The Audit Agony Aunt

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Carol McLachlan, theaccountantscoach, is a qualified accountant, NLP Practitioner and professionally qualified coach. Her 18 year career at Ernst and Young as a chartered accountant and and Director of Resources has equipped her with a real understanding of the professional and personal issues that accountants face.  Here Carol answers your questions as our very own Audit Agony Aunt.

If you have any careers, skills development or promotion questions, please send them to Carol, who will endeavour to answer them.

There may be the odd occasion that Carol cannot answer due high demand for her time, but you can post your question on the CareersinAudit.com Facebook Page or our LinkedIn Group and discuss current issues with other auditors and audit jobseekers from across the world. 

 

 

"I returned to work in the finance department of a large corporate a year ago after maternity leave, working four days a week, three from home. But I feel I am often being left out of important decisions, missing out on interesting project work and feel generally out of touch. I appreciate the flexibility and don't want to burden colleagues. Childcare arrangements preclude me from going to the office more. Have you got any advice?"

Welcome to the Brave New World of working from home! Actually it’s far from new – more a case of ‘what goes around comes around’. Pre-Industrial Revolution ‘work’ and ‘home’ were more often than not, one and the same.

Two hundred years on though, we’d better get used to it; twenty first century home-working is surely here to stay. The enablers are in place: broadband and wireless technology, a mature knowledge economy and cloud computing being just the tip of the iceberg. Add in the office ‘deterrents’: fuel, pollution, regulation to combat climate change and the heavy costs of the office infrastructure, and it is clear that more and more of us will be spending some time working from home. Indications are that office working will eventually cease to be the dominant norm.

The rise in home-working has been, and will continue to be, meteoric. The Sunday Times ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ list gave us a heads-up as far back as 2007. Their review showed, in just two years, an increase from 14.1% to 31.7% in the proportion of staff working from home for at least part of their working week.

With this sheer pace and magnitude of change is it surprising that organisations and individuals need help? Just as our ancestors did two hundred years ago, all parties need to fashion new ways of working, behaving and thinking. As a pioneer of home working, here is an opportunity for you to take control and assume personal responsibility to make it really work for you.

First up, check out to what extent your current perception is assumption or reality. Do some research and firmly nail whether you really are being left behind. And if you are, differentiate between each of the unsatisfactory areas:

      o Involvement in important decisions,
      o Missing out on interesting projects,
      o Feeling generally out of touch

and address them individually. For each area of concern, consider: where you are now, where want to get to, how you will know you are making progress (measures) and how you are going to make that progress.

Here are some suggestions that will help you create, and drive forward your own Working from Home strategy:

• Build partnerships. Buddy up, both with other virtual workers and office based staff. Great for raising morale, sharing dilemmas, solving problems and keeping up to date with the gossip.
• Raise your profile in the virtual world. Regardless of physical networking prospects, you’re wasting a valuable opportunity if you don’t join the virtual arena. Forums, blogs, discussion threads are all easy ways to develop and sustain visibility. Think about all the ways that you used to make ongoing physical contact and look for a virtual option.
• Use your performance management system to address the issue of strategic professional development. This is where the interesting projects come in. Upfront planning and active sponsorship of what constitutes a good fit for your portfolio and talents will make a big difference here.
• Leverage your home and office time to get the best out of each. Identify activities that can only be done in office. These are clearly your ‘face time’ activities, so don’t bury yourself by choosing the furthest hotel desk. Your motto is to ‘see and be seen’. Office days are for doing coffee or lunch with the movers and shakers. Keep an ongoing agenda of topics that you want to raise. Conversely, home days are best for uninterrupted blocks of time for problem solving, report writing, technical work and heavy duty telephone conversations.
• Create a communication strategy for fellow home workers. Work in partnership with your organisation, get some input from fellow workers (home and office) and develop an official ‘Working from Home’ communication system. There are lots of ideas throughout this special feature to get you started.

It is true that you’re going to have to work smarter, if not harder, to keep in the loop when you are working from home. But as we’ve seen, home-working is here to stay. Hang on in there, feel the work-life balance benefits and enjoy the glory of the early adopter!

 

 

"I found out about your column through Simon Wright on Linked In. I am hoping you will be able to help me too!

As a little bit of background, I am ACA qualified from PwC and then worked in Internal audit at EY. Having been on a career break for 2.5 years, I am now looking to make a move into Tax. I am most interested in personal tax planning (eg high net worth individuals) and returns but also want to gain experience in corporate tax. What would you advise as being the best route to undertake in terms of gaining experience in tax?

My concern lies in whether I should apply for graduate training schemes at accountancy practice firms in tax or should I be making an "experienced hire" application with my very limited and rusty tax knowledge?

Another question I had was around whether I should undertake exams such as Chartered Tax Advisor exams privately while I am making my applications. These, as you are probably aware, are very expensive and ideally, I would like to be sponsored for them.

Any advice would be most appreciated! Thank you in advance" Ayesha

Hi Ayesha,

What I understand is that you are in a position to make a significant investment to regenerate your career. Ideally you would join an organisation at post-qualified level, on a commensurate salary but if necessary you would also be prepared to start at the bottom and re-train as a tax specialist at graduate entry level.

To be able and willing, to consider such a broad continuum of options, puts you in a pretty unique position. There are a lot of possibilities here and you need to do some research and hard thinking to find the best solution to fit your own particular needs and preferences. Here are some suggestions:

1. Get clear on why you are choosing tax. Get it clear to yourself and how you articulate it to others. What exactly do you want from a career in tax that you can’t get from your training and experience to date? Be very specific. Differentiate between personal tax and corporate and also compliance versus more strategic consultancy work. Each of these specialisms offer quite different career experiences.

2. I highly recommend testing out your thoughts on this by getting some hands-on experience. This could be via work place shadowing, a short unpaid secondment or by finding a mentor. Approach contacts from your Big 4 network (past and present) and through the ICAEW. But also explore beyond the Big 4. Many of your former colleagues will have moved to different types of organisations and you need to be aware of the options in industry as well as different size firms.

3. This research will not only test out your perceptions of tax as the best career fit but it will deepen your knowledge and market intelligence and raise even more questions! It will also strengthening your network of potential mentors and contacts.

4. And when you’ve reached this point – recognising your own needs and motivations, understanding the opportunities and options and created a powerful resource bank of knowledge and contacts - then you can make an informed decision which minimises your personal investment and risk.

Good luck!

 

 

"More of my team are working from home and I feel that as a result I am getting lumbered with fielding more enquiries and sorting out more problems. Communicating with them is also proving more time consuming. I can't help feeling resentful, especially as my workload is already very heavy. What should I do?"

Communication is key here.

Open up this topic for ongoing discussion with your line manager. You are looking for formal acknowledgement of differences between the roles and responsibilities of office-based and home-based workers. Once this has been officially acknowledged you can then negotiate on reward and recognition (salary, benefits, status etc), additional support and/or compensatory change in other parts of your role.

This discussion will also highlight to management, the need for an organisational strategy regarding home-working. You may find that they are unaware of the practical differences between the two roles and they may choose to look at alternative ways of tacking some of these issues. Examples might be:

      • Is it practical or even possible for home-workers to deal with the problem solving aspects of the of the job?
      • Is there another or better way of fielding enquiries, sorting non-routine problems?
      • Does department need additional or a different type of resource?

In the meantime, you can take the lead on a team communication strategy that can give you some immediate relief. For each team member document, agree and circulate the following communication information:

      • Days/times not contactable
      • Preferred means of communication – mobile, landline, email, instant message or other
      • Target response time
      • Arrangement for contact regarding ‘urgent’ business matters and definition of what constitutes ‘urgency’
      • Alternative named contact for specific projects/functions of role

 

 

"I'm moving with my family deeper into the countryside and my employer is very open to working from home proposals. On one hand this would be great for my lifestyle, but I fear it could damage my promotion prospects and I am keen to progress. Do you think my fears are justified?"

If you bury yourself in your rural idyll, just do the necessary to stay employed and keep a very low profile – yes I do!

But clearly if you are looking for promotion you won’t be doing any of these!

So bolster your prospects as follows:

• Understand the progression principles within your organisation. Find out what’s needed for promotion. What competencies, behaviours, experience are valued? Usually you would be expected to stretch your current grade and start to exhibit the attributes of the one above.
• Just as you would from an office-base, create a plan to demonstrate these higher qualities from your remote location. It will be harder and you’ll need to use lateral thinking but think about how you can add value to the role, prove your potential and go that extra mile.
• Make full use of technology. Physical distance need not be an impediment when you’ve got inter- and intra-net, forums, blogs and virtual conferencing to make your mark. In fact they could present you with the means to be applauded as a high-achieving pioneer of home-working.
• And finally, confide in your line manager. Be honest and share your fears. Discuss the personal promotion strategy you’ve already designed and see what input they can add.

 

 

"I am an ACA graduate who has been with my current firm for just over a year. I would not say that I am unhappy but I know that once qualifying I would need to move in order to progress.

I have recently been approached by another firm who have offered me a similar role within external audit. Whilst I believe the working environment of a smaller firm would suit me, the opportunities to progress and gain more experience would be better, I am not sure it is the right move just now.

I have had a career change prior to my current role and feel I need to make the right decision for a longer term career move next. Whilst I enjoy external audit I also feel there are other disciplines better aligned to my personality perhaps, and I should qualify with one firm and then look to make move.

It would be great if you could give me advice on qualifying with one firm? Is it best to move after being in my current role longer?" 

It’s fair to say that, usually, although not always, it is better to complete your contract with your training firm. Why? Well clearly there are the obvious aspects such as loyalty to the firm, evidence of robust decision-making and sheer steadfastness. Don’t underestimate how it ‘looks’, both inside and outside the organisation and the longer term impact this can have on your career.

But even more importantly, training contracts are designed over specific periods (usually three years) and it’s only over the complete contract term that you can truly experience and benefit from the full range of development opportunities. Completing your entire contract enables you to professionally develop, build momentum and fully leverage your training opportunity, without the stop/start of dealing with the challenges of a new environment, culture, team and set of processes.

In your particular case, all of this is reinforced by the fact that you’ve already made a career change.

The perceived opportunities to progress quicker with a smaller firm may seem appealing right now, but with all due respect, you are only a year into contract. At this point you can’t fully appreciate the bigger picture of your training contract; you don’t know how you’ll evolve over the next two years, how your preferences might change as you build a new skill set.

Of course there will always be exceptions to the rule. For instance if you find yourself in a situation where you are uncomfortable with the organisational cultural or values, where you need a different type of study support or where you are truly unhappy. As this isn’t one of them, I’d advise you to stick.

   

 

"I’ve been looking for a new career challenge for some time, as I’ve been in my current job for nearly three years. However, I’ve stayed put because of the downturn. With all this talk about ‘green shoots’ and ‘increased confidence’, I wonder whether now might be a good time to make the leap? What if I do make the leap and then realize it’s not the job for me? Would I stand a chance of getting my old job back? Am I being too rash in this current environment?"

Back in March of last year, I answered a similar question in this very column. Twelve months later, my advice is the same: beware of the knee-jerk career move! Reporting from my position as a career coach right on the frontline, I can report that, despite the proverbial economic green shoots, many accountants are still facing the toughest market they’ve ever seen in their careers.
Of course, progressive moves are being made right now by accountants all over the globe. It can be done, but it’s tough. Securing the best role, the one that’s right for you, right now, will depend on your unique mix of experience, skills, requirements and mobility, as well as your preferred industry sector, discipline and level. But generally speaking the odds are against you. Less opportunity, more candidates, intense completion and the probability of finding your optimum role is still quite low.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope at all. You need to decide exactly what it is you want from your next career move. You’re looking for a challenge and you must define this more precisely. Using your current role, take stock of where you are in your professional development and where you’d like to be in 1-2 and 3-5 years.

Draw up a personal SWOT (strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and use this to identify areas where you’re already proficient and those you’d like to develop.
Think ‘soft skills’ such as leadership, influencing and problem solving, as well as considering your technical and industry ambitions. And be as specific as you can. Once you’ve completed this exercise you will be able to articulate your aspirations and identify your skills gaps. This will give you a personal blueprint to take an informed approach to career planning. Now you can start to research roles that better align with your personal requirements.

As for going back to your job if the career move doesn’t work out, it’s possible, though improbable. If you leave on good terms with your employer and they rate you highly and still have capacity in the role you left, they may consider bringing you back in. but that’s a lot of ‘ifs’ and the chances are they won’t all hold. Think of it from your employer’s point of view. Nothing will have changed – you’ll still be wanting a challenge.

Having said that, if you perform your personal careers audit and take informed action, you won’t end up needing to go back to your old job. In the meantime, you might like to consider how you could work with your current employer in partnership to create a win-win career plan. Go back to your soul-searching on the specifics of your next challenge. Could any or all of these aspirations be met in your current position?

Talk to your employer about specific development opportunities. Could you take on some more responsibility? Build a new skill? Gain exposure to a new sector? Even if you can’t fulfill all aspirations, you may be able to meet some of them and continue to sustain your professional development- albeit at a less accelerated speed.

So my advice would be to use, in tandem, this combined career advancement strategy:
      • Define your specific personal requirements and begin your search for opportunities that match them.
      • Work with your employer on devising a plan for your professional development.

Use the two together to ensure you are fully equipped and in the best place to seize the right opportunity when it arises, while steadily moving forward in your professional progression.

 

 

"Everyone at work seems stressed, particularly my boss. I understand that the targets are much higher to reach in this climate, but he is being unreasonable, expecting me to work late, setting unrealistic deadlines and being inconsistent in what he’s asking. I don’t feel I can approach him to sort this out and I don’t want to be a grass either. What is your advice?"

Frankly, other than accepting the current situation or handing in you notice, the only other option is communication – direct or with third-party support. Let’s look at some constructive ways of resolving this.

• Access organizational resources. Start with HR, which will provide a confidential service. Look at how your colleagues cope. You may be able to find an in-house buddy or mentor. Use behavioral modeling to replicate successful coping strategies, communication styles and upward management.

• Talk to your boss. Tell him you’re finding it tough and could use some mentoring on dealing with pressure. Ask how he copes. You’ll gain some helpful insights and may even turn the spotlight on him.

• Don your creative problem-solving hat to see how you could make his role easier. Take his perspective and figure out how you would manage in his shoes.

• Agree protocols on working late. Establish the norm level of overtime and request consultation above this level. Be assertive, pointing out that if you do A you won’t be able to do B, so which would he prefer?

Or you could just go with the flow! It sounds flippant but if your job hasn’t always been this way, and it is genuinely down to harsher trading conditions, you could endure the current situation for a defined period. Then consider getting out if circumstances fail to improve.

 

 

"I was hoping for a promotion, however a much younger person with less experience has just been given the job and I will now have to report to her. I think I’m going to find it very hard dealing with her. What is your advice?"

First get to grips with why she got the promotion you thought was yours. You need to understand, and accept, exactly what the organization valued on this occasion. You can do this by having a frank discussion with your line manager. Ask for it straight and take it on the chin.

It’s quite natural to set your sights on upward, linear progression but it’s not necessarily the right move for every individual. Accountancy is a classic example, where strong technician prowess does not always translate into brilliant management.

Take account of your personal strengths and face up to the fact that you may already be well suited to the job you are doing now. This is an important reframe which will help you either accept the status quo and/or make a plan to develop the skills you need for future promotion. Lastly, don’t forget why accountancy attracted you in the first place and ask yourself if that is still the case.

 

 

"I feel like my new line manager is undermining me. She started off criticising me in front of just one person, but now seems to be humiliating me in front of the whole team, raising her voice and making sarcastic remarks. She is always very short with me and doesn’t always share vital pieces of information. Is this bullying? I was so upset the other day that I ran into a meeting room and cried. Is there anything I can do before I complain to HR? And I’m worried about this backfiring on me if do decide to make a complaint."

Recent allegations at No 10 Downing Street have put workplace bullying firmly in the spotlight in recent months. What we have learnt from the global media coverage is that there is no universally agreed definition of what constitutes workplace bullying.  And, that it is depressingly widespread.  Trade union, Unison claims a third of us experience bullying at work, while The National Bullying Helpline states that 1 in 4 allege they are being bullied, and 1 in 8 are affected by bullying, in the workplace.

We’ve seen bullying dismissed as merely the ‘robust management' of  hard times or as a particular type of tough management style: ‘it’s just the way he is’. However, there are some common threads, namely:  humiliation, giving offence, personal attack, and abuse of power.

To decide whether your experience goes beyond robust management and constitutes bullying, consider these best practise principles for workplace feedback:

• Non-personal.  Focus on actions or behaviour that can be changed as opposed to personality traits.  For example, telling someone they are incompetent or lazy is a personal attack on their character.

• Specific.  Illustrate with practical examples of behaviour.  Generalisations or inferences should be avoided.   Talking about ‘bad attitude’ is not specific enough to enable change.

• Constructive. Aim to help improve behaviour or performance, linking to professional development and individual or business objectives.  This is as opposed to causing discomfort, anxiety or stress.

Plus:

• Non-judgemental, factual, timely, private and confidential

Does your treatment violate any or all of these principles?  From what you’ve described and the emotive words you’ve used: undermining, criticising, humiliating, as well as the emotional effect it has had on you, I’m guessing that you would conclude that this is bullying.

So what can you do?
It should be reasonably straight forward to unobtrusively access your organisation’s policies and procedures.  Ask HR, download from the intranet or check out your Staff Handbook.  Familiarise yourself with the Anti-Bullying Code and Grievance & Disciplinary policies.  You’ll understand your rights, as well as the process, should you ultimately decide to take a formal route.

However, in the meantime, there are some effective actions you can take to help relieve your anxiety and actively manage the current situation:

• Seek support. Find someone to confide in.  A friend, family member or colleague – someone who can provide a listening ear and help ease the pressure. An independent perspective can provide a different dimension, help you organise your thoughts and plan a way through.   Some employers offer a free confidential counselling process which is completely independent from HR. Or you can talk to The National Bullying Helpline on 0845 22 55 787.

• Go direct.  Talk to your line manager.  Book some uninterrupted time and tell her how you feel and how her approach is affecting you.  Do not accuse her of ‘bullying’.  And aim to be cool, calm and unemotional.  Be specific: describe precise instances and how they have upset you.  And request that the two of you work in partnership in exploring other communication strategies.  It may seem hard to believe, but it could be that your manager does not have any awareness of her effect on you.

• Keep records. If you do end up going down the official route you will need written records of times, places and specific incidents.  Be factual and objective but also record the impact on you.  Start now as diarising can be emotionally beneficial in itself.

Bullying in the workplace takes many forms and each incident can seem unimportant in isolation.  But there will a cumulative effect which can impact your mental and physical well-being.  Take some time to work through my recommendations and see what change you can affect.  But do protect yourself and seek the help of your HR department if you don’t see an improvement in the situation.

 

 

"I am currently an ACCA finalist and have recently taken my final exam and now am awaiting results. I have always work in commerce and industry with solid experience in management accounts but have always had a passion for auditing and forensic accounting.  I have applied for many audit jobs but seem to be rejected for most of these. I’m finding the market quite tough at the moment and even harder to break in to the audit field.  Can you help?"

In theory this should be quite a straightforward career transition, but as you’ve discovered in tough market conditions, employers ‘play it safe’ and are less likely to take a chance on a cross-disciplinary move.

To maximise your chances of success, be prepared to invest time and energy into the following areas:

• Understand what potential employers really want.  Don’t make assumptions but do some first-hand research.  Recruitment agencies plus online groups and forums will provide valuable intelligence.  Supplement this with direct contact with potential employers and their employees.   Consider informal ‘off the record’ talks, work-shadowing and even getting yourself a mentor.  And use modelling to really get to grips with what counts.  What are the requisite skills, behaviours, characteristics and competencies?

• Look hard at your own experience and skills to identify the transferable components relevant to this particular career move.  Do your own skills audit, together with a gap analysis and come up with a plan to fill that gap.

• Become a consummate communicator.  What value are you going to bring to an audit role?  Can you articulate your ‘business case’ to a potential employer?  Use your experience in commerce and industry to really stand out against competing candidates.  If you are thinking that this is all about your Unique Selling Proposition – you would be right!  Check out Discovering your USP.

• Finally, you need a strong and convincing personal ‘case’ for your career move.  In other words you need to persuade employers that this is not just a ‘whim’ but a properly researched career strategy.  Don’t underestimate this.  Conveying your passion and authenticity could prove critical in managing employers’ risk concerns.

 

 

"I work from home three days a week, but my boss keeps bothering me on my days off. At first it was the odd five minutes, which I didn’t mind, but now it’s pretty regular and it’s getting difficult to juggle with my other commitments. I’m worried that if I make a fuss it will put my job at risk. Any ideas?"

Clearly a frustrating situation for you, but from the perspective of your boss and indeed the organisation as a whole, then the challenge is likely to be even more exacting.  Think about the sheer size of the transition for an employer, from the familiarity of the one-size-fits-all traditional full time office-based work week - to the myriad of flexible working options.

And that is why it is incumbent on you to educate and communicate.  Whether you enlist the support of your HR department or go direct to your boss, here are some areas where you need to agree ground rules:

• Does your boss appreciate which days you are working, and which days you are not?  Make it easy by implementing aide-memoirs to remind him and flagging up with appropriate telephone and email alerts.

• Agree criteria around contact on days off.  If it’s to deal with an ‘emergency’, then you need to define together, what constitutes an emergency.

• Implement ‘back-up’ for days off.  That is, in your absence the first port-of-call for your boss.  For many matters cover could be provided by designated support staff who can debrief you on your next working day. For other projects, a team member or peer could be your back-up.

Above all adopt a positive and constructive approach to your communications.  Your overtures can be framed around getting in place the best working practices for the organisation, with of course the ancillary benefits of meeting individual expectations – that is your own, and those of your boss.

 

 

"I sit next to my boss who has a booming voice, a loud sneeze and often eats loudly at his desk. I’ve tried making light of this, but he’s not taking the hint. What can I do?"

Move desks?  Sounds a little trite but it really is one option! There’s a certain amount of subjectivity here with regard to personal tolerance levels.  What you find unacceptable may be within the bounds of normal to others.  A move could put him in the company of like-minded colleagues.

But if a move isn’t on the cards then you are going to have to be more direct.  You could tackle it from the point of view of your own concentration levels.  So rather than getting into the delicate area of his personal habits ask him to help you with your ‘problem’.   Enlist his help in improving the acoustics of your work area, minimising distractions, removing potential disturbances – like taking lunch elsewhere.  Play on your own delicate sensibilities in working towards a solution which will ultimately benefit the business.

 

 

"I’m 42 and have reached a moderately senior level in a fairly large practice. I enjoy my job and like (most of) my clients. The only way up seems to be my boss’s job, or one like it. But when I look at what he does on a day-to-day basis I don’t really fancy it. But I feel like I ought to more ambitious – we are all supposed to strive for partnership. I’m also worried about my employability as I move through my forties and fifties – you hear so many stories about people on the ‘scrapheap’. What should I do?"

‘Ought to’, ‘supposed to’, ‘on the scrap heap’: weighty words purporting danger! In coaching parlance, we call them ‘limiting beliefs’ - assumptions, explanations and conclusions we draw, to help us make sense of our life experiences. Such beliefs are valuable resources, generalisations that give us some sense of certainty and a basis for decision making in an uncertain and ambiguous world.

But we need to be aware that limiting beliefs can also undermine us, depleting the quality of the life we could have.   By accepting unchallenged ‘truths’ and behaving accordingly, we create self fulfilling prophecies and are prevented from making choices that expand our growth, knowledge, prosperity, happiness and success.

Limiting beliefs are pat of being human but they are not confined to species homo sapiens! Take the case of the baby elephant, tethered by thick rope to a stake hammered deep into the ground. She strives to escape but at her tender age, lacks the strength to do so.  Eventually she stops trying, accepting the constraints that bind her.  And over time, this learned behaviour becomes so entrenched that by adulthood her trainer needs just a flimsy string, so reconciled is she to captivity.  Of course in reality at her resplendent fully grown 4 tonnes, that string is no tether, just a mere ornament!  And the lesson here?  Beware of the prophetic assumption! Because that’s precisely what your ‘ought to’, ‘supposed to’ and ‘on the scrap heap’ could prove to be.  Time to test those limiting beliefs with a few simple tugs.

But first up you need to find out what you really, really want.  That is, what YOU want, for yourself, aside from the expectations around you.  Do some proper strategic career thinking.  Build your vision of where you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years time.  Consider your natural abilities, skills and experiences (technical and fully transferable), your passions and interests.  Specifically, to address your uncertainty about your lack of enthusiasm for the boss’s job, check out Michael Gerber’s E-myth series and decide whether  you’re a ‘technician’, a ‘manager’ or  even an 'entrepreneur'.

Once you can clearly describe your career dream, construct some boundaries by acknowledging your tolerance levels.   Set your parameters with regards to earnings, lifestyle, stakeholders needs and so on.

Then, and only then, shine the flashlight on your current situation and test out those limiting beliefs:

      • If you decide partnership is not where you want to be, check out the viability of being a ‘career’ manager.

      • Challenge the assumption that ‘the only way is up’ by having some frank discussions with your line manger and/or a personal mentor within your practice.

      • Look around you, both within and beyond your organisation for examples of colleagues who have reached, or continued, to peak in the second half of their career.

      • Right now you are seeing scrap heaps because that’s what you’re looking for.  Loosen those tethers and start looking for success stories and get modelling!

And once you’ve completed all of the above, accelerate into action mode.  Plan your approach and execute your strategy to get you moving from where you are now to where you want to be.

 

 

"I'm at a career crossroads and don’t know where to turn. I'm a qualified Chartered Accountant who has circa 6 years post qualified experience in internal audit and risk management. I have worked predominantly in industry. I have been giving a lot of thought over the last year to move away from audit into another field - the question is what? I have the opportunity to move into a big four firm and specialise in IT/Security advisory, which will be a move away from audit.

My concern is whether I want to go down the consultancy route as I have been told by others coming from the Big Four that there is an expectation to sell, have no work life balance and have excessive work loads. I'm worried about making the wrong move and as I have two short moves on my CV (though no fault of my own) I need to make the right decision.

Help! Is there any advice on working in the Big Four and/or IT/Security Advisory? What should I expect?"

Full marks for taking the time to reflect on this career move holistically, as part of your bigger life picture.  Regular readers will have heard me caution against the ‘knee jerk’ career move – the temptation to grab the opportunity that presents itself. It’s always sensible to be circumspect in this situation but with two shorter moves on your CV, you are right to be extra judicious regarding your next move.

Start with examining the reasons for wanting to make the change, that is, moving out of your current role but also specifically leaving audit.  Ask yourself the big why?  Consider the pros and cons and likes and dislikes of your present position.  What do you enjoy doing?  What would you like to do more of?  What new skills/experiences are you looking for?  What are you seeking that you are not getting from your current role? And what are you inherently good at?  A personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) can help here.    And in all of this, be specific.  For example if you like working as a team, analyse what it is about teamwork that fires you up.  Is it pulling together to meet team targets?  The opportunity to talk through issues, bounce off ideas?  Or simply the team dynamic that fuels your momentum?  You really need to get down to a precise level of detail to make this investigation meaningful and useful.  Use my transferable skills checklist to help you identify areas to consider.

This is not a quick exercise.  I would advise 3 or 4 sessions, over a week or so.  The result though, will be a blueprint for your next career move.

But before you start comparing the Big Four role to your career blueprint, you need to fully investigate what’s involved in the job.  There is huge generalisation about Big Four working practices.  As an 18 year veteran myself, I can tell you that roles, work load and pressure can vary significantly by department, by line manager and by location.  So don’t rely on sweeping assumptions in making your decision.

Instead test out those assumptions.  Get a real understanding of the role.  What skills and experiences will be developed?  What core competencies are required?  What are the ‘selling’ aspects and what does this mean in reality?

Don’t rely on generalisations regarding work life balance.  Talk to the line manager and team members to discover the reality for this particular role in this location.    If at all possible, ask to do some work shadowing so you can see at first hand the culture and environment and how you might fit in.  And if that’s not possible, try some internet research; talk to employees and alumni via online forums, like the ones on Linkedin.

Once you’ve acquired some first hand, specific information you can compare this to your personal career blueprint.  If the results for the Big Four role don’t tick the right boxes, move on and start looking elsewhere.  This time you’ll be searching from an informed position, understanding your priorities and the criteria you need to satisfy, and where you are prepared to make compromises.

 

 

"I have a client who is very tactile and ogles a lot at meetings.  He has never taken this further, but it makes me feel uncomfortable. What should I do?"

Is it just you or have you noticed this pattern of behaviour with anyone else?  If this is his universal style then you could seek safety in numbers by planning a way forward together with other affected parties.  If you don’t feel personally threatened, and you can see that this is the way he is with everyone, you might even choose to accept it and live with the discomfort.

However, if it is only you that gets this treatment or you feel personally threatened and decide that something has to change for the relationship to continue, then you are going to have to tackle him.  Try responding directly to a specific example of unwanted behaviour with a brisk ‘I’d rather you didn’t do that if you don’t mind’ or ‘is there something wrong.  I was just wondering why you were looking at me’.

Give it a try but don’t risk jeopardising your own safety or the client relationship.  Trust your instinct and get help from HR if your initial tentative attempts don’t quickly elicit any change.

 

 
"I’m a new Dad and I haven’t had a whole night’s sleep for weeks. I’m exhausted all the time and find it difficult to concentrate. I even feel asleep in a meeting the other day – luckily an internal one. My colleagues seem sympathetic, but I feel my performance has taken a dive and I’m worried about making mistakes. Have you got any advice?"

Congratulations!  Although, it is indeed a tricky time, balancing the joys and pride of new parenthood with the relentless demands of business as usual.

First up pay attention to your overall health.    Don’t under-estimate the essentials: regular exercise, relaxation and a balanced diet. No need to be too ambitious; a daily 20 minute brisk walk will take care of the first two.   Healthy eating diet can be one of first things to go when there’s a new baby in the house.  Make sure that you are eating fresh, nutritious balanced meals at regular intervals.  Go easy on the take-aways and don’t get by on quick fixes from caffeine or sugar.

On the sleep-side, look for opportunities to ‘grab it when you can’.  Studies have shown that power naps can benefit us all, not just the sleep-deprived.  If lunchtime is out of the question, consider a quick one when you get home (after you’ve done your Dad stuff!).  A typical powernap is 20 minutes, but it can be even less.

At work you’re feeling that your performance has dipped.  Check this out – it may only be your own perception.  Talk to your line manager; be up front about your concerns and explore how the organisation can help.  Extra resource, flexible hours, a change in responsibilities- these are all possibilities to ease you into your new routine.  But do come clean.  You’ll feel better for sharing your worries and if you do fear mistakes, you owe it to the business and yourself to get help to manage any risk.

 

 

"For 9 years I was a Head of Internal Audit within a public organisation - now I find myself within the growing ranks of the unemployed. I have applied for over 100 roles; sometimes I am told that my application had been lost/never received/ failed to complete a section (actually I have but the recruiter has lost it - 3 times that has happened).
 
I get interviews, but come 2nd – why? - better candidates.  But if you ask for feedback nobody will supply that information.
 
The latest excuse that I am getting is that I am over qualified or I might not fit with the culture of the organisation was the excuse given - reality was I was better qualified than the interviewer.
 
Have you got any advice at all?"

First up, I appreciate your frustration in suffering the clerical hiccups of the job search process – documents mislaid, deemed incomplete, misunderstandings etc.  In my experience, though frustrating and unfair, this is not uncommon and you have to accept it as a natural consequence of the sheer volume of your applications; there is simply a higher probability of something going wrong.  But I can provide the reassurance that you are not the only candidate to experience this and I urge you not to take it personally; accept the inevitable and move on.

My second observation is that you are doing well to have come ‘second’ so many times.  Not much consolation at this stage, I know – as being second doesn’t get you a job. But you’ve been in a tough recruitment market and the fact that you are being ‘screened in’ on application form and getting so close at interview, suggests that you really are already doing a good deal ‘right’.  As for excuses of being ‘over qualified’ or not a ‘cultural fit’ – have you considered they may have a point?  These are legitimate objections.  You may have fallen into the mass application trap, applying for everything and anything and along the way you’ve lost your true direction, your true passion.

Let’s take the ‘over qualified’ issue.   From an employer’s perspective, particularly in this candidate-rich market, you could be perceived as higher risk.  There is a danger that if you accept a job punching below your weight, as soon as the market picks up you’ll be off to a role that more closely matches your experience and grade.  However, if you are genuinely interested in down-sizing or a side-ways move, then you need a convincing case to mitigate the risk perceived by the employer.  That is, a convincing case for the recruiter, and  a convincing case for yourself.  You need a story that you buy in to. 

And all this means going back to basics; examining what you really, really want at this stage in your life.  Is it a job on any terms? A job for job’s sake?  Unlikely.  You will have tolerance levels and you have to figure out what these are and understand your own personal values and motivators.  What really matters to you in your career? In your life?  What are the things that you cannot compromise on, no matter what?  Think about your attitude to: reporting to someone less experienced, degree of autonomy, job stability, personal challenge, work life balance, routine vs flexibility, team work, technical stretch/technical comfort?  You decide.  It may help to work through the approach in my article Your Career by Design.

By consciously focussing on your personal blueprint, you bring passion, conviction and commitment to your job bid.  You equip yourself with the ability to articulate all of this to a potential employer.  Even if it is a down-wards move.  And once you’ve got your blueprint you can be selective.  You’ll apply for fewer positions but they’ll be positions that meet your criteria and you can put your heart and soul into the application.

Do this and you will also be sharpening your sales technique, conveying more powerfully what makes you special, different and perfect for a particular job. All under-pinned by genuine self conviction.

And finally, if you aren’t already doing it, look at contract work.  It provides a great opportunity to test out and shape your blueprint based on real work place experience. 

Above all, this is about trying something different, tweaking an approach which is getting you so far, but not quite far enough.  So go for it!

 

 

"At my Christmas party, I had a bit too much to drink and I made the mistake of telling my line manager exactly what I thought of him, I wasn’t particularly flattering.  Since then relations between us have chilled.  I was hoping for a promotion in the New Year but now I think I may have blown my chances.  What can I do to get things back on track?"

First up, it may not be as bad as you think...

Your reality is not the same as your line manager’s.  You don’t really know how he took the exchange, you don’t really know what he’s thinking now.  Can you even recall the hard facts – what was actually said, how did he react at the time?  Right now your concerns are heavily based on assumption and speculation.  Plus your imagination is working overtime to fill in the gaps with worst possible scenarios. 

Beware particularly of the self-fulfilling prophecy: are you making a sensitive situation even worse by perceiving a chilled atmosphere and responding accordingly?    You need to interrupt this pattern immediately.  Cut the ‘chills’ on your side, right now.  Don’t over-compensate – clearly being too ‘nice’ is unnatural , insincere, and won’t help you achieve your objective.  What you’re aiming for is the resumption of normality.   And once back to ‘business as usual’ on your side, at least, you can note the response elicited.  A thaw may be an indication that you have been over-reacting, while continued frostiness suggests that there probably is some damage to repair.

Either way, I’m afraid there’s no getting around it – if you want to repair the damage – perceived or real – you are going to have to have a frank conversation  with your manager.  Its cards on the table time.......

But first do some ground work.  Get some support.  Did anyone witness your conversation at the Christmas party –either the full monty or the aftermath?   A ‘witness’ may be able to help in recalling  what actually happened and interpreting how it was received – two perspectives are always better than one. 

Alternatively, who could you confide in at work?  Perhaps someone who knows your manager well and can share with you, any fall-out they’ve witnessed.  Talking it through with someone who knows both him, and the politics of the organisation, may prove beneficial, as well as providing that valuable alternative perspective.

Once you’ve marshalled your resources, it’s time to take action. 

At all costs avoid the desperate apology ‘I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me.  I didn’t mean any of it’.  This will sound, and be, unconvincing and will do more damage than good.  Your manager, like the rest of us will no doubt be familiar with the old adage ‘in vino veritas’!

Instead be upfront, honest and sincere.  Use the ‘feedback sandwich’ technique – positive-negative-positive.  Along the lines of:
‘I’m really embarrassed about that conversation we had at the party.  You’ve always been very good at......But I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about.........and it just all spilled out.  I really value your...... And I hope that you’ll accept my apology, as I’d hate to damage our relationship’

It’s imperative that you fill in the dots with specifics – generalities are hollow and just won’t cut it. If you can’t immediately think of anything good to say about him – think hard – and think hard again.  There’s something positive in everybody’s character and behaviour – and your ability to find it is a good discipline to develop – it may be challenging but it’s an invaluable people skill. 

Depending on the response you get you can then decide whether to be upfront about your promotion prospects.  As you were hoping for promotion in the New Year then this may well have been a proactive conversation you would be having anyway.  Common sense would suggest that you do uncouple it from the apology conversation.  But when you do talk promotion, don’t hark back to the party incident – if it’s relevant let your manager bring it up – otherwise draw a line and move on. 

The sooner you have these conversations and face up to the consequences, the better, both in terms of your own peace of mind and your plan for getting back on track.  Don’t procrastinate any longer – just go for it!

 

 

"The budgets set in our department have just been set for 2010 and I’ve been told that it will be my responsibility to ensure the department keeps within this budget.  I’m very happy to be given this extra responsibility but the trouble is they are unrealistic (and reduced) budgets and I can’t see how we are going to achieve all the targets.  What should I do – I don’t want to offend anyone?"

It sounds glib but budgets will always seem unrealistic.  Their very nature is about stretch, inspiring us to give that little bit more to hit target.  So the question here is more about how unrealistic they are.  You can check this out by looking at prior experience.  How tight have they been previously?  Does your department normally hit budget?  What are the repercussions of missing targets?  By how much? 

Next you need to look at what’s within your control and what’s not.  Once you’ve pinned this down and can articulate it, concentrate on what’s within your remit and don’t waste time elsewhere.

And then get your concerns on record.  Be specific.  You won’t be taken seriously with sweeping generalisations  – even if you do think the whole thing is impossible.  Pick out some specific areas, prepare a well-researched case, and you might achieve some negotiation room to flex the figures. 

Whatever happens beware of ‘all or nothing’ thinking.  If you don’t think you can hit budget, don’t allow the fact to de-motivate you.  You must still go all out and do all you can, to very best of your abilities, with the resources available.  Remember, even if you don’t pass the exam, they’ll be plenty of marks available for your technique along the way!

 

 

"My line manager is always shifting the goalposts in terms of objectives we’ve agreed.  When I try and broach the subject about specific agreements, he is vague and then goes on to set completely different objectives.  How do I deal with this situation?"

Time for ‘managing upwards’.  For whatever reason, this isn’t one of your manager’s strengths so you’re going to have to find a way to fill in the gaps and really take control of your own performance management.

If you have HR department, check out how they could help.  Possibly a confidential conversation with some advice and guidance.  At the very least HR can provide resources such as competency frameworks, job specification and the organisation’s policy on performance management. 

As for tackling your manager, start by (re)- introducing the SMART acronym. Effective goals have to be: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-framed.  Together, get the habit of testing all objectives against the SMART  criteria. 

A key benefit of using SMART comes from the discipline of assigning hard measures and fixing timescales. This helps with moving goal posts.  Remind him ‘we agreed to achieve A by B, if we are now look at achieving C we need to agree a new timescale’.  This will also ensure you get the recognition for A before he’s got his sights on C. 

To encourage specificity use questions like: ‘so what exactly would that look like’, ’how will you know when I’ve achieved that’ and reframing in your own words - ‘what you mean is ..... ‘

Perseverance is key.  Think of it as educating your manager; if he doesn’t get it first time, you’ll be using repetition, re-iteration and persistence to change the process.  Hang on in there – patience will pay. 

 

 

"I find it really difficult to say no. As a result I seem to be the ‘office mark’ in terms of picking up loose ends when people have left, clearing up other peoples messes and being in the frame for any extra duty that’s going. I’d love to be more assertive. What can you advise?"

As accountants, we’re members of a profession and that means we pride ourselves on high standards of technical knowledge, client service, ethical conduct. We aim high. Our culture encourages professional stretch. Against this backdrop, is it then surprising that ‘no’ is often considered a dirty word?

But unless you’re a person with complete mastery of life’s chessboard, the inability to say no can mean loss of control leading to frustration, ill-health, stress, poor performance. It can take you away from your core goals (professional and personal). And it can lead to emotional unrest – guilt, unhappiness, loss of confidence.

Plus, of course, it’s not always easy to say no. For instance, when should you say no? Obviously, you would decline a task that’s beyond your competence. In other cases, though, you could ask yourself a few questions. What would be the consequences if you refused? Does your contract allow you to say no? (Serious question – your contract won’t say that exactly but your role description or your HR contact will give you a decent heads up.) If you did as asked, would your own core goals be advanced?

These are all valuable self-coaching questions to determine when its right to say no.  But how do you actually do it?

• Tone is total.  Be convincing but not aggressive.  You are aiming for an assertive, firm retort that is polite and respectful. Say no and mean it; to the person you are saying it to, but above all, to yourself

• Body language matters. Align your body with your words. What is your expression saying? Is it reinforcing your ‘no’ or is it expressing heartfelt regret?  A mixed message will dilute the effect and open you up to possibly unwarranted negotiation. Look the propositioner in the eye, take an assertive stance, reinforce with a robust shake of the head. If you are sitting down, stand up. A written ‘no’ should adopt the same style, firm, direct, straight to the point

• Words count. 
      o The first 5 seconds are crucial. Say no at the start of the sentence
      o Be concise without being abrupt
      o Avoid ‘I’m sorry’, it suggests guilt and the potential to weaken
      o Beware of excuses.  Reasons are the truth, excuses put you on the defensive. Give your reason, without apologies
      o Appreciate the importance of the need and state that you have to say no because you do not want to let them down; you care enough to want to fully engage and commit
      o Stick to your guns.  Don’t take no for an answer in response to your no!

Other useful tactics:

• Negotiate. Particularly useful when you feel you don’t have the right to say no.
      o Ask questions to understand the need.  Use open questions: tell me, what, how, when…..
      o Say what you can do to help. 
      o State the repercussions.  If I offer to do this then….
      o Suggest an alternative solution.  Offer to take a partial role.  Find someone else to do it. 
• Ask for time to think and get back to them.  This is especially useful because it allows reflection
• Be prepared for non-acceptance.  Set boundaries.  Know how far you are willing to negotiate
• Pre-empt.  From the start ‘I need to let you know…’, ‘can I stop you there’.  It is important that the request does get too far.

Many of us are so rusty at saying no, we’ve forgotten what it feels like. It’s a transferable skill, so rehearse outside of work, then graduate to the professional ‘no’. The more you do it, the easier it will become.   

 

 

"Can you give me some tips on dealing with a difficult team member? I supervise a group of trainees and one of them just doesn’t seem to fit in. She challenges everything I say and I know that the rest of the team feel she is not pulling her weight."

Establishing team ground rules would be a good starting point.  You are looking for team buy-in to a process that supports an individual’s right to be heard but respects team roles too. Once you can define this it’s much easier to establish a code for ‘the way things are done around here’.

You’ll need to precisely define what the team mean by ‘not pulling her weight’ so you can communicate an effective message.  Articulate what you want her to do differently as opposed to what you don’t want her to do.  Illustrate with contextual examples, taking an illustrative task and describing what success would look like.  But it’s vital to understand her perspective too, find out how she thinks she did on the task and then work at closing the gap between any discrepancies.

As there’s already a perception that she doesn’t fit in, beware of singling her out. Set up a series of ‘one to ones’ in privacy, with the time and space to thoroughly explore the issues in a safe environment. And keep an open mind; you may be surprised at her ‘take’ on the situation.

 

 

"I work part time in a manager role. At this level we don’t get paid for overtime. I’ve been finding lately that I am effectively working full time hours on a part-time salary. What can I do about this?"

First up check the details of your contract and your staff policy and procedures guidance to ascertain if there is any small print that deals with this situation.  You might very well find the answer and the protection you need in contractual form.  If not here’s a practical alternative.

When I was in this situation myself, I put together a compromise proposal that went like this.  I established the average over-time hours of a full-time manager over the course of a year. This was accessible from management information but it’s also possible to find out just by asking around.  I then pro-rated the average over-time in proportion to my own reduced hours contract. Then I tackled my line manager.

My approach was not to protest about the extra hours, but to point out that as a manager I duly expected to work over-time. And I would expect my over-time to be fully proportional to that of an average full-time manager. So what I was seeking was some recognition for what had become ‘excessive’ overtime.  In my case it worked; I got paid for the excessive hours and we looked at my job spec to see how we could take out some time to bring down my hours on an ongoing basis. Hope it works for you too!

 

 

“I’m 35 and have just been made redundant from my firm. I’ve always wanted to start my own business and dreamt of being an entrepreneur, but I’m worried that now would be a bad time to do this. What is your advice?”

Well we still have an economy, many businesses are still trading and people are buying, so a precise reply to your question will depend specifically on your market, your product and how sensitive it is to the contraction of the economy.

Draw up a business plan. Do some market research and test the sensitivity of your financial projections to determine toe viability and risk. Consider your personal situation. Business start-up will entail a period of nil or depressed earnings. Determine your personal survival budget and figure out how you are going to pay your bills. You may need to take employment, possibly on a contract basis or part time, to cover your PSB while you work in parallel on your business start-up.

Lastly, grab a copy of Michael Gerber’s E-myth Revisited here for an overview of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

 

 

“I am very unhappy in my current role. It is my first role since qualification and I do not enjoy the day-to-day work. I am beginning to feel that all the hard work in qualifying has been a waste of time. I feel trapped and don’t know what to do.” ACCA qualified auditor

Don’t panic. The ACCA is a superb business qualification that opens doors to an infinite number of opportunities in practice and industry. All you’ve discovered is that you are not happy in this role. Don’t write off accountancy just yet! And even if you’re tempted, remember it is a business qualification.

Right now may not be the ideal time to change jobs. Beware of making a knee-jerk career move. There’s plenty you can do within your current situation to optimise your career choices.

Take stock of your likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Be specific. If you don’t like auditing, be precise about the aspects and then determine why. This will give you  a personal blueprint to take an informed approach to career planning. Start to research roles that better align with your personal inclinations.

A quick tip on keeping you sane in your current role is to try reframing. Think of this as learning for your career ahead. What positives can you extract from your current situation? Look for ways you can turn passive into active. What are you discovering about yourself? How is this building you as a person? There are many ways you can reframe – it simply entails finding a different meaning in what you are encountering – so think laterally!

 

 

"I am currently studying an Msc in Audit Management and Consultancy at Birmingham City University which I will finish in September. My first degree was in History and I have two years banking experience, but not in Internal Audit. I am wondering what the career prospects are for a trainee auditor. I have no audit experience but as part of the course I will be sitting IIA exams during the year. Will this count as experience?"  Abdullah

Hi Abdullah

You’re in good company; my first degree was history too!  I entered into an Institute of Chartered Accountants training contract with Ernst & Young, undertaking my practical experience in their Audit department.  This, of course, is a well-trodden graduate path into audit, indeed a path that you could consider yourself.   If you look back at my ‘Agony Aunt’ responses over the last few months, you will find some considerations and advice on this particular route.  Your banking experience could prove very appealing to a potential employer if you choose a firm with Financial Services clients. 

However, I appreciate that you wish to take into account your IIA qualification.  By far, your best port of call for advice is your university careers service as well as the team who are actually delivering your MSc learning.  There’s no need to reinvent the wheel as they will be able to share with you examples of how previous students have exploited their IIA qualification.  This specific advice will be very valuable because on the face of it many students will be in your position – where the academic qualification is not parallel to  the practical experience.  Some of your banking experience may be relevant but if you were not involved in auditing itself, most will not be.

The Institute of Internal Auditors lay down the criteria for what constitutes ‘approved practical experience’ and here’s a taster for the PIIA:
• Participation in audit assignments
• Observation/understanding of risk assessment exercises
• Participation in improvement projects within the internal audit function
• Understanding the importance of effective business communications
• Demonstration of practical IT skills

Without a doubt your university department will have worked closely with the IIA on the syllabus, so they will have a good appreciation of how to bridge the gap between the theory and the practice.

Part-qualified IIA jobs are available with a variety of different organisations in both the corporate and public sectors.  Worst possible scenario is starting from the bottom in terms of practical experience.  However, the fact that you have already completed the exams will give you to a head start over other potential trainees and could make you a more attractive candidate.

But that’s worst possible scenario.  Talk to your tutors and career advisors and find out how past students have exploited the qualification before you. Good luck!

 

 

"I was wondering if you could highlight some of the specialisation available in the global industry after obtaining the CA qualification (the degree I am doing is audit focused). I am from South Africa, and the only obvious paths here are to do a Masters in Tax or Accounting science. The universities are rather tight-lipped about what the curriculums entail. 

Are there any general guidelines you could share with regards to the international trend and demand for post qualification specialisations?" Max

Dear Max,

Just to be clear, let me summarise your request. My understanding is that you are doing a first degree, with an audit focus, then planning to qualify as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa.  You are also now considering a further qualification or specialisation.

So here are some considerations:

Where does your passion lie?
Always, always, this should be your starting point.  It’s no good going for the most marketable experience or qualification in the world if it’s not going to fulfil your aspirations or suit your inherent strengths.  I suggest that you compile a personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).  Call up experience from all aspects of your life: academia, work experience, leisure interests, extra-curricular activities, to determine where your strengths lie and what excites you. You can use your findings to map across to your ‘perfect role’.  For more information to flesh out this exercise, read my article Your Career by Design, here.

Further qualification?
You are, or you will be, of course, already highly qualified for the global market.  The decision to take another qualification will depend to a large part on what you discover about your ‘perfect role’ and whether it requires further specialised study.  And it may seem obvious but there is a risk attached to ‘putting all your eggs into one basket’ at such an early point in your career. Deep specialising at this stage will not take into account either your own personal evolution nor commercial developments.  My advice would be don’t box yourself in too soon; at the very least get some hands on work experience in your chosen field before you add another qualification to your repertoire.

Specialisation by experience, on the other hand, comes in all shapes and forms: by industry (say, financial services), by role (audit, tax, IT), by organisation (public sector, global, practice, industry).  And that’s just for starters.  It could be that by doing the exercise above you come out with a very obvious match, say tax (perhaps because you’re looking for a technical role with strong intellectual challenge) which takes you clearly down a particular path.  But it is likely at this stage in your life the match won’t be so clear cut and you are left with the possibility of a number of different paths to follow.  Don’t despair!  This is why a high percentage of graduates choose a broader base to start with – like audit, where they can develop a wide range of transferable skills. A couple of years in, this puts you in a great position to make an more practically informed career choose with the benefit of hands on experience.  You might choose to make audit your long term career specialism or you may select aspects of this early career choice to develop into deeper expertise in another field. 

Specialisation is important. But it doesn’t have to happen at once.  The trick is to find some specialisation in whatever you choose – to give you your USP (unique selling proposition) – but build a broad range of softer, transferable skills at the same time.

Global trends and marketability
And it’s these softer, transferable skills that are really going to count as we move into the second decade of the 21st century. 

While the traditional fields of public accounting and auditing, cost or management accounting, internal auditing, taxation and corporate recovery still figure, some new accounting specialisations are emerging.  The post Enron world requires increasingly, assurance services for quality control and risk assessment as well as forensic accounting and fraud detection.  Additionally environmental accounting is a big growth area.  And e-commerce continues to flourish and will have huge impact on work in the sector in the future.

Vastly improved technology itself means that accountants spend more time on financial analysis, adding value to the business and to their role.  A role which is broadening as the corporate world continues to globalise, becoming more team-oriented and business practices develop increasing complexity. All of this will require a more diverse skills base from flexible interpersonal abilities to project management and adroitness to change.  
Any experience you can leverage right now on the transferable skills front, will stand you in good stead in ultimately securing Your Career by Design. 

And a last word on geographical demand, check out our Region Focus series, where you can see the trends and demands in countries from Australia and Greece, to the Caymans and the Middle East. 

Happy designing!

 

 

"I want to build my career in Audit but I do not have any specific experience in auditing field. I have been trying to find an audit related job but the employers require audit experience.
Please advise me how to get into audit field and find a placement." Mo

Dear Mo

Thank you for your question. Your CV portrays a part qualified accountant, with an honours degree in Commerce and nearly 3 years general practice accounting experience. 

As you don’t have any specific audit experience, my first recommendation would be to identify and communicate more strongly, those transferable skills which would be relevant to audit.  For example, you could mention your client handling experience, as well as expand on your team skills and analytical strength.  It would be evident then that you have a strong foundation, as well as a proven track record, with some practical experience directly relevant to an audit career.  This would have the effect of making your CV more appealing to a prospective employer.

Remember, that each CV should be tailored to the individual position for which you are applying.  It is a good idea to have a master CV – like the one you have – but be prepared to adapt it for specific roles. 

I am also wondering if you are applying for audit jobs at the appropriate level.  While your accounting experience provides a useful foundation, it would not be valued on a pro rata time basis.  In other words you could not expect to enter audit at the third year experience level. 

Have you considered graduate entry programmes?  It might mean starting at the bottom with the new graduates, but with your professional experience you could expect to rise at swifter rate. 

Finally, you could try and find some pro bono audit work – for a charity for example.  A few hours a month, ‘apprenticed’ to a more experience auditor would provide you with some creditable audit experience as well as making a valuable personal contribution.

 

 

"I am 37 years old and have worked in IT Security for almost ten years from a Mainframe Administrator, trainee project manager to a technical author which is my current position. In the evenings I have studied and completed the AAT qualification and I am in the process of studying towards the ACCA qualification. I am looking to steer my career towards auditing as I feel that I would be able to bring with me my work experience in IT and develop the knowledge obtained from my studies.

Please could you offer some advice as to the best way to get into this area.  Are there specific recruiters who specialise in companies who will be prepared to train new employees in this area? Any advice that you could offer me would be gratefully received." Tracey

Dear Tracey

As a mature entrant embarking on a new career in audit, you are not alone.  Recent research has shown a distinct trend upwards in the starting age of trainees. This may well be down to the added value that the more mature trainee brings from their background and experience in other industries and roles.

If you are willing to start at the bottom of the ladder and work your way upwards, there are many possible ways into the profession. To start at this level, you won’t necessarily require any directly relevant experience or qualifications. For example, you could join external audit with one of the Big 4 firms. You are likely to find more than one entry level; from graduate trainee (which requires top UCAS points) to ‘experienced hire’ where understanding and passion for the role plus transferrable skills will count.  And it’s not just the Big 4.  There are a wide range of auditing practices who recruit new entrants, from small local firms upwards.  Similarly, you will also find internal audit trainee schemes within commerce or the public sector.

Clearly you need to do your research and figure out the best fit for your experience and aspirations.  I would suggest tracking down representatives from a variety of organizations, including those I have mentioned above.  If you can find more mature entrants like yourself, all the better.  Pick their brains to learn about the organisation, the role and their personal experiences.  This will also help you determine how you can best exploit your prior experience.  While you will still have to start at the bottom to learn the basics, there may well be opportunities where your experience can be used to accelerate your progress. For example, specialisng in ISA (Information Systems Audit). 

Not only will this type of research assist you in targeting the best fit but it will also help you articulate your case and commitment for the career switch.  Together with clear communication of how your past experience and skills can be transferred across and a strong dose of enthusiasm and excitement for the new career, and you’re looking at a winning formula!

Good luck with the rest of your audit career!

 

 

"I would like your help in deciding about which qualification is more suitable for me in the UK job market. I would like to know if it’s better to do ACCA or PIIA/ MIIA. I am interested in working within areas of internal auditing, risk & compliance." Usman

Dear Usman

With your extensive experience within the accountancy profession, it may be advisable to keep your options broader at the outset of your UK career.  Bear in mind that you’ve not yet experienced working in the current UK market and you will be new to a career in internal audit.  Both are untried areas for you and there is no guarantee that either will fulfill all your career aspirations in the medium or longer term. 

Instead, first consider your existing qualifications and find out what will be recognized in the UK.  This will also very relevant regarding exemptions from any UK qualification you eventually decide to pursue. 

Your existing qualifications may well be enough to get you started in the UK, experience the market and give you a base on which to build a more strategic career plan. 

And you do need to consider your career aims.  Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years time?  Where do you see your career taking you to?  Whether you’re considering settling in the UK or working in other locations will determine the need to consider a global qualification.  What sort of organisation do you want to work for?  And more imminently, what are your short term earning needs?  How do these map across to the individual qualifications and their career paths?   What do the qualifications cost and how long is the study period?  What type of studying methods and study/work mix are available and how do these reconcile with your preferred style.   How portable is the study package from job to job? 

You are already considering two qualifications, and I would use these as the start point of your research.  Clearly, the ACCA is a global qualification and this may be important to your longer term career plans.  The PIIA and MIIA, diploma’s of the Institute of Internal Auditors of UK and Ireland are more specialised, and of course, very relevant to the UK market.  But there are also many other qualifications what could be appropriate for you, including CIMA for example.

So take some time to consider your short and long term career aims.  Talk to the student advisors at a variety of different professional organisations. Consider your existing qualifications.  And use the questions above to help you make a fully informed decision that will best equip you to reach your aspirations. 

 

 

"I am ACCA part Qualified, still studying. I am really interested in taking a pathway into audit. At the time of this mail I have got no work experience. How can you help me - even for a voluntary role in audit.  This will help me kick off my path to the profession.  I live in the UK and am ready to relocate to any location. Thanks" Tabot

You’re absolutely right to rate highly the importance of practical work experience –  for  two reasons.  Firstly, to ensure that you make your career decision from a fully informed stand point.  And secondly, to effectively market yourself once you have made that decision.    Even unpaid work will be valuable in confirming your suitability for your chosen career and equip you with the knowledge you need to articulate your strengths and ‘fit’ more effectively to a prospective employer.

Work shadowing is a great place to start. Many firms offer this to school leavers as well as those further on in their studies.  Some of the bigger firms operate formal work shadowing schemes but you also have a good chance seeking an ad hoc opportunity.  You will generally need to contact the firms directly.  But also consider if you have any contacts who could introduce you to their organisation and short circuit the application process.

Another way in is to use networking to build your contacts within the audit profession.  You could consider online networking and forums to find a buddy or a mentor – who could the find you an opening in their organisation.

Work shadowing can be a great introduction into an organisation.  Once you’re known around the place, it could provide the break you’re looking for – leading to further unpaid or paid work. 
Of course, the other possibility is direct entry. Many organisations have direct entry schemes where they’ll take you on with nil experience, providing on the job training and put you through the relevant exams if appropriate.  And this is not just Big 4 graduate schemes.  There are opportunities for non-graduates in external and internal audit positions in a vast range of organisations.

That said though, some work experience will boost your CV.  Even if not audit experience, any commercial exposure will be well-received by prospective employer.  And it will give you a commercial, practical base from which to make an informed decision on your chosen career.  Take retail work for example; get the practical experience and use this to appreciate where the role of an auditor would come in.  This sort of practical understanding and articulation of the role could prove very beneficial in securing your success at interview. 

Good luck!

 

 

"I am AAT qualified and an ACCA finalist. I ‘m currently in the process of obtaining a degree in Accountancy as I feel it’s important to have a degree qualification. I have been in industry & commerce and also a short stint in the practice, (not BIG 4).  I have also worked in an internal audit department of an airline but not in the UK. I’m in my late thirties.

At present I’m contemplating embarking on a career in audit. Will this work for me or should I stick to the industry & commerce? Appreciate your advice." Kumundini

Your professional qualifications and experience in industry certainly won’t preclude you from a side-ways career move into audit.  Indeed, many employers will see these as a strong foundation.  However, to give you specific advice on the move and its suitability for you personally, I’d need to know a lot more about you: likes and dislikes, talents and weaknesses, personal and career goals and aspirations.

What I can do, is provide a model that you can work through that will assist in your decision- making.  Here goes:

Phase 1 Know Yourself
• Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years time?  What’s important to you in your life and career?  What are your core values?  (Values are your personal operating principles which if not met, will cause you unhappiness.  Email me at info@theaccountantscoach.com to request your own Values Matrix).
• What are you looking for from your career move?  Use your current and past work experience to identify aspects of your roles that you have found more/less satisfying. 
• What can you offer?  What are your personal skills, talents, strengths?  What makes you special?
• What are you prepared to invest?  Where are you willing to start on the career ladder?  What salary and benefit package do you require?  What further learning are you prepared to undergo?

Phase 2 Understand what’s involved your favoured career
An easy way to do this, is to simply compare and contrast the audit career you are considering with your current position.  What’s similar, what’s the same, what’s diametrically opposed?  Areas you might consider include: core skills, work life balance, travel, working environment, pressure, office and client relationships, team structure,  autonomy, career progression, financial package and security. 

Phase 3 Map across the first 2 phases
You’ve now got 2 lists and you can simply map across from Phase 1 to Phase 2.  You will then be able to determine if your favoured career is going to be a good match to satisfy your aspirations within a satisfactory tolerance range and at an acceptable level of personal investment. 

Good luck!

 

 

"I am an ACCA Professional Stage student in Nigeria.  I work as finance manager for a small privately owned company but my real desire is to work in audit for one of the Big four audit firms.

The challenge is how to get recruited by them as employment by these Big 4 firms here in Nigeria is highly competitive. I have submitted my cv at these firms and I wonder if there is any advice you can give me in order to help me increase my chances of being called for an interview at these firms." Temiloluwa

Dear Temiloluwa

Your starting point should be to get a strong handle on exactly what these firms are looking for, what they really value in their experienced hires at the relevant entry point for someone with your particular background.  Your knowledge and understanding of the firms’ competency framework is vital to enable you to measure your current skills and experience against their basic requirements.  Core competencies for the Big 4 audit will vary but are likely to comprise: communication skills (written and verbal), team work/relationship building, leadership, drive and ambition, problem solving and practical intellect skills, and ability to add value.  This information should be readily available from recruitment literature, Human Resources and/or an informal discussion with a current employee. 

But don’t overlook less formal research.  An example would be investigating the background of successful part qualified entrants and experienced hires.  This will help you build a modelling blue print to enable you to design your own recipe for success. 

Once you’ve identified the essential requirements, you can move on to develop your personal USP (Unique selling proposition).  You are looking for personal qualities and experience that make you stand out above other equally qualified candidates.  Remember though, it is vital to map this across to the firm’s requirements.  In other words, your particular USP has got to be something that the firm will value.

Your research will obviously involve acquiring information about the firm - from hard copy brochures and from their website.  But I would also highly recommend ‘people’ research; try and get to know some of the incumbent staff to add a further dimension to your knowledge and understand the underlying culture.  Use your own local networks to find employees of your target firms but also look out for open meetings (recruitment days, technical updates etc) where you can extend your network of contacts within the firm and request introductions to other relevant contacts.  You can even consider contacting the firm direct and asking them for a work shadowing opportunity – invaluable in optimising your understanding of their requirements but it also gets you on the map in terms of them getting to know you.  Don’t forget online networking too; you may be able to track down ‘insiders’ via blogs and forums. 

Once you’ve grasped what the firms really want in their candidates you can then turn to your presentation to ensure you can effectively communicate it.  You will have built up a checklist of competencies and you need to map your own experience and skills to match these. This is not just at the application stage; make sure you can clearly articulate these key qualities and be prepared to back them up with practical examples.  You may find at this point that you’ve identified gaps in your skill set; depending on the degree, you may decide to seize the opportunity seek practical experiences or further training to fill those gaps. 

Clearly your CV and/or application form will be your point of entry to the firm, so it is vital that they effectively communicate not only that you meet the firms basic requirements, but also in such a competitive environment, that you have even more to offer.  Beyond the initial application stage, the networking activities that I’ve mentioned above will also be very useful in achieving  that ‘foot in the door’, getting your face known and remembered, and possibly even short circuiting your application as a candidate ‘not to be missed’. 

All in all, the key is patience.  A highly competitive market place means you can’t necessarily expect overnight success.  Instead, take a longer view and plan your medium term strategy – and this will maximise your chances of getting you to where you want to be. 

I hope this points you in the right direction

 

 

"I am currently at the stage of final assessment for various firms for a graduate audit position. I do not have an accounting background (degree in Biology) but have read up on auditing and have a fairly good feel for what the job is. Could you give me a few things that you feel are crucial for me to know about within auditing so that I am fully prepared for my final interviews." Chris

Dear Chris

The key point here is that the interviewer is much more interested in assessing your potential as opposed to testing your breadth of knowledge.  That’s precisely why recruiters are happy with non-relevant degrees – it’s not the discipline that’s important it’s the potential demonstrated by the achievement of that degree.

That said, it is vital to demonstrate a genuine interest in business, particularly where you don’t have an accountancy degree.  So be sure to keep up to date with the latest business stories; scan a decent newspaper on the day of your interview(s) and make sure you know more than an inkling of what’s going on economically – at least in the UK.

The interviews and assessments will be designed to measure you against the core competencies required for the job.  These will vary depending on the organisation you are applying to, but here’s an indication:

• Communication skills, written and verbal
• Team work, relationship building
• Ethics, professionalism, personal motivation
• Attention to detail, high quality standards
• Problem solving and practical intellect skills
• Ability to work under pressure, to deadline

And typically for a graduate entrant:

• Drive, ambition, leadership potential

You can expect a good return on the time you spend investing in a strong articulation of how you can demonstrate these qualities.

As for the technical side of auditing, it’s actually your practical understanding that will count.  For instance, be sure you can articulate what you perceive as a typical ‘day in the life of an auditor’, crucially for that specific organisation.  Your research could include speaking to an incumbent staff member in this or a similar firm. 
And be ready too, for some very practical questions, calling for common sense and creative problems solving skills.  A favourite in my previous firm was: ‘as an auditor at a chocolate biscuit factory, how would you go about verifying the stock figures’.

Lastly, but somewhat down the priority order, it could be handy to be up to date with  developments in auditing (eg the world post-Enron, ISA – International Auditing Standards, UK IFRS convergence) but this will be specific to the organisation to which you are applying.

The real crunch will be the aforementioned: general business awareness, core competencies and a practical understanding of the job. 

P.S. a real differentiator is an ability to articulate a strong, convincing business case for choosing a particular firm. Challenging but priceless.

 

 

“I am a US citizen contemplating taking the Certified Internal Auditor exam in 2008. I wish to know if there are opportunities for me in the UK, whether London or elsewhere. Is there enough demand for internal auditors that the Home Office will approve work visas for this occupation?” Richard

Dear Richard 

Although the Certified Internal Auditor is an American qualification, it is well-recognised in the UK and indeed across most of Europe. So if part of your question concerns whether this qualification holds any value outside the US, then the answer is yes, it does. 

Whilst demand for auditors in certain sectors remains strong in the UK, generally speaking the market has cooled to the point at which most companies are able to fill vacant roles with UK nationals, or failing that, with Europeans who can work in the UK without any additional visa arrangements. An application from a US national is therefore less appealing that it may have been, say 18 months ago. 

If you do wish to come to the UK, I would look into obtaining a Highly Skilled Migrant Visa. This would allow you to work in the UK without company sponsorship and may be the most realistic way of securing your move.

I hope this points you in the right direction.

 

 

"I am currently trying to embark on a career in audit.  I hold a degree in an unrelated discipline and would like advice on what is the best qualification to obtain.  I am starting a 1 year full time AAT diploma in September.  I have found that as I have little accounts experience and no formal qualification I am not very employable.  For this reason the AAT will give me at least a foot in the door.

I have worked since I was 16 years old but from 30 to 34 I have a 4 year gap in my work history due to a health problem.  I am now 35 so would like to be in work as soon as possible. Any advice you could give me would be very much appreciated." Mark

Dear Mark

My first thought: are really capitalising on all the assets you already have?  For example, have you considered graduate entry programmes?  A non-relevant degree needn’t be a deterrent; many graduate employers are looking for the skills and potential conferred on the degree holder rather than the technical subject matter itself.  Also, as a more mature candidate with 14 years work experience there will be lots of transferable skills that you will have within your repertoire.  The trick here is a bit of lateral thinking to match the relevance of your past experience to your future aspirations – tricky-but loads to play for. 

As you have already committed to the AAT diploma make sure you get the most out of it during your year of study. Once you’ve mastered the basics of double entry book keeping you should find it easy to get some practical experience, working with a charity for example.  This will be a valuable addition to your CV as well as giving you the opportunity to turn theory into practice and really hone those skills.  In fact any practical experience you can get paid or unpaid during the one year course will stand you in good stead.

Having decided that audit is your future, I would recommend that you actually find your perfect role(s) and then look at the route to qualification.  Is it internal or external audit that you are attracted to?  What sort of organisation do you want to work for? – SME, blue-chip, not-for profit?  What are your personal financial requirements and aspirations?

First find the job you love, then travel back from the destination to find the starting point.  

And once you’ve done a bit more delving, to paint the picture of your dream job, come back to us and we’ll talk more specifically about qualifications.

 

 

“What is the average first year salary of a qualified auditor and what can I expect to earn after 3 or 4 years?” Mona

Dear Mona

Salary levels for newly qualified auditors vary from region to region and there are obviously substantial differences between the salaries paid by the ‘Big 4’ and smaller public practice firms.  

Additionally, the type of qualification you have also has an effect on your market value, with the ACA qualification usually commanding the highest salary levels. However, in the interest of answering your question without providing a myriad of variations, I could say that newly qualified auditors should be earning somewhere in the very high £20k level in smaller firms or regions, moving up to mid- late £30k for London and the South East.

An additional 3-4 years experience should see you in a managerial role and earning in the mid- late £40k level, up to anything in the £50k- early £60k bracket range for the most prestigious firms.

I hope this information has been helpful.

 

 

“Considering the current state of the UK economy, is now a good time to move jobs?” Rebecca

Dear Rebecca

The current credit crunch and its implications - alarming forecasts of slashed consumer spending and imminent job losses – is never out of the news.  But the actual impact on the labour market, particularly in finance and audit sector is a little less easy to read.
While we can’t deny the front pages news of jobs losses at KPMG and Citigroup, some commentators are pointing to a resilience in the employment market .  Of ‘labour hoarding’ -  supporting current employment levels by curbing pay rises as opposed to major layoffs.

So what does it mean to your career plans?  Well the short answer is, it depends.

A natural reaction of job seekers is to fear the LIFO (last in first out) mode of operation.  And maybe in the old ‘jobs for life’ days this was a very realistic fear.  But in the 21st century where the ‘war for talent’ is rife, is this still a logical outcome?  If an organization has spent heavy, in time and money, to recruit you - you’ve clearly made the more than likely competitive cut.  Are they really going to axe you at the first sign of economic downturn?  Unlikely, though not impossible.  But it does all comes down to competition.  Any slowdown in the job market is going to intensify the ‘war for talent’ and increase competition.  This is where the quality of your CV, the relevance of your skills and experience, will count big time. 

But it’s not just about the market.  It’s primarily about you.  The real test will be your strategic plans and how a career move will ties in.  You need to do your own ‘career audit’.  You don’t want to move ‘just for the sake of it’ which could be a real temptation if the number of vacancies is depleted.  You need to take stock of where you are now in your current role.  Are you still getting the level of stretch you need to develop your skills?   Are you running out of learning opportunities or at risk of stagnating?   How is your quality of life, your work life balance?  These questions are all paramount in making that decision - whether the time is right for you, personally, to tackle a potentially more challenging job market.

So to sum up.  Right time to move jobs?  Well it depends.  It depends on where you are in your career plan. It depends on the competitiveness of your skills and experience.  It depends, of course, on your location, sector, level and role.  But above all it depends on you.  Your quality of life, your tolerance level, your values and your aspirations. 

Best of luck!

 

 

“I am working in a small firm as an audit senior, responsible for preparing accounts (60%) and audit (40%).  I’ve now been offered a job as a Big Four Assistant Manager.

I understand that auditing under ISA is about identifying weakness in internal controls and its implications.  However, during my 3 years experience I have never come across such a thing. We normally do substantive testing and follow Kestrian audit programmes.

Please could you give me an example of an internal control weakness and implications for the Financial Services sector?

Also what’s the best way to prepare myself before joining?’’ Noel

Dear Noel

First up, the easy bit.  Insufficient segregation of duties is an example of an internal controls weakness.  For any key process there should be division in the responsibility for: authorizing transactions, processing and recording them, reviewing and approving them, and handling any related assets. No single individual should control all key aspects of a transaction or event. Implications in any industry would depend on materiality, business risk and the potential financial effect of the weakness.  For the auditor this could translate into finding and testing alternative or mitigating internal controls, additional substantive work to provide sufficient assurance, or ultimately audit qualification.

Moving on to your preparation for the new job.
Firstly, congratulations on taking the initiative. In my years as a Big Four Resource Director, I recruited tonnes of candidates in exactly your position and I don’t recall this request coming up at interview or in the pre-joining period. 

There’s no doubt that this will be a big transition for you.  Moving jobs is always a major step, but transferring into the Big Four environment is likely to result, not just in a change to your role (technically and operationally) and in your environment (people and location), but will also expose you to a quite radically different culture. 

The good news is that you won’t be the first who has made such a move, so your new firm is likely to have a good tailored induction or ‘conversion’ process for people like you.  But there is plenty you can do (and should do) to help yourself.

Here’s a 2 stage approach to your preparation and transition:

First, brainstorm all the changes/challenges you are likely to encounter.  Start with the obvious.  Think about stuff that would apply if you were going for a new job in a similar firm.  Then start to dig deep.  Compare and contrast your old and your new roles. 

Here’s a checklist of a few potential differences to get you started:
The new role. What is actually expected of an assistant manager here?

• Changes in levels of your autonomy, use of judgement, independence
• ISA auditing
• Firm-specific audit methodology
• IFRS knowledge
• Pure auditing, without the accounts prep
• Materiality
• Bigger, more complex clients
• New industry sectors, with their own industry regulations
  Culture and politics, including reporting lines

Next, look at all the possible solutions and resources you have at your disposal.  Some of these may only be available once you have joined, but there is no harm in asking for them at the pre-joining stage.  (They can always say no and you might earn some brownie points for keenness in the meantime!)

• Find out from the person who recruited you who your nominated contact is and then ask for some advice on preparation.  There may be a pack or intranet resources they can share with you upfront
• Find a buddy and/or a mentor.  Preferably someone who has made the same transition but at the very least someone is currently working in your new firm
• Do some workshadowing. It gives you the chance to see the job and experience the culture at first hand without the pressure of performance.  Watch, observe and learn!
• Ask silly questions.  Ask your buddy, your recruiter, HR………Ask.  Ask. Ask.  You can get away with virtually anything at this stage
• Use Human Resources.  You might have a local HR contact but you will also have access to a massive national HR support system who will be waiting to help you at the end of the telephone
• Attend socials and join networks as soon as you possibly can – even pre-joining.  You can specifically to be included in these
• Leverage you past experience.  You may be able to share with the Resource Planning team, the type of jobs you have done before.  If they can factor this into your planning then this puts you at a standing start

All this will stand you in good stead.  But there is one other thing you can do which will really make a difference……Hone your mind set.  Don’t approach this move as daunting, scary and fraught with problems.  DO adopt a mind set that speaks exciting, stimulating and solution-orientated. Remember the Henry Ford quote ‘whether you think you can or you can’t you are usually  right’.  Expect success!

Good luck!

 

 

"I am an ACCA professional stage student and have passed the first 9 modules of ACCA . Currently working for Deloitte in the United Arab Emirates with one year's experience in internal audit, I am planning to move in Sweden . Will it be easy for me to find trainee level job in Sweden?" Amjad

Dear Amjad

Many thanks for your question regarding your proposed move to Sweden. I would offer the following advice:

• Attempt to secure the move through your current company, Deloitte. Their willingness to support you will depend on a number of factors, such as on the time you have been with the firm, the amount of work that the office currently has…but they may be more inclined to support a move if it is motivated by personal reasons (ie you are following a spouse/ partner etc) or if they see a chance that you will return
• If a move with Deloitte’s is not possible then make applications to others within the Big 4. They will understand your experience, and as they are international companies, they are more likely to support someone who does not speak Swedish (which I assume you don’t)
• If this fails, apply to the internal audit teams of Swedish multinationals. You may also wish to look at a company called Audit Value International, which is effectively the internal audit team for a large and diverse group of Swedish led companies and regularly employs auditors from the Middle East & India
• Do as much work as you can on the visa and be prepared to answer questions on the mechanics behind your sponsorship (the time it would take to complete etc etc). You need to do this work for any potential employer
• Contact the major recruitment companies in Sweden and ensure that you meet with them if you ever find yourself in Stockholm for a visit

Best of luck! Let us know how things develop and keep a close eye on the jobs on the website!

 

 

“I’m an Internal Audit Manager.  I had been making enquiries about alternative employment only to be served with a letter giving me 3 weeks notice (I am entitled to 3 months). The problem is that I am finding it very difficult to find alternative employment.

When I contact some agencies – I normally either never hear or I get told that the candidate field was very strong and that’s why I have been rejected.  Later I see the advert on a website seeking candidates from perhaps another agency.

What advice can you offer?" James

Dear James

If you haven’t already done so, I would strongly suggest that you request written explanation for the non-statutory notice period.  Armed with this information you can then seek the advice of an employment lawyer.  It may not be appropriate to take the matter further legally but you can at least understand the situation from a legal perspective and get some closure in your own mind.

With regard to your challenges in the employment market, you need to focus your attention on the matters that you can change.  There are many reasons why an advert might be re-run but as you can’t do anything about it – don’t let it zap your energy.

What you can do for starters is get some feedback from the agencies.  Here are a few topics you can cover:

• What experience/attributes are successful candidates demonstrating?
• Where are my skills gaps?
  o Based on CV
  o Based on interview feedback
• What do I need to do to become more competitive?
• Am I seeking the most appropriate positions?
• If not, what would be a better fit for my skills and experience?
• How are the agencies communicating my USP to their clients? (Your USP is your Unique Selling Point. What makes you special?  What is your differentiator?)

(Bear in mind that agencies may not be able to help you with all of these.  You may need to seek the services of a careers coach, like the accountantscoach.com)

Once you’ve got the feedback you can then put together a plan to address any skills or perception gaps.  And don’t forget that USP.  You may well not have been fully capitalizing on this.

And finally. regarding communication with the agencies, it’s not unreasonable to request and expect this.  Set up a verbal agreement with each agency. 
Agree that they will get back to you within, say 48 hours, regardless of whether there’s anything to report or not.  Similarly request a monthly catch up call so you can keep on top of what the agencies have been doing for you, how the market is and the implications for you.  Make it easy for the agency by setting up an effective contact arrangement. For example, evenings between 8-9pm on a specific telephone number. 
Of course this will all be much more achievable if you can work with one nominated contact at each agency. You will then build a relationship, get to know one another and ultimately the agency will be better placed to serve you.

Good luck!

 

 

“What’s the best way to approach the partnership about changing clients?” Natalie

First be clear in your own mind why you want to change clients. 

If it is due to a short-term, one off issue relating to chemistry/relationships or ability to do the job, then act now.  It could prove an ethical matter if there are implications in the standard of your work.

However, if it’s more to do with career progression, personal strengths, likes/dislikes then you can afford to take a more measured approach. 

As ever you need to start by considering why you want to change clients and what exactly you are seeking.  And this is especially important here as you will need to be able to provide a clearly thought-out business case too.

Use a brainstorming technique (mind-mapping is a good one for this).  This will help you to flush all your thoughts, including the pros and cons from both perspectives – yours and the business’s. 

You can then use your mind-map as a foundation to articulate your case:
• What you don’t want, and why
• What you do want, and why
• How your proposition aligns to your professional development
• How your proposition meets business needs and indeed, can benefit the business

So that’s the content.  Now you need to consider your process. 

Do you understand the process within your organisation with respect to staff planning?  Is there one dedicated Resourcing contact or are you expected to deal directly with your line manager/partner?  Who exactly are the decision makers? 

It’s important to get this right.  You don’t want to go over anyone’s head and potentially have politics mess up your approach. Plus in the interests of efficiency you want to do it ‘properly’ and ensure you don’t have a number of parties putting in their oar on your behalf – that won’t help your case either.  However, if used subtly a mentor or a sponsor could have a role here.  As long as process and politics are respected, it can very valuable to have a bit of extra ‘clout’ behind your bid.

Be aware of timing too.  If staff planning is an annual process in your firm, it may be appropriate to take a more strategic approach to making your case and respect normal procedures.   If the system is more ad hoc, then use common sense to time your request.  For instance it’s not going to go down well to put in a last minute request for a change – just before the job is due to start. Once again consider tying in to the firm’s normal practice on career/portfolio development, which may well be linked to the performance appraisal system.

Whichever approach you choose, remember that a bid that provides solutions rather than creating problems is going to be much better received.  So rather making it ‘all about you’, think wider.  Can you suggest a successor? If not a particular person then in general terms be prepared to articulate the type of individual who would benefit from the vacated role.  Think level, experience, natural strengths, career aspirations.   This could prove very helpful to the organisation and a ‘win-win’ outcome is going to get you much further in meeting your own aspirations. 

 

 

“I feel the past year was a very good year in terms of my productivity for the company, how do I approach my boss about a raise?” Thomas

Dear Thomas

Great start!  You’ve already tied the cost to the benefit.  It might seem obvious but in any commercial organisation, it’s going to be vital to establish that connection between ‘cause and effect’.  You’ve made that link by relating your request for a raise directly to the measurable benefit that you’ve conferred on the company.

You now need to consider the official policy on pay rises.  It could be that your organisation has a flexible, ad hoc approach to salary review.  More likely though, there may be just one or two salary review points during the year, probably related directly to performance appraisal.  But this doesn’t mean that you are confined to taking action at certain dates only.  On the contrary this is an initiative that you should be working on all year round.  I just point this out to stress that although your company’s pay review system may mean waiting for the actual dosh until the designated time, there is every reason to be sowing those seeds right now.  If you do decide to make your case outside of the normal pay review timetable then the most valuable thing you can do is to look for precedents.  Study those who have succeeded before.  Understand what has worked for them and be prepared to model their approach. 

In the meantime…

The key is preparation.  You need to plan your approach.  This is not the time to go for it, all guns blazing.  A measured, rational, supported argument will take you much further towards your objective.  Think business case.  You must let go of emotion here.  To negotiate the best deal you will need to logically articulate the justification for your raise.  Put aside for now any feelings of what you might ‘deserve’.  What will count is validating your request in the context of the benefits you have provided to the business. 

So build your personal case as you would build a business case. 

• What does the business value?  Check it out because it may be very different to what you personally value.  Your case will not be persuasive unless it’s based on what the business wants. 
• What is the boss looking for?  It’s perfectly reasonable to ask your boss a very direct question.  What do I have to do to secure this pay raise?  Precisely what evidence do I need to do to demonstrate this?  What does that mean in the context of my career? 
• Ensure that you understand the company’s criteria for salary increases.  Is it related to performance measures?  If so understand what you need to demonstrate to reach this level. And again, what exactly does that look like?  You need to get it down to practical tasks and behaviours.  Talk to your line manager and/or HR.  Look at precedents and use them as role models. 

• Provide evidence to support your increased productivity and relate this back to what you know the business values.  Construct a hypothetical defence.  How would you respond to any challenges?   

And don’t leave all the hard work until appraisal time.  It’s always the right time to work on your strategy.  Keep it on your agenda all year around.  Find out what is expected and be sure that you are not only doing it but are seen to be doing it.  This is not the time to be hiding your light under a bushel.

As for getting the most out of the meeting itself…..well that’s another matter entirely.  Think: first impressions, focussing on your key objective, building empathy, reading and responding to body language, skilful questioning, optimising your language, clarity in communicating your case, negotiation,   designing your concession strategy and setting yourself up for success.  I could go on.  But these are the answers to another question.  Ask me that one next time!

 

 

“My peer group is extremely talented with strong individuals, how can I differentiate myself and be noticed?”  Kate

Dear Kate

I would recommend a three stage approach. First examine your objectives.  Ask yourself why do I want to be noticed?  What do I want to be noticed for?  And what is my ultimate aim here? 
Asking and answering these questions is vital to ensure that you adopt an appropriate strategy.  For example: is it about being promoted?  Or simply to keep up with the rest of your peer group and not lag behind?  Perhaps it more to do with your longer term career path - developing skills and attracting opportunities with a more strategic goal in mind?  Or could it be that there is a cultural expectation of individuality?

Next examine precisely what is valued in your organisation. 
You could start with the formal performance management system.  What are the key competencies and core skills that are expected in your role?  What level of proficiency is expected and how would it look to over-exceed in each area. 

But this is only your starting point.  You will also need to look at practise as well as theory.  Consider in real terms what attributes individuals are noted for.  What makes people stand out?  What is reward (salary, promotion, opportunity) matched to in real terms?  How does this line up with your perception of a peer group of talented, strong individuals?  By doing this you are also testing your own assumptions about the rest of your peer group and potentially your place within it. 

Resources that will help will include your Human Resources contact and your line manager.  But go wider than this.  Consider talking to individuals who are seen as role models.  Find yourself a mentor, someone more senior (but who has no influence in your performance appraisal) who will view the terrain from a different perspective and may point out some real eye-openers. 

Finally, once you’ve done all of this, you can put together your personal differentiation strategy. 

Using all the knowledge you’ve gleaned, draw up your personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).  Having figured out what works for your organisation you can now line it up with what you can offer.  You are looking for your innate USP (Unique Selling Point) which is clearly unique and valued by your organisation, but also comes naturally to you (perhaps with a bit of nurture).  As I am fond of pointing out, at all costs avoid the ‘square peg in the round hole’ syndrome.  If you can’t find a relevant characteristic that is inherent and capable of being polished up to perfection, then you may be better placed seeking an alternative role which values your particular USP.

Bear in mind that you can have more than one USP. Here are a few examples: a specific aspect of communication skills (negotiation, influencing, dealing with conflict, building rapport with a particular type of client), leadership, tenacity, quality delivery under pressure, efficiency and effectiveness, technical expertise in a niche area.  And many, many more. 

And don’t forget once you have identified what it is that makes you special you will then need to ensure that your organisation can see it too – but that’s another story!

 

  

“I am very interested in moving from the audit into the general management consulting of my company – what’s the best way to go about this?"  Wedian

Dear Wedian

This will be a competitive move and first impressions count.  Consequently, before you ‘go live’ with your career aspirations, ensure you are  knowledgeable about the sector, understand what’s expected in the role and can articulate your personal differentiator.  Bearing in mind these three key requirements, here’s some tips to help.

Start genning up on Management Consultancy as a career.  What does the job entail on a day to day basis?  What does the longer term career path look like?  What skills and experience will be required?  And vitally, what characteristics are being sought to demonstrate longer term potential.  You will need to appreciate all of this and clearly express it to your prospective employer.

So how do you go about this? Start inhouse.  Look at networks you already have and then identify and develop further support.  Use your commonsense to gauge when to release your career aspirations into the public domain, bearing in mind that there may be political tensions between the different service lines.  Plus you don’t want the Management Consultants judging you before you are up to speed.  So find a confidential mentor (senior to you) and/or a buddy (similar peer group) who has made the move or has insight into the department.  Pick their brains to find answers to the questions above.  Get them to help you to identify the key decision makers recruitment-wise, so you can look for subtle means of being seen by the relevant people in a positive light. 
Continue your research outside your organisation to glean more intelligence on the industry.  Recruitment agencies may be willing to help. But also use your own networks to talk further afield, seeking those who have made or considered the move.  And use the rich resources of the internet; blogs and forums can be invaluable for the ‘inside story’.

When you are certain you can speak confidently about the career and the sector, start to share your aspirations more publicly within your firm.  You can seek the support of HR/your line manager/the movers and shakers with Management Consultancy.  Use a personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to identify your differentiator and ensure it is aligned to what you now know is valued by the Management Consultants.

And last, but by no means least, don’t forget to consider what you actually want from this career move.  What are you seeking that is not being satisfied in your current role?  How does this move align with your long term career aims, your lifestyle needs, your core personal values?  If inhouse politics permit you may be able to undertake a work-shadowing experience or even a secondment so you can see at first hand what it’s like at the sharp end. 

Due diligence complete, you’ll be in an excellent position to make an informed decision as to whether this is the most appropriate move for you.  And if it is, you’ll be in great shape to surge ahead with that application.

 

 

"I have just got an HSMP Visa for UK and am planning to move over there next month. I am an ACCA fully qualified member and have an experience of about 5 yrs in audit and risk services but of course it is outside UK.
 
Is it possible for me to secure a job online before i get to UK? What is the quickest way to find a job in a practice in UK after i get there?"  Mohammad

Dear Mohammad

It is certainly possible to start a job search before you come to the UK, although it is unlikely that you will complete it until you are here. 

If you already have ‘Big 4’ experience then you should be applying to those companies now. Spread your net widely when searching their jobs and make sure that you also look at jobs outside London. London tends to be very popular and attracts the highest number of applications so looking outside may help your chances of securing an interview. You should also visit the websites of practice firms below the ‘Big 4’, such as BDO and Grant Thornton. 

If you don’t have ‘Big 4’ experience already then it is very unlikely that you will find a job with them in the UK. In this case, the best approach would be to start making applications to audit specialist recruiters, many of which can be found via CareersinAudit.com and pushing for an interview with them when you arrive in the UK. You should also start exploring temporary work as this may provide you with fast employment and act as a bridge to a full time audit role. 

Finally do ensure that your CV communicates your ACCA qualification and HSMP in the clearest possible way.

 

 

“I don’t seem to have any time for a personal life at the moment. What tips can you give me to better manage my time during this busy season?”  Alex, Internal Auditor

Dear Alex

First up, I am assuming that you are referring to a limited period of time here.  That is, a seasonal workload peak as opposed to a permanent state.  Here are some tips to help you with a temporary increase in your workload. Bear in mind that a different approach would be recommended if this was a permanent situation. 

There are three areas that you should consider:

• Planning.  It is invaluable to take some time out from your technical responsibilities to work ‘on’ your job as opposed to ‘in’ your job.  There is a school of thought that suggests that 10% of our time should be spent working on planning ‘how’ to do our jobs.  10% might seem a bit heavy at this time of year so I would suggest that any time at all that you use in this way will give you a good return on your time investment.  Even if it is just 15 minutes a day, spend some time standing back, reminding yourself of the bigger picture and give some thought to what you are trying to achieve and the best way to achieve it.

• Goals.  You will greatly benefit from having a real understanding of your priorities.  Under time pressure it is vital to understand exactly what has to be achieved within the deadline and then focus completely on these priorities.  Also consider what absolutely has to be performed by you.  With everything else, firmly: eliminate, delegate, reschedule.  This approach has added value when you break down your task into its smaller components and proceed to eliminate, delegate, reschedule.  It will guard against the risk of seeing an assignment as a huge lump, and being seized by panic.

• Last but definitely not least, you need to commit to some leisure time.  Hard as this may sound when you are working long hours to tight deadlines, you must do this for the sake of your health.  At this time of year you may not find it possible to achieve a ‘balanced’ life and your personal time may not be at a level you would aspire to all year round – but you do need to take some time out.  Even if you just commit 30 minutes a day ‘wind down’ time, doing nothing at all, this is helpful in combating stress and re-charging the batteries.  If you can plan in some physical pursuit each day, all the better.  Also aim to have at least one leisure activity to look forward to each week. Once you have decided, make a promise to yourself to honour these commitments.  Cast them in stone.  Treat them as you would a work deadline.  Decide, commit then focus.   Let nothing get in the way, and enjoy!

 

 

Have your career questions answered by emailing Carol at helpme@careersinaudit.com

 

To look for a new audit job, visit CareersinAudit.com, the leading job site for auditing vacancies.