Dismissed after a week in new accountancy role and feeling stuck

[habz786x]

I started in an accountancy practice as a bookkeeper, my first time in that environment. I worked hard, studied alongside the job, and passed another exam while I was there. The director sat me down and I was told I’d be transitioned into accounts work, and her daughter was also joining and we could work together, which is what I wanted, but that never really happened. I kept pushing for the work. I was there for 1 year and 4 months approx. The daughter learnt all the accounts and I was still doing bookkeeping.
Eventually, I was approached about a semi-senior accountant role. I was honest about my experience and still got encouraged to take the opportunity, with promises of support and training. He made me feel on top of the world, praised me, and flattered me. It felt like a big step forward. He even said to me "I hire you on the spot, meet the team etc" and we spoke about my notice period being a month and he was like "You can legally serve them for a week, id have you right now, and I said im not sure let me have a think".
But when I joined, there was no real guidance. I wasn’t shown processes or properly supported, and when I asked for help, it felt like I was being judged for not already knowing. The girl kept saying, "have you used X software before?" I said yes, but not on a daily basis, but I’ll get used to it as all accounting software is the same, I just need some time getting used to it.
I asked the owner if there could be some extra work, and I said I am willing to help, and he said not really at the moment, and let me and another girl go home as there was no work. I questioned that I’m happy to stay and if not, I am willing to shadow someone, and he said, "we have a lot of freedom here, and we don’t pressure anyone to shadow, there’s really nothing," and I went home.
He said to message on the group tomorrow if there is any work, and I did, and he said there’s a task. I messaged him in private whether guidance will be provided and training, bearing in mind it’s the end of my first week. Then I made my way to the office and as soon as I entered the office a text landed that "I fire you etc, I choose to do it over text as I am surprised by the way you communicated to me over text"
What’s made it worse is that the owner of that place knows people at my old workplace, and they’ve been talking. Now people at my previous job know I was fired, and it feels like my reputation has been damaged before I even had a chance to grow properly. I asked my old company 3 times if I could come back, and they have pushed me away nicely.
I’m really struggling mentally with this. I feel embarrassed, anxious, and honestly quite low. It feels like one decision has had a ripple effect on everything, and I don’t know how to come back from it.

Has anyone else been through something like this early in their career? How did you recover from it?

@Grammarninja has it in one. You’ve been stitched up so the original company can give your job to the daughter.

I think the difficulty you have here is that you are not "almost qualified" because ACCA (and ICAEW, CIMA, CIPFA) all require 3 years of practical experience signed off. And your PER needs to cover different areas over and above the bookkeeping experience that you have gained so far.

So you're somewhat of an anomaly and (annoyingly for someone in your position) some firms will be cautious that you won't stay long after you've passed your final exam.

I think you might struggle to pick up a standard training contract but on the other hand, ACCA does not have to be completed in a practice/ accounting firm.
Have you considered pivoting to industry (or entry-level public sector) - in a big enough company, you would get exposure to all the ACCA requirements and get qualified that way.
There is more overlap between pure bookkeeping and the next level up, which might also allow you to build up experience that way.

You could also try temping for 6-9 months as that can be a really fast way of building experience. Again, don't restrict yourself to working in an accounting practice.

Okay, let's not get into ridiculous conspiracy theories.

There's no entitlement to redundancy pay until you have two years' service and employers can dismiss you without having to follow a process or give a reason in the first two years (except unlawful discrimination). Why would any rational employer go to all the effort of conspiring with a third party to lure someone out of the business when they can just dismiss someone with under two years service without needing a reason or having to pay anything anyway?

Op, I have read your other thread. How old are you? You sound quite vulnerable and I get the impression that there may be other things going on for you as I don't quite understand your decision-making.

To be clear, you cannot describe yourself as ACCA qualified until you have met the practical experience requirements as well as the exams. Holding yourself out as qualified when you're not could result in disciplinary action. Don't shoot yourself in the foot before you've even got started.

For future reference, this was a sea of red flags from a potential employer:

He made me feel on top of the world, praised me, and flattered me. It felt like a big step forward. He even said to me "I hire you on the spot, meet the team etc" and we spoke about my notice period being a month and he was like "You can legally serve them for a week, id have you right now, and I said im not sure let me have a think".

Next time a potential employer behaves like that, run. Likewise offering you a job that you know you're not qualified to perform.

I don't understand why you haven't applied for a training contract if you have a relevant degree? Why did you take a bookkeeping job and self-study instead of finding a training post? How long ago did you graduate? Can you tap into your university careers service for support?

Your year of bookkeeping experience will be a good foundation. It's not worth getting bogged down in gossip at a couple of small firms. Who cares? What matters now is how you move forward.

You either need to dust yourself off and apply for training contracts or you need to target accounts junior/accounts assistant roles.

Where in the UK are you? There are some very good recruitment agents. I don’t think it scuppers your future opportunities. You sound passionate and that should shine through in an interview. I had one CV in about 200, in three months, that were worth interviewing - I’ve found the candidate pool in accountancy terrible recently, so hopefully you can find something quickly!