Advice please :-)

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nkt
nkt Registered Posts: 3 New contributor 🐸
in General discussion
Hi,

I'm 33 and apart from an HND in Business Admin from 15 years ago, I have no qualifications to speak of and, due to the recession, have found myself to be practically unemployable. Having spoken to a few friends who work in the field, I have decided that I quite fancy a career in accounting. Indeed, all the suggested jobs thrown up by the CareersMatch questionnaire on the Careers Scotland website were accounting-related. I have been to university twice in the past to get a degree but have ended up dropping-out both times. Sadly, I don't think uni is for me. Presently, I only have a part-time catering job and consequently have a very low income.

So, my question is, would AAT be suitable for me? Would it be better to study at college (the nearest one is over 30 miles away) or a 'private' provider? Am I likely to get any funding beyond an ILA? Any suggestions or advice would be most gratefully received.

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  • beaneygirl
    beaneygirl Registered Posts: 79 Regular contributor ⭐
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    nkt wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm 33 and apart from an HND in Business Admin from 15 years ago, I have no qualifications to speak of and, due to the recession, have found myself to be practically unemployable. Having spoken to a few friends who work in the field, I have decided that I quite fancy a career in accounting. Indeed, all the suggested jobs thrown up by the CareersMatch questionnaire on the Careers Scotland website were accounting-related. I have been to university twice in the past to get a degree but have ended up dropping-out both times. Sadly, I don't think uni is for me. Presently, I only have a part-time catering job and consequently have a very low income.

    So, my question is, would AAT be suitable for me? Would it be better to study at college (the nearest one is over 30 miles away) or a 'private' provider? Am I likely to get any funding beyond an ILA? Any suggestions or advice would be most gratefully received.
    O.k you sound stressed.
    AAT is definitely for you-that's a given. I know nothing about funding but as far as the college or not question goes- I went to college to do AAT but found that I actually did 80% of my learning at home..maybe I'm just that sort of person but I've spoken to others who felt the same. I suppose the up side of doing it at college is that there is a form of discipline in having to turn up and look at the books the same time every week and you are set work to do at home. I intend to go on and do ACCA at home now that I've done AAT but it's probably not the style of learning for everyone. I was 29 when I started and had a varied background of employment including Pub management/sitting, graphic design and freelance artist so I don't think it matters at all what you did before and AAT is a widely recognised qualification the world over.
    Go for it.
    :)
  • PGM
    PGM Registered Posts: 1,954 Beyond epic contributor 🧙‍♂️
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    If you've dropped out of uni twice, will you be able to stick at it this time? As AAT can be quite demanding.

    Also bear in mind it'll still be difficult to get a job as many employers will be looking for experience.

    Although combined with admin qualification (and experience?) it could help with admin/accounts type roles.
  • nkt
    nkt Registered Posts: 3 New contributor 🐸
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    Thanks for your advice, guys, I'm definitely going to go for it :-)
  • Marga
    Marga Registered Posts: 981 Epic contributor 🐘
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    hello ....i think AAT could be beneficial and it can be for you if that is what you want...if theres a will theres a way thats what they say so yes go for it


    if you have dropped from uni it is unlikely you would like to go to college so do you think you are happy to do it at home? if you could find more people around where you live that are doing AAT that would help a lot cause most of them would keep you in your toes but are not as disciplinary as a college or uni


    do you mind me asking how good are you with spreadsheets? this could be a turning point ...

    any software you want to learn? as you have just a part time this means more free time to study ...
  • nkt
    nkt Registered Posts: 3 New contributor 🐸
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    Hi,

    Thanks for your repy. It's not that I don't want to go to college, it's just that I would struggle to find the travelling costs at the moment and as I'm currently looking for work I don't want to restrict my chances by being unavailable one day a week. Although I am not the most self-disciplined person I'm pretty sure that I can summon the necessary willpower.

    Re: spreadsheets; no problem, I've used them for years and am very comfortable with them.

    I'd like to learn Sage. A friend of mine has his own accounting practice and he has told me if I could use Sage he would like to farm out some of his work to me.
  • Marga
    Marga Registered Posts: 981 Epic contributor 🐘
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    i liked sage it is very down to earth kind of software :)


    i didnt mean you not going to college that you didnt like it i was also thinking about the travelling costs as you said that you were not financially that well.

    i think if you could get the SAGE software and study on your own that would be the best start

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