Can I continue onto cima/Acca without practical experience?

mickle

I completed technician a year ago and have been applying for jobs but not even had an interview yet.
I have a good job in a bank and would have to take a significant pay cut to get my first accountancy role. I am willing to do this and have expressed this.
I am worried that agencies are disregarding because of this. If I can, I would like to start the next
Qualification, in the hope that there may be more possibilities for me.
My mum passed away and I have inheritance which I want to use to further my studies.
Any advice welcome?

MarkT

I hate top say this, but even those of us with years of experience of working in accounts are finding it tough right now to find suitable work.

Basically, recruitment agencies are not interested if you are willing to take less than you are worth, they have to make a nice profit from you. Secondly, I have been seeing jobs that are paying far less than I am worth and they are expecting to be able to get PQ's at these levels - wages I may add that I was being paid 5 years ago.

As for progression, I do not see any reason as to why CIMA would not take you on as a student, however, with the lack of practical experience, I am not sure that you would have a smooth ride. My best advice would be to speak to a local college that offers the CIMA course or ACCA course and ask their course administrator for advice as they should be able to fill in the blanks - whatever you do though, do not give up, this is just a blip and the job market will recover eventually and you will hopefully be able to move into the role you desire :thumbup:

stevo1

I’m currently doing CIMA, onto Managerial level and will hopefully finish next year. One of the requirements of TOPCIMA (final exam) is to be able to demonstrate 3 years work based practical experience. I think in this case you will need to find employment in order to fulfil this, because you could theoretically fly through the exams in 2 yrs, but not without the work based experience you cannot get your qualification.

stevo1

The other thing you could look at is transferring within your bank maybe? There will surely be opportunities coming up more frequently depending on which bank it is but you may need to move.

AK002

What's your role in your bank?

You'd be surprised what counts as practical experience with AAT.

Rinske

I'm not sure if continuing is a good idea though, because you would be overqualified with a lack of experience on both CIMA and ACCA, which might make it very hard to find a new job, once the market would pick up again.

As for finding a job, with or without experience, most people find it very difficult at the moment. It's not just you and probably not based on your salary!