’s largely gone. Indeed, these sorts of positions can allow the candidate to gain experience in a larger number of sectors, and in a range of positions. If you find an organisation you particularly like, you can go all-out to impress, or look for a permanent position. I think the savvy accounting or finance professional can use a downturn very much to their advantage, so long as they remain flexible in their outlook.
“Part-time accountancy jobs are another area of opportunity in a downturn. These used to be the preserve of the accountant returning to work after maternity leave who’s juggling a busy home life. They can offer the professional the chance to earn a decent salary whilst either furthering their qualifications, or hunting for something better.
“The key to surviving a recession is to be flexible, have the imagination and courage to see everything as an opportunity, and thereby to maximise the career potential of whatever misfortune life throws at you.”
This week, we found ourselves interviewing our resident recruitment expert, Sam Walpole. This interview follows on from where last week’s article on management accounting jobs left off.
“First, let’s answer the question ‘What does an internal auditor do?’,” begins Sam. “You’d be surprised at how many candidates for an internal auditor job vacancy don’t have a good idea of what the position entails. It is correct to assume that the role takes on similar activities to an external auditor. However, a large proportion of these sorts of roles tend to be within public bodies - so the ultimate accountability is to the public purse, rather than the investor. The remit is to provide an objective assessment of the effectiveness of the management’s control systems. Ultimately, the aim is to maximise the cost-effective use of resources. In most organisations, the internal audit team will have the power to examine any and every record, asset - and to question all personal, at every level.”
“You’re likely to find internal auditor jobs in central and local government, as well as the NHS - and there’s certainly a lot of those kinds of organisations in Greater London. Candidates might have a background in management accounting, or they could be ACCA qualified. It helps to have some experience of dealing with large institutions, as you’ll need to know your way around the bureaucracy and have a feel for the sorts of internal politics that can be present. It’s a very worthwhile job, because ultimately you’re serving the public good. It’s surprisingly easy to change between the public and private sector in this role because the sorts of companies that require an internal auditor will tend to be large and bureaucratic, with some politics going on.”