Getting into the finance industry from a psychology background?

[Llop]

Any advice would be much appreciated! Just to note I understand finance is extremely broad, but I have no idea where to start or if my experience would even warrant work in this field.
I’m 24, have a BSc (2:1) in Psychology from a RG uni and an MSc (distinction) in educational psychology from a RG uni. My goal was to be an educational psychologist, however after applying for the first year and facing the reality of not getting accepted onto the course, I don’t think I have it in me to keep applying and (potentially) keep facing rejection. So I am looking to change into a sector where I can make good money.
I have A-Levels in Maths, Chemistry and Psychology and have basic stats knowledge from my degrees.
I have previous work experience in retail pre-university. After finishing my degree, I worked as a tutor in pupil referral units and worked as a TA part time while doing my masters. I know work for the council in a role related to special educational needs but not working directly with children. It is more of an administrative role where I’m writing legal documents based on professional reports. Does anyone have any tips on how I can best utilise this experience and what I could do to put myself in a better position (I.e. useful courses, potential roles in finance I may be suitable for etc).

Why finance?

You've spent years dedicating to pursuing a very specific field, all your qualifications and experience relate to it, so presumably it interests and motivated you. Yet you're packing it in for a field you can't even define because of one rejection? Surely you knew that almost nobody gets onto the doctorate on their first application?

I'm saying this because working in a job you hate for the money is soul destroying and very difficult to sustain. You also can't just walk into high paying "finance" roles without experience or qualifications. Or aptitude.

So is this a knee jerk reaction to your dream not being as easy to realise as you hoped? Or a genuinely sustainable interest in spending years training and gaining experience in a whole new industry?

And one where you will definitely face rejection and criticism. If you're making this decision to avoid further rejection then I'm not sure finance is a very good shout.

Do you really not want to dust yourself off and focus on what you need to do to be in a stronger position for round two? Eg having more evidence of applying your psychology studies in your practical experience in a reflective way. Using your experience of disappointment and rejection to improve your practice. You're still young, more experience and maturity will enhance future applications.

If not, what "finance" role is it you picture yourself doing?

Where do you live and are you prepared to move to London?

Are you more interested in the accounting side of finance or the banking side?

Your best bet would probably to apply for graduate schemes in either accounting or investment banking.

I have a psychology degree and got a Big 4 accounting training contract. I still work in tax over 20 years later, there’s quite a bit of understanding legislation in the tax world so worth a look.

I'm an accountant. I don't like people much. I like numbers because they don't behave in unexpected ways. Academically you'll be fine, you've got more than enough maths. But it's a pretty hard pivot from something very people orientated.

Nobody wants to be an auditor any more so there's always jobs there 😉 and you'd probably be better than most at spotting if someone is lying 😅

It takes a minimum of 3 years and c15 exams to qualify as a accountant.

Agree re lack of willing future auditors. But there is a reason for that...!

I have a psychology degree and have worked in finance for.15+ years now. Maybe try applying for a grad scheme - there are obvious ones like the big 4 but also other schemes exist in finance/accounting (the NHS has a grad scheme for finance). Depending on area, people skills can be as important, or more so, than the maths.

Finance covers a huge area. I'm an ex-Big 4 accountant and it's fine. If you're smart and have some maths aptitude, it's relatively straightforward. Finance can also cover a whole range of other stuff though eg a compliance role in a bank.

Finance is such a wide ranging industry, I would have thought the first step would be to investigate potential careers in finance and what they involve, the training required, how the skills you have may match to them etc. There is a wealth of resources online. A quick google got me this for example:

Business and finance | Explore careers (nationalcareers.service.gov.uk)

I think I'm right in saying you can also use your old universities career advice service after you graduate.

I worked in finance for all of my career, its quite a hard nosed environment compared to some others. Choosing it just because you think you might get paid a good wage if its not really your thing is a recipe for a lot of unhappiness later on in life.

Occupational psychology?

Why finance? Why not HR or occupational psychology?

I would look into and apply for graduate schemes. At 24 you’re still young
enough to do this, I did mine at 27 and wasn’t the oldest in my cohort. There are finance grad schemes at most companies, the big 4 have grad schemes and so do the banks.

Im not sure if you’ve fallen out with psychology altogether but Lloyds Bank have a relatively new Occupational Psychology graduate scheme and they have a very good reputation as a graduate employer.

Try a graduate scheme that has a finance placement?

I have a BSc in Psychology and now work in financial crime within financial services.

Thanks for the useful advice so far. Regarding the Occupational psychology route, I recently looked into it and it’s something I’d love to do, however as I’ve already got an MSc I’m not eligible for government funding for a second one and I can’t afford to self-fund unfortunately.
I originally looked at HR but from my (Limited) research it seems that there’s not much scope for progression, which is quite off putting to me, however I could be wrong about this.

Educational psychology (and psychology in general) is definitely a passion of mine, but working in high stress education settings on a minimum wage is just not sustainable for me financially or in terms of my mental health, and I don’t think it’s something I could keep doing with no end in sight, so I’m trying to look at other avenues to pursue.
My next train of thought was finance as it was what I thought I’d do when I was younger as I’ve always enjoyed maths and doing something analytical.

I think accounting would interest me, has anyone who’s gone from a psychology background into accounting gone through routes other than grad schemes? I’m open to doing a grad scheme but would also like to hear how others have done it.

What’s made you think there isn’t much progression in HR?

When you say finance industry, which sector do you mean? Banking, Accounting, Investment Management, Financial Adviser etc?

For accountancy the degree is basically irrelevant -doing an accountancy degree is not a requirement for most accounting grad schemes or to achieve qualified status- it would just give you some exam exemptions.

There are routes other than grad scheme but because you need to achieve exam passes and a certain number of hours of experience to qualify as either a chartered or management accountant, it’s usually easier to do it within that structure.

You can start in entry level roles and work up but why would you?

id also caution that the maths in accountancy is not v advanced- I didn’t do a level ( got an old A at gcse so reasonably numerate) and have never struggled with the maths. The “hard bit” of the exams is understanding the rules around how transactions are treated within a set of accounts, and within a business context often the challenging part is related to data and how to present that to most useful effect- ie understanding the drivers of the business and what information is most important.

I’d disagree with pp that it’s not a people job. Some finance jobs aren’t but a lot are, especially at senior level- if you end up CFO in a plc/ start up, you’ll be doing a lot of external stuff and before that highly likely you’ll be a line manager.

That sounds like a very interesting career path. Quite niche I would expect.

Lots of great courses through the OU with a great careers service too. Have a look online to see if anything takes your fancy.

Have never heard of occupational psychology until this thread. Going to read up on this...

I have no experience in Ed psychology other than from a parental side but it’s disgraceful if you can’t get on a course to train whilst there is a national shortage of Ed psychs! They’ll always be a shortage if they aren’t allowing people to train

I agree with @LaPalmaLlama . I was surprised to see pp's comments because to progress past entry level, accountancy is very much about interpersonal skills and relationships. The higher up you go the more it becomes a sales job, where you are selling and overseeing accountancy services prepared by junior staff.

"Grad scheme" is just the training route as a trainee with a degree. As a graduate, it would be pointless to take a different path if you're serious about a long term career in accountancy. You just need a training contract, which for graduate entry will often be advertised as a graduate scheme.

You might have missed the boat for Autumn 2024 entry in some of the bigger firms, but if you get a move on you might still be able to secure a training contract in a good firm.

First though you need to go and do some research on what the profession is really like and which qualification will best support your goals (ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA) and then secure the right training contract.

Do NOT go and do AAT at your local community college if that's what's prompted this. It is pointless without a relevant role and it's only a technician qualification. If you actually want to become a accountant then you need to do one of the chartered qualifications above.

The work requires competence using numbers but it's not really a maths job. You'll need good writing and communication skills to explain what the numbers mean to non-experts. Especially tax, that's more about law and analysis.

And don't go and do an accountancy degree either! You'd still have to do a 3 year training contract and most of the exams to qualify afterwards.

Reading with interest as I have two DC who fancy getting into accounting or finance. One has the same degree as OP. They are looking at apprenticeships but good ones are hard to find.
My other DC did an apprenticeship and is now on 40k at 21 which is more than the graduate can hope for even with the degree and all the debt.
Interesting to see young people realising too many salaries are too low and focussing on where the money is.