BIG careers what are they? Magic circle accounting? Law? Helping dd choose a levels and future career.

[StuckintheRutt]

Hello my dd is choosing history and biology and is stuck as to what to choose for her next a level. She had no idea what to do for the 3rd.
Obviously her interest is history and biology and she's done very well in mocks with 8s and 9s predicted for all subjects...

She's considering pyscology, possibly chemistry, possibly English, possibly geography.

I was thinking if I can collate the big careers that may help.
Am I correct in magic circle accounting and does anyone know what you can do there eg I know bookkeeping and forensic accounting.... Is accounting interesting and is it maths pure..

Investment banking, how would she get in and are there equivalent to the magic circle. Same with law or is it law that has the magic circle 🤣..

What other big jobs, classic are there please and what's the way to get them what to aim for...

@Menomeno you're right sorry! And happy to be corrected :)
I think my point was you just need "a" degree as in not a specific degree in a subject but you're right. I trained with someone from a levels who did AAT and ended at the same point as me but 2 years younger. This was a few years back and I think there are even more routes now.

In terms of keeping options open for other careers and if she wants to go to uni then any degree is fine, maths or accounting is not needed.

Then perhaps you could both read up together on other math related careers?

I was good at maths, I just hated it. But it was mainly because of the areas covered in the curriculum. I couldn't see a career for myself involving trigonometry for example.

I passed at GCSE level but didn't take it further. But up to that point I hadn't even heard of the business side of maths - for forecasting, margin calculation, understanding P&L, product allocation, GMROI, stock turn etc which I found super interesting and enjoyable as it was tied to so many other areas - commercial strategy, marketing, logistics, procurement etc.

Would she consider Economics or Business Studies if available as a third A level? Or an extra GCSE to do whilst doing A levels? (I did three additional GCSEs whilst doing three science a levels - Economics, Business Studies and General Studies)

Opportunities outside Accounting include:
Merchandise Buying & Planning in the Retail industry.
Demand Planning - covers a variety of industries - Pharma, FMCG, Global Retail etc
Supply Chain planning - as with demand planning similar opportunities.

These are very varied and interesting roles, with opportunities for Global travel. There is good career scope with hard work.

Hold on, you said she is taking “Further Maths”? Isn’t that normally a 4th A level, taken in conjunction with Maths?

And yes, Economics could be a good option. My husband studied that at A level and degree and works in Operations for an investment bank, after starting as a management consultant.

There are a lot of graduate jobs being advertised at the moment. Take a look at some of the big audit firms and banks to get a feel for the sort of qualifications they are looking for.

as said above for law it doesn’t matter. If she does a non-law degree she will have to do an extra year at law school. I trained with people with history, drama and chemistry degrees just as examples.

Doesn't her school offer any kind of career guidance/ access to career fairs. Because it sounds like you don't know about much of this, which his fine, but she'll need more than third hand info from her mum on MN.

As others have said, at a general level, good grades at A-level will set her up nicely for almost anything, particularly if she is taking "traditional" academic subjects (eg History = yes, Media Studies = less so). She should choose her A-Levels based on what she is good at and what she enjoys. Realistically, maths/science type subjects give her more flexibility - you can probably pretty easily swap to a history degree if you have maths and science a-levels, but might find it harder to go do engineering if you have English and History. Geography is a good all rounder and at uni level can be a good entry to a lot of different types of careers.

You're absolutely about the degree. DH went straight into a big four company straight from uni, and he had a history degree!

If she's leaning towards history, biology and psychology I think she should consider speech and language therapy as a career. It's certainly not going to pay her the big bucks but I think she should have a look.

@thinkfast I'm interested in what 'strong' extra curriculum activities are.
Could you give us some examples.
Thank you.

Some fantastic answers here, extremely helpful, thank you everyone.

You have armed me with some good information to pass on and good questions to ask her.

In terms of personality she errs on the softer side, I can't see her at the moment in a role that requires pushyness or tough selling.

There is a further maths gcse that many students do

The process of qualifying as a solicitor has recently changed and the LPC will not be open to the OPs daughter. She would need to follow the new SQE route.

A levels don't really matter for law, the important thing is great grades and a really good degree. Recruiters like more traditional academic subjects and some are more useful than others, English, and History are likely to be useful for preparation for the law degree and because essay writing skills translate well into the drafting and writing skills required of lawyers. Languages can be useful especially if she has an interest in any international law or global business or for things like immigration law. Law is so varied that there's a niche where any subject can be useful!

I work for a bank. Our grad scheme is ridiculously competitive. A large number of them come from overseas - Hong Kong or the Middle East. The U.K. based grads are very well connected, every single one I have ever met has been privately educated and got onto the scheme through somebody their parents know.

As an accountant (a forensic one if that makes a difference!) with a masters degree in banking law and who know works in a research/policy role, if she doesn't know what she wants to do particularly, there are plenty of degrees that will keep her options open. If she doesn't want to do a vocational degree but is interested in law/accounting, I think it's preferable to have an arts degree personally because so much of the job ends up being about writing coherent reports/presentations and I can always tell those who have a background in writing essays.

In terms of A levels, what does she like best? I'd probably caution against psychology myself as it still can have a reputation as being an 'easy' subject (even though I know it's not).

@JadziaD yes don't worry worry, I have asked her to seek help from the school!

Very good point about swooping subjects.

You're focusing on the wrong things. Good A-Levels in English, History and Maths hold up well across the board whether you want to do Economics, Law or any other non-medical / science degree.

But the major choice is the university, attending Plymouth University isn't quite the same as attending Cambridge if you want to join the Magic Circle or, more likely, the higher paying US firms. If you want to read Law, you'll need to study for, and pass, the LNAT.

Psychology is a very good degree in my opinion. There are many many many doors to be opened from the skills you gain in a psych degree. You can go into the medical field (i.e. counselling, research, etc), or even go on to do further medical studies (PhD, Medical postgrads).

Non-medical stuff can also include HR, Marketing, Sales, General Management, Analytics, Data management, Statistics, Teaching (with postgrad).

A few people have suggested actuarial work.

She will absolutely need a maths a level as a minimum to become an actuary.

actuaries.org.uk/qualify/become-an-actuary/route-to-becoming-an-actuary/

That's really sad to hear.

How can a bank like that get enough diversity if everyone has been educated in the same way and the common way in is through a contact a parent is pals with? (Not aimed at you by the way!) I thought times were changing -

Why not get her to do the UCAS career quiz or the Gov.uk quiz
These assess interests and personalities and skills to give you an idea of careers you would enjoy.

As an aside many, not all, science based careers want Chemistry Alevel with many also wanting and two science subjects.

NB so called ‘big’ careers are absolutely no guarantee of happiness.

A way of getting into finance is through the Govn fast stream system.
Online tests, interviews, nothing to do with what or who you know.
We have friends whose kids are now working as civil servants as economists who got their foot in the door as Fast stream Economists.

If she likes both arts and science then Leeds do a joint degree in Biology and History and Philosophy of Science. Am sure there are similar combinations elsewhere.

Not heard of Fast Stream economists. Sounds brilliant will look into that!

Do town planning - massive shortage and a great career or business and then a masters in planning, then work for a house builder. I'm 7 years in earning six figures with big bonuses and love what I do. Designing communities and seeing projects built and thinking - I did that. Some of the bigger house builders pay for your degree, too.

Led by your OP, this thread has concentrated on the "big jobs" being in law and accountancy, but it's worth saying that there are "big jobs" in pretty much every industry and profession. The highest paying jobs in law and banking are London centric. Does your DD want to live in London?
For now, she needs to pick strong A levels that she can excel in. I think maths would work well across most careers, but better to get an A* in English than a B in Maths. It might be an idea for your DD to look at potential degree courses she is interested in and see what A levels they specify.

Personally I would have loved her to take eccomics i think that's a perfect subject and compliments her others well or English but she's not very interested but with eccomics you don't know neccerily what it is until tried it.