Year 3 placement advised for Accountancy?

[missmoffatt2705]

Hi, my son is in year 1 of Accounting & Finance degree. He will have the option of a year in industry/business after completing year 2. Its early days but if he wanted to be a chartered accountant, would it be better to skip the placement year and just go straight into final year? I was thinking that he will still have more professional exams to do if he wants to get qualified so taking a 3rd year out, in business, is just delaying that qualification pathway?

I would get him into a workplace with a training contract asap rather than a placement

Is he planning to go down the ICAEW, ACCA or CIMA route? If it's ICAEW or ACCA, definitely skip the placement year. CIMA may appreciate workplace skills, especially anything IT or digital related

@missmoffatt2705 professional services companies use placement years and summer internships as a means of recruiting graduates ... it is a fundamental part of their recruitment process. For this purpose, a penultimate year summer internship is just as good as a placement year, so either would be a good option. The university won't find a placement for him - he will need to do it himself. All the opportunities are advertised via online job boards (e.g
Indeed) from as early as September the year before, peaking around December, then thinning to a trickle by Easter. He will probably need to apply for many before he gets an interview or offer, so the earlier he starts applying, the better. Getting some relevant work experience in the summer between year 1 and year 2 will help.

I teach on a programme in a similar profession that has a placement year. If they help organise the placement and that process is well run it's invaluable IME. A lot of our students get graduate job offers from their placement so they don't even need to think about that during final year.

If he wants a graduate scheme in accountancy once he has his degree he will be applying alongside thousands of others & I mean thousands. He needs to think how he will stand out during the recruitment process (tests, computer interviews, assessment centre days etc). Being able to draw upon experiences is very helpful whether that’s from a placement year or summer internships or term time working. As pp states, sometimes students who do a placement year / summer internships are ‘fast tracked’ onto the company’s grad scheme. Applying for placements is hard work though - very similar to applying for grad schemes. He will need to apply to a LOT and start the process early. There’s a thread on MN in HE re placement / year in industry.
Edited to add DD1 is a newly qualified chartered accountant- apprenticeship route at a Big4 so went through a similar recruitment process & DD2 has just secured a ‘placement year’ in a differing industry, applying to 30+ firms, so I appreciate the difficulties involved.

@NotDonna my dd is will hopefully get the grades to start her apprenticeship at one of the Big4. I hope you don’t mind me asking- how did she find it? Considering they are so young to start work and manage work life balance. Thank you

@Blubell46 is it for accountancy? Tech? Consultancy? If the former it’s tough. Working full time & studying isn’t easy! And the ACA exams aren’t a walk in the park. She’s been lucky with her colleagues & friendly supportive office. Which city & which big4 for your DD? DM me with any questions. My DD will be happy to chat to yours if she wants.

@NotDonnasorry for being a bit dim…how do I DM you privately?