To change career

[Believeitornot]

I really really want to change career. Had enough of being an accountant. Yes the pay is good but I keep thinking I’ve only got one life.

Has anyone successfully career changed? I need inspiration. I’m just completely fed up, I get upset easily as I have this background feeling of being unhappy with life.

Ha! I was just about to come on and say YES! I am 39 and leaving my glamorous media job... to retrain as an... (drum roll)... ACCOUNTANT!

What kind of accountancy do you do and what would you rather do instead?

Yabu

Yanbu. I'm also an accountant (top 10 firm in tax) and have been having the exact same thoughts. I have been thinking of changing firm though as I wonder if the issue is more with my firm rather than the role and maybe a smaller firm may be better and have a better work life balance.

I used to be a self - employed accountant. I'm now a self - employed salon owner and therapist.

It can be done!

Ooh I’ve always fancied accountancy. I’m a nurse. Wanna swap?

Wrong thread for me to open as I embark on my first steps towards becoming an accountant!

OP yanbu! If you are unhappy then change it. Life is too short. (Glad to hear the money is good though )

Go for it! Do you have any idea of what you want to do instead?

What do you want to do instead?how does it stack up financially and practically?

I started out in accountancy and hated it. Had no idea what else to do so ended up in financial recruitment. Which is where I saw there were jobs for people with backgrounds like me. I got a job lead from a candidate one day, cold-called the guy who was recruiting and placed myself in the job. And that's how I got into investment banking . I worked in capital markets for 15+ years, then did some time in consultancy and now this year I decided I was ready for another change so a few months ago I moved into digital transformation in the commodities industry.

So yes you can definitely change careers and be happy!!!

HundredMiles, that is some track record of career change. What is digital transformation in the commodities industry and how did you manage that from consultancy?

The constant theme for most of my career has been change / process re-engineering. I'm the type of person who is always trying to make things work more efficiently/better/faster etc (I just can't help myself, it's just how I am) so I found a way of making that work for me in my career. The skills are reasonably transferable and once you have a network of people you've worked with who value you, it becomes easier to make moves.

The foray into digital was probably inevitable as most large organisations I've worked for are spending a LOT of money on digital transformation so it's one of the few areas where you can really make a difference if, like me, you like to change things for the better. Commodities just adds an extra challenge to it for me as it's a new field (although a lot of the principles are similar to capital markets) . This is a sort of explanation of what digital transformation is:

enterprisersproject.com/what-is-digital-transformation

I'm an accountant too - quite a few of the people I trained with have gone off to do other things including:-

• marketing
• teaching
• film production
• nail salon owner
• bookmaker

I'm still an accountant.

HundredMiles, thanks for the explanation of digital transformation. I too have an interest in process improvement and change management, though have not made as bold moves as you. Wouldn't you need a tech background for digital transformation?

Go for it. I changed from teaching to medicine and haven’t looked back. I had to sell my house to fund med school, but it was worth it. There’s no dress rehearsal in life and if you’ve got the ability to retrain do it. It’s never too late

Thanks for the replies!

For those who are training to become accountants, it is a good career but for me I am just not the right person. I used to work in audit then switched to management accounting. I’m not detailed focussed enough, it’s not something I enjoy. You can also get a relatively good work life balance but it’s a struggle.

I’ve no idea what I want to do. Digital transformation sounds interesting and I’ve observed practitioners but not 100% convinced. I think I need to give myself permission to do it and make a plan.

Financially I can afford to take a pay cut and would need to change my childcare but that’s not so much of an issue.

My husband was a Management Accountant. He left not long after we had our baby and started his own business writing content for websites. It’s nowhere near as lucrative but he’s happier. He hated being an accountant!

Good luck OP if you do make the move to another career.

Can you afford to do an mba? Your accountancy would get you some exemptions, you’d understand a lot of the rest with your background, plus could get exposure to lots of industries and recruiters. Plus great way to shake up the mind mid career. Plus they love smart women.

hundred has really good point that transitioning across a few areas can be very effective way of changing.