Is this realistic?

Jennie

Hello,

I am hoping any of you can give me some advice.

I am just about to complete AAT Level 2 in Bookkeeping. Doing this had made me realise I would really love to become an accountant. I don't currently work in Finance, I work in Sales Support and have lots of experience in Admin, Insurance and Banking (I used to work in a bank as cashier and advisor).

So here's my predicament - I currently earn £25k and cant really afford much of a salary reduction - would I be able to get a job with my experience, in Finance, for about the same money? Ideally I would like to go in as a Assistant Accountant and would love to sit all my exams to become qualified and work my way up.

Once I go to level 3 it can expensive to fund and I don't know if it will help me to get a job without the experience. Any thoughts or advice is greatly received! (Originally I wanted to be a bookkeeper hence the bookkeeping course. I don't know if I could go into AAT Accounting level 3 following this.)

Thanks,
Jennie

CeeJaySix

No reason you can't go straight into level 3 - if you find there are any gaps in Level 2 knowledge (I don't know how similar the bookkeeping qual is to full level 2) you can always just buy the books, there's no need to sit the exams.

Your salary expectations are probably too high to be honest unless you're in London, but you should be able to get back to that figure within a year or two if you're good at it - very much dependent on where you are in the country and the firm you find a job at, but entry level roles seem to be £12-£18kish.

That said you never know your luck, and maybe you can find a job in industry that combines being an accounts assistant with being an office manager or similar on a higher starting wage.