Please help me work out a career plan

[Shouldibuythishouse]

Reposting here for traffic as got no response in work.

I retrained in my late 30’s did an accountancy degree, then did a big 4 grad scheme and am now a chartered accountant, still at a low grade in a big 4 firm.

I got a first in my degree and passed all chartered exams first time, it was hard bloody work, especially with 2 children who were 7 and 9 when I went to uni.

I feel like I made a massive mistake retraining for this career, I absolutely hate a lot of it, feel completely out of my depth and can barely cope with the stress and anxiety I feel on a daily basis.

I left one big 4 firm last year and went to work in industry but didn’t like that either, so left and joined another big 4. Still don’t like the job and now have no plan.

I’m going to be working for another 20 years at least and would really like a job I enjoy and feel good at. I just don’t know what to aim for anymore or how to approach figuring it out.

Any ideas would be welcome.

Which industry did you work in? Maybe another industry would suit you better? What do you dislike about your job?

I can’t cope with the pressure of the workload and the idea that I’m letting people down or doing a bad job when I struggle with something

If you actually like finance.....and people, could you train to be a teacher in Adult Education, or work in colleges in something related to Apprenticeships or similar as you have industry experience.

Big 4 is always going to be a stressful environment op. Have you thought about trying a smaller firm? What was your industry job?

Apologies if this is a stupid question (I know absolutely nothing about accountancy and my career is pretty much as far the opposite end of the spectrum as you can get), but could you be like, a self employed accountant? Like that works with small businesses, charities, etc. and not with a big firm? I would assume the stress would be less and you would have more flexibility. Dh has an 'accountant' (I assume this is what a chartered accountant does too) who is also self employed, seems to set her own hours, varied work with different clients, etc.

I worked in medical supplies, I wonder if I should have stuck it out longer but I left to get away from pressure and mad hours and walked straight into a role I needed to learn, that also had lots of pressure and long hours.

I love people and that’s what I’m best at, building relationships, supporting others and providing training.

You could look at banking - in the big banks a lot of the qualified accountants actually spend their days managing the teams rather than accounting per se. Or you could look at companies that provide tax systems to small companies - that would involve meeting people and training them on the ledgers etc.
Well done on your achievement by the way

Although actually banking is usually mad hours and pressure so not helpful

You need to leave practice. I don’t get why you left a Big 4 firm and then went back? You must know that the more junior people get most of the deadline pressure, and are expected to deliver for clients.

The market for recently qualified people, particularly from Big 4 firms, is pretty hot at the moment: I’m trying to find decent financial reporting people for my team (I’m an FD) and they are scarce. So you shouldn’t have any trouble finding another role in industry.

However, you need to decide whether finance is for you, because if you want to earn a decent salary in finance then ‘pressure and mad hours’ are part of the deal. I’m emailing audit evidence to our audit partner now, after 8 pm, because it’s up to me to manage delivery.

If you want an easier life you can always look at the public sector, where there is much less pressure for finance people and where family friendly policies are more widespread. You should be warned that once you are in the public sector, particularly in finance, it is extremely difficult to go back to private sector.

@Iamthewombat I honestly don’t know why I joined another Big4 firm to be honest, I think it was a case of better the devil you know. I also live in a part of the country where there are very limited opportunities and so work remotely. I know I’m lucky to have the type of job I do, living where I live and could never hope to match the pay and benefits in a local role. My job in industry had a long commute.

I feel like I worked so hard towards achieving something, having done badly in my A-level exams and working from the age of 18 in admin type jobs beforehand, that I should be trying to achieve more now I’ve qualified. But I just don’t think mentally I’m cut out for it, it’s taken a few job changes for me to realise it’s me not the jobs to a certain extent.

Going to a Big 4 firm to avoid pressure and mad hours is like a punchline to a bad accountancy joke. Get out of the Big 4 bubble, don't go to a big company either. Move into a medium sized practice (outside Top 10) or an SME with a finance dept big enough that you can be reporting to an FC / FD while you learn the ropes. If you end up as a finance manager it's all about managing the dept and making sure everyone is doing what they should be, you're not posting journals

My partner did the exact same route - accountancy degree, Big 4 grad scheme etc. He despised it too although is very good at it.

He applied for a financial analyst role at - global company, got it, loves it, paid a lot. He is still working right now though tbf.

Alternatively, I had a friend who worked as a PA in a finance firm for about £40k though you need admin exp.

The SME advice is good.

Are you in the south west? That is a tough area for finance roles. Cumbria also pretty challenging. However, one of the consequences of the virus is that more roles are being offered to work remotely, with a commute every month to work face to face with colleagues. Including the roles that I am recruiting, but you don’t want to work for me if you don’t like pressure.

Could you make contact with some recruiters and see what they say about what’s available, particularly on a WFH basis? You will be a desirable prospect for most businesses with Big 4 on your CV, which means that you might get a crack at a good range of roles. Then you can see what’s available and choose accordingly.

I work with, and have worked with, plenty of finance people whose strength is in team building and relationships rather than the hardcore technical stuff. If that is you, look for management accounting roles and particularly business partnering.

Have you looked at the "not for profit sector "? I know the wages are not as good, but its a completely different environment and company culture.

Have you considered the civil service? Some interesting finance roles and much more family friendly in terms of hours but probably doesn't compare on salary.

I was going to say try Local Government or Civil Service. Totally different culture.

Look for a SME. I've just left a pharma supply company as an accountant- huge pressure. SOX, tight deadlines etc. I've joined a family run SME, part time, flexible and I feel valued as a human not a number in a massive wheel.

I didn’t go to another big 4 thinking I could avoid pressure I went back thinking I should be able to cope and it was the roles not me. Finally had the epiphany it’s me!

Civil service or public sector might be the right path, there’s just not a lot of opportunity around here, or a move into training. I need to make sure whatever my next move is, it’s a longer term one and just trying to think it through as much as possible before taking any action.

Being an analyst sounds good; I know someone who trained as accountant and went to work for big non financial company with the HR dept, looking at financial reward for staff. I guess the thing is picking the right company and being lucky to have a nice team

How did you do in your accountancy exams? (51% passes or 80% passes?) Would being a tutor for BPP/Kaplan/Tolleys/etc be an option? If you're academically inclined, it's a good escape route from practice.

Do you have anxiety? Were your appraisals bad. Or is it just your anxiety talking when you said above about letting people down.

You appear flighty, and as though you haven't thought things through. What did you honestly think was going to happen when you left one job for exactly the same?

Have you had good careers advice? Get some.

I was on another thread the other day:
Accountant who now:
"Nowadays I work as a support tutor for an accountancy training provider, answering emails and live chats from students studying for their exams. "

Are you really that governed by salary? Wouldn't you be prepared to earn less but actually be happy? How much is happiness actually worth to you?

I'm not even qualified, but I love being a Finance Manager. Love it. Wouldn't you like to be able to say the same? So. Make that happen.

I had a lot of stress and anxiety and job dissatisfaction earlier this year. I had some career coaching-a one hour session called PRINT. Which is honestly one of the best things i have ever done. And also was having counselling a the same time about my lack of confidence and imposter syndrome and general low self worth. None of it changed my job, but it all helped my
Feel better about me. And to flex my work so that i could focus on my core values and feel more satisfied. By that i mean changing my thought process-'i enjoy the flexibility of this role and that i work from home and can fit my run in across lunch time'. And that is very important to me.

By doing some core values work-lots on google if you dont want a counselling session. You might be able to focus on the things that ARE important to you and therefore how to change your job to meet your needs.

Also i'd take some pressure off yourself. The idea to have a dream career is a big thing to live up to. Im not sure it is something everyone gets. And perhaps even enjoys when they are in it.

Hi OP...I specialise in helping women figure out what careers they want to do in the exact same position that you're in now.

Happy to have a virtual coffee and chat things through with you to give you some pointers on how to approach it.

Let me know if you'd like to...

Here's another idea and what i have done - go to a small boutique consultantcy. Work like crazy for a year or two but you will build up a lot of experience, contacts and industry knowledge. You'll then have a much better and up to date picture of how things are, what's in demand, relevant and most importantly realistic.
When you want to leave you will have a wealth of experience you can build on and contacts. We have had a lot of our staff who left to go to clients, or to people they had made connections with on the way.

Think hard before considering a move into training. I know a few people who have done it, and regret it. That’s because it is a completely different experience to actually working in finance, and has a ‘performance’ element to it: you’re essentially putting on a show for the students and it’s pretty challenging to make e.g. the permitted uses of the share premium account engaging when you’re talking to a class full of twenty somethings.

Having read other posters’ suggestions, I’d try working in an SME for a bit and seeing how you get on. I’m surmising that you are in your mid-forties now. I wouldn’t be thinking of another career change. I’d be trying to make my existing set of skills work.