AIBU to retrain as an accountant at 28 after setbacks?

[Lunalara]

I have for the most part recovered from the horrible depression that I had, but I am still feeling a bit disappointed as to how little I have achieved, especially in adulthood. I used to play for the adult chess team as a child and achieved a distinction in my masters. Then I failed my PGCE and lost any remaining self esteem I had as the whole process was humiliating to me.

I have had a think about what I want to do. I would like to retrain as an accountant. I have an A in GCSE maths, but haven’t touched anything maths like since then. I have done some practice studying to get a feel for accountancy, and I do think I would enjoy it. The problem is I am 28 with not a whole lot to show for it.

An accountancy qualification is massively expensive. Have you looked into the pathway?

it’s also vocational, you really should work in the area whilst you study.

its a great profession but not really something you just train in and get a job at the end

I was not going to self study it or go back to uni (no point to either without work experience). I was going to try for an entry level job.

have you seen any entry level jobs to apply for? It is unlikely to be guaranteed that they would sponsor you to train as an accountant so you would have to want go do the job regardless imo, and hope that they offer the opportunity

Are you sure you know what accountancy entails? A lot that used to be accountancy is now done with an accounting package, so fewer actual accountancy jobs.

It also isn't really maths based, it's more to knowing the rules and applying them; lots of law involvement.

You could get an accounts job, using Sage etc and see if you can get your employer to pay for you to do proper vocational qualifications.

Doing the professional training is expensive and often done while working for a company because they sponsor you and give you leave. You could do the accounting technician training and look for an entry level job. Then if you like it follow the professional pathway. If you do that I would also build skills in Excel, Power BI, Power query, etc. as that can be as useful as the other qualifications.
You can train with a firm or in industry.
It's a great career and leads in so many directions, I would recommend it. I also think it's very overplayed how much AI will replace.
There's also the tax qualifications which are different, so you could look at that area too.

Reasons not to: Month end, quarter end, tax year end, financial year end...

You can self-study AAT easily and get an entry-level job and then work up. Chartered accountant qualifications are very hard work and jobs with training can be competetitive, but it's definitely worth trying.

Public sector accountancy is very interesting - I used to work in a local authority finance team and really enjoyed it

It is better than staying as a teaching assistant for the rest of my life surely? I don’t have a whole lot to lose at this point, bar doing the qualification self funding and not getting a job.

I am guessing it’s a career that’s very vulnerable to AI, which does matter at your age.

My friend was training to be an accountant. She had passed a few exams but not fully qualified. Anyway, last week she was replaced by Claude AI.

Just do your research on the industry and the future before deciding 💐

Yes it’s def worth doing. It’s going to be difficult to even get the entry level job though. They most likely
still want experience for a finance administrator. You may need to look for temp work or something that can get you some experience, even
office work if you can’t get in to finance right away.

Some people start by doing the aat qualification and then go on to do professional exams. Could you possibly fund yourself through the aat and then hopefully get a job where your employer can sponsor you for the rest.
I’m acca qualified and I did a degree part time and then my professional exams but it took a long time doing it that way. 4 1/2 yrs for my degree and then 2hrs for the professional exams. My employer paid for it all though. If funding it all yourself it is expensive l, especially if you want to pay for courses to help with the exams.

I do appreciate you giving me a dose of reality, but surely many white collar jobs are also vulnerable to AI? The one I got the degree for has basically already died to AI (translation), hence I have had to rethink my options. I don’t know what trade I could do as I am physically quite fragile and a little bit clumsy. I do hope that I can get a few years with a different career at least before I have to cross that bridge…

Start off with an entry level accounts assistant job and complete the AAT. Once you've done that you can decide if it's something you want to pursue. The accountancy exams are difficult and take over your life for a few years, so you need to be really sure it's for you.

Most employers will pay for your exams and give you study leave, in return for staying with that employer for between 1 and 3 years afterwards. If you change jobs in that time period you'll probably have to repay your employer for the course / exam fees they invested in you.

You're right though, you're young and you've got nothing to lose. Might as well. If you don't enjoy it you will have a solid basis of office/ finance skills to build on and branch out into adjacent fields.

How could she be replaced with Claude AI?! They can’t do what a finance assistant etc does.

as others have said, it’s not as vulnerable as people seem to think. But junior level roles have already been heavily automated.

thing is op, what you’re really asking about is the change of job- and yes you have nothing to lose. If you are a top performer and energetic / eager you will be on their list of people to sponsor. But it is competitive, getting an entry level job an qualifying as an accountant are really two different things.

I am open to the AAT path to start with if I can’t get anything else. I have years of a career left, and I am not considering children until 33ish if I do end up wanting them. I am not even sure I do yet.

Don't shoot the messenger 💐

I have experience of this. I started doing AAT at a local college. Got an entry level job at an accountancy where they sponsored the AAT qualification and used that as a springboard to get into the public sector and get sponsored for CIMA. I was about your age too.

OP- one reason I’m encouraging you to be realistic is accountancy is quite bad for people who “collect” qualifications and ime those people don’t really tend to do very well at the job, which takes people and influencing leadership skills.

I don’t really rate AAT tbh. It doesn’t really help you get a job.

Also accountants will not be replaced with ai. AI may help pull together information but it cannot make decisions or have the knowledge to interpret that information, especially from a legal and skills perspective. I think AI will in the future help make an accountants job easier but will not replace them.

I’m not shooting the messenger. I think you and maybe your friend have misunderstood why she’s been made redundant

I wanted to work with languages and therefore tried to get a job in languages. Hasn’t worked out as teaching wasn’t for me and translation is essentially dead. It does look on paper that I have been jumping a lot, but I have my reasons for doing so. I want to be confident that this is the path moving forward so I don’t jump career paths again, unless I had to if AI were to take over.

If you speak a second language that could be a bonus in finance too. I often see jobs for French / Spanish / Chinese speaking finance professionals.

The AAT is not expensive, and once that's completed and you have the requisite experience you will have more options. You may want to move more into the software side then, or into a bilingual accounts payable role, but there will be a lot more opportunities for advancement in that industry than you currently have as a TA.

Good luck!

Chartered accountant here.

I say go for it.
But don't estimate how hard it is to qualify.
I have worked in finance since leaving sixth form, started with an AAT apprentiship, but didn't start my ACCA until I was about your age (studying as a single parent working full time is not for the weak)

I was always good at maths, and as much as an understanding of maths helps pass the exams it doesn't really make for a good accountant. You are not COUNTING things your are making sure a business is ACCOUNTABLE. It is more about pattern spotting, accuracy and regulation. I don't personally think that AI is a worry for the profession as a whole, it can be a helpful tool in collating data but it can't understand it and apply standards in the way that UK standards work, or actually make decisions, businesses are just too nuanced for AI.
I would look on the careers section of AAT/ACCA/CIMA/ACA websites and try and apply for entry level jobs that offer study support and see how you get on. Accountancy makes for a great second career. Lots of woman I studied with had got into it after having children.

Businesses will always need accountants, when the economy is good or bad, you just have to be adaptable enough to move with technology.

I speak 3 languages and I am currently learning German as a hobby. Yes, this is the type of thing I would be interested in the long term. Guess it will take a long time to get there, but it will certainly be better than being complacent where I am now.

I would say go for it.
I also did languages and that's where my degree was.
At the age of 50, I had put myself through the AAT. My workplace didn't know about it but when they found out they refunded me the whole amount and then put me through the rest of my exams.
2 years on and I'm one of 3 company accountants and now doing more studies to specialise in other areas within accounting.
You never know what opportunies can arise.