Career Change - Accountant

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  thatonethere on 07/04/2020 - 21:56

  +2

  If you are good with number and analysis check out cyber security or data scientist.

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  TheMindsetTraveller on 07/04/2020 - 22:04

  +1

  I would recommend watching some online/youtube content relating to mindset, passions, goals, success.

  Read some books; "Start With Why" by Simon Sinek, "Minimalism" by The Minimalists and "You Are Worth More" by Rob Moore.

  These books often talk about the things we often do, are the things expected by people we look up to or hope to make them happy, often those things we do make us unhappy.

  No matter what I do in life, I try to "add value" to everything I do, whether it is for my benefit or someone elses. If it doesn't add any value, I won't do it.

  Learn to realise that we only have one bloody chance at life and we should try live as amazing as we can and be positive every single second we are here. We will face challenges and hurdles along the way but we can learn, get up and get better.

  GOod luck with your endeavours.

  • 

    twofoursix on 10/07/2020 - 15:58

    Great words really impressed thank you……even though i was only reading the comments, i have learnt something new….thank again..

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  canyoudoitcheaper on 07/04/2020 - 22:13

  +1

  You’ve mentioned wanting to be a teacher or a cop… both careers that need a reasonable amount of passion and motivation. Granted there might be more job satisfaction than accounting, but if you are after a ‘bludgey’ job then neither of those are.

  • 

    BargainHunter94 on 10/04/2020 - 11:40

    +1

    Not necessarily after a bludgier job but an easier or more flexible one would be better suited to my lifestyle, I did have a much easier job in commerce before this one but it wasn't stimulating my mind e.g. entering in invoices all day so hated that too. I still need something that keeps me interested and has some sort of purpose and pays well; I have always had passion for being a cop and I've had experience with teaching kids before in a sports coach setting and thoroughly enjoyed it

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  elgrande on 07/04/2020 - 22:15

  +3

  Maybe try and move into a broader analyst role within the business.

  A purely finance role can be quite dry. I used to have nightmares trying to balance my budget phasing.

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  elgrande on 07/04/2020 - 22:16

  +6

  Oh and..

  I've always wanted to be a teacher or a policeman

  Kindergarten Cop?

  • 

    BargainHunter94 on 07/04/2020 - 22:44

    HAHAH YES!

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  Mentallysick on 07/04/2020 - 22:59

  +3

  Hey @bargainhunter94 Can you let me know which company do you work please as i want to apply for your position. I have been looking for accounting job for last 2 years but have not found one yet.

  Thank you

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  Muzeeb on 07/04/2020 - 23:24

  Really sh!t time to be looking for a career change. All the best.

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  Icecold5000 on 07/04/2020 - 23:46

  Now I'm having a quarter life crisis where I feel like I'm in my prime and should be doing something that makes me happy and doesn't give me constant anxiety.

  but is there a career (or genuine organisation) out there for me that will still have earning potential for the future whilst being flexible and promotes a healthy work-life-balance?

  Yes, you're living in a fantasy world

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  Emerald Owl on 08/04/2020 - 00:55

  +1

  Your complaints seem to be around work load and billing. Accountants have a far easier time this regard than lawyers and investment bankers. Why don’t you try moving to a smaller firm, where they don’t do this as much.

  Life’s short and you can’t have it all. If you think you would prefer to be a police officer/ teacher than you would spending a bit more money for the couple years it takes you to train up, then switch. Police and teachers are very well paid in this country, imo, too much. Also, Coronavirus/the economy won’t affect them much because they’re government jobs with relatively steady demand.

  I don’t know how you could pick being an accountant over teacher/police for job security, those two jobs have higher job security.

  • 

    BargainHunter94 on 10/04/2020 - 11:48

    Yes this is true. I started off in a smaller firm before and it seemed almost equally cut-throat as they do not have the resources to have high write-offs etc.

    This is why I'm considering a government or NFP job, I think government is more secure although they do make cuts typically not around teaching or police (I hope). Question remains, what do I do for work/income in between trying to become a teacher (you need placement) or becoming a policeman (I imagine this is also quite time consuming)

    Being an Accountant is quite broad so you can work pretty much anywhere as all businesses have finance/accounting departments so its secure in that regard.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 24/04/2020 - 02:42

    Teachers are paid too much? On average, teachers take 4-5 years to graduate, on par with lawyers and engineers and less than computer scientist who earn more than teachers. Working extremely long hours and arguably, one of the most beneficial professions period.

    It's Australians thinking teachers are well paid, do nothing and get massive holidays that pay is average at best and hardly any high achieving students actually wants to enter the profession and look how that is turning out.

    If teaching pays, in your words, 'too much', then why do up to 50% of teachers leave the profession in the first 5 years?. Train drivers and decent tradies make more than they do.

    If teachers, who basically have a part in every students lives in a massive way and, from a peered reviewed paper Student foundational knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is formed in their elementary education. Paradoxically, many elementary teachers have constrained background knowledge, confidence, and efficacy for teaching STEM that may hamper student STEM learning.

    It's pretty clear how much we value education in Australia and respect teachers that is, average. This is why Australia is going backwards and once the natural resources run out, what have we left. You really have no idea how much complexity goes into teaching, the learning theory, teaching methods, catering to different students, teaching in a manner that builds understanding, skill and competency. On top of reports, assessments, parent teacher interviews, meetings etc. Hence, the country would be better off if we had high achieving individuals in these positions but that's not going to happen unless you fix work conditions AND make pay competitive to jobs they could go in (engineering, law, med, comp sci). Sure they get holidays but they're fixed and teachers mostly use them to prepare for the next term otherwise your 50-60 hour work weeks could be 60-70. Honestly, I'd rather 4 weeks of complete freedom whenever I choose.

    • 

      Emerald Owl on 24/04/2020 - 04:07

      I agree that we do not value education enough in this country. However, the main issue would be that we bring in millions more white collar immigrants than blue collar. That is why trades are higher paid here than the rest of the world and white collar is lower paid than America and Europe. If we want students to value education, we need educated career paths to be higher paid. It is easy to get an apprenticeship but very hard to get a graduate job after University, etc. Students don’t value education because they know how much money they can make as a trade. This is not possible in the US and Asia,

      You have 14 weeks holidays but are complaining when you can take them? You also get long service leave. The reason many teachers drop out is because most are women who start families. Further, many simply cannot handle the discipline and teenagers. This is part cultural but part just not being suited to the profession.

      This is caused by pay being too high and attracting people who aren’t interested but just want money.

      I don’t believe for a second that most teachers work in excess of 40 hours per week. Sure, some such as yourself may and it is appreciated, but from my experience at school I just can’t believe this. Further, looking at the cars in my local school’s car park, it heavily suggests otherwise. Most teachers just repeat lessons year after year, which often involves pulling out the textbook.

      My solution to fix the profession is not to focus on HSC marks but to adopt interviews, written applications and personality tests. Often higher HSC marks are linked to nerdy people with lower social skills. These people are ideal for selective schools, but for the majority of schools are too weak and need to learn the fundamentals.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 24/04/2020 - 10:04

        If we want students to value education, we need educated career paths to be higher paid.

        Is teaching not a educated career path? You're saying 72k base and 100k max is too high for a degree that takes 5 years. At my school, not a lot of people cared for money when choosing a career path for those who went into trade. Whether students went into trade or higher education and that's based on cultural factors. If we had better teachers, maybe we could allow students to make their own decisions.

        You have 14 weeks holidays but are complaining when you can take them? You also get long service leave

        yeah, you're it's a personal preference so it doesn't count, I just mean going on an actual holiday is hard because of costs and needing to prepare for next term. Like I said, they're not 'holidays' a lot of teachers use them to plan and stuff. Also, teaching is EXHAUSTING, I am a tutor and I used to do labour jobs. 3 hours on a weekend and I come home exhaused, 8 hours of manual labour and I'm fine. Imagine doing it everyday 3-4 hours a day, teaching is also a career that is flat out, so I think the holidays are needed just to recoup from term to term. It's not a cushy job. Sorry, I'm not familiar with the 'real world' but isn't long service leave available for every full time job?

        I don’t believe for a second that most teachers work in excess of 40 hours per week. Sure, some such as yourself may and it is appreciated, but from my experience at school I just can’t believe this.

        I mean the data is there and my experience says otherwise so I wouldn't base your argument on your experience. You're teaching 20-30 hours a week, you have meetings, report writing, planning assessment, lessons and extra curricula stuff. 40 hours is nothing. It takes a very long time to make one good lesson plan, let alone for 20 classess a week.

        Most teachers just repeat lessons year after year, which often involves pulling out the textbook.

        You're not wrong, there are teachers that do the bare minimum, but what do you expect when the standards to get in were so low? Textbook teaching for a lot of new teachers is no longer a thing. I know teachers who only use the textbook so the parents don't feel they've paid for nothing but only sets some work for it, she makes everything herself. Also, it depends if you're teaching the same class or not, not to mention whether the curriculum changes which it does every few years and a good teacher is also revising their lesson plans, not using them.

        This is caused by pay being too high and attracting people who aren’t interested but just want money.

        I'm sorry, I've never heard someone say 'I want to go into teaching for the money', doctor yes, engineer yes, lawyer yes, jobs that can earn excess of 100+ in a 5-6 years rather than 10 and isn't capped as such. Again, the article I sent says otherwise. 5 years of study is a long time, my mate who does CS got a job in his second year making 86k, I have a friend from Russia who says when he got here he was making ludicrous amounts of money. Doctors can make 300k+ a year if they specialise. Teacher's pay is nothing to be impressed about when you factor the degree length and other professions they could have gone in

        The reason many teachers drop out is because most are women who start families.

        Your evidence?

        Further, many simply cannot handle the discipline and teenagers.

        No that's true, but it's more workload if you look at the actual surveys

        My solution to fix the profession is not to focus on HSC marks but to adopt interviews, written applications and personality tests. Often higher HSC marks are linked to nerdy people with lower social skills. These people are ideal for selective schools, but for the majority of schools are too weak and need to learn the fundamentals.

        Again, you can't make entry HARDER if we're already facing a shortage, besides they are doing interviews, it's called CaSPER. It's great if entry was harder and education and teachers were valued like doctors in some countries, but you can't do this without a pay to match. We need the same people who are going into the medical field, engineering field, lawyer field etc to become teachers but why would they for 100k after TEN years and 5 years of study? No matter how you look at it, as someone going into uni, teaching is not a career for someone with high aspirations because of how society values, pays and set standards for teachers. I mean I'm very happy to admit I'm wrong and we maybe we can agree good teachers aren't paid enough for their role in society but I just don't see teaching as a degree someone with high skills go in.

        A nurse out of a 3 year degree can easily make 60-70k in her first year on 0.8 workload, again, that's 3 years and the job where you mostly do your contracted hours, you come home and you can forget about work. Teaching consumes someones life compared to other jobs and I would say it's similar to being a CEO or running your own business, you just don't stop thinking and planning.

    • 

      Westpac on 15/06/2020 - 20:07

      Very well said. Teachers are definitely well underpaid.

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  thriftysach on 08/04/2020 - 01:14

  +1

  Well I just started uni after finishing school, so don't have much of the real-life experience others might.

  Degree I am doing at the moment is long (5y), its an Engineering/Commerce Double Degree. Pretty broad and heaps of opportunities in terms of career. In the case I don't like what this degree involves, my plan is to downsize my degree to a single 3y commerce degree and get that and go into teaching with a Masters of Education, as that is kind of my second preference/passion.

  You should take a look at this fully online Masters of Teaching program (I am sure there is more options): https://study.csu.edu.au/courses/teaching-education/master-e…

  I know a sports therapist, occupational therapist, accountant, engineer, people who gave up trying to get into medicine or dentistry go via this exact pathway with this uni, all securing good jobs in private schools.

  Teaching in private schools has a very good starting salary from what I have gathered (fresh out of uni and getting 72k before tax - one source) if you specialise in Maths, it may even be higher since there is a shortage of Maths teachers, especially for Year 11 and 12 level maths.

  If full-time teaching isn't your thing, casual teachers get pretty good too. I knew one getting around $60ph.

  Source:- went to a private school where kids were relatives of some teachers.

  Good Luck with your career.

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  [Deactivated] on 08/04/2020 - 06:47

  +1

  As I'm getting older I am realising that I am not as passionate as I once used to be

  That's like… everyone.

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  loke on 08/04/2020 - 12:11

  +2

  A tax agent license (and other stuff ASIC registered agent, SMSF auditor registration, etc); networking and advertising for clients, offering bookkeeping and other business services is another pathway you should consider OP.

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  Hardlyworkin on 08/04/2020 - 12:27

  +2

  I would usually say to take a career break and to traveling or volunteering somewhere…

  Some good suggestions above. You have a great basis in accounting to look into other roles and you can at least show some life experience on your resume.

  Given your experience and what you are looking for I would recommend a government role for more work life balance. Perhaps considering a cert IV in government investigations or similar as an avenue in.

  You're in a fortunate position with many avenues open to you…. Once you ride out the current storm of course.

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  Darkwalizard on 24/04/2020 - 09:53

  Just go to a finance role in a bigger company with good pay.
  Bhp
  7eleven
  Etc if you are in Melb?

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  misswanderlust on 13/06/2020 - 01:58

  Accounting is good background to have. You can move laterally to other roles. Have a think if you like working with people, consider strategy or analyst roles in-house. You may be able to avoid the timesheets that you hate.

  Not a good time for a huge career change but leverage the skills you’ve learned to do other things.

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  wolomolo on 08/07/2020 - 17:38

  my 2 cents as an accountant who have been in the finance industry for the last 15 years: there are jobs which offers more work-life balance as an accountant - as some mentioned in the Government and the other would be in certain big banks and insurance companies. (ibank is worst so not recommended) I think that you may need to be specific when you are searching for job. There are also as many say, career paths that branch from accounting, and essentially the answer is more towards understanding yourself.

  What are your personality more suited towards? Perhaps ask others around you, they may know you better. Talk to actual police and teachers, and get a sense of what it's like being one. Lately, I had branched out more towards system and project space and its more suitable to my character, but not every accountant can handle it. Some of the accountants I know are highly analytical and perhaps better to stay in similar positions.

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  twofoursix on 10/07/2020 - 16:08

  How long have you been with the company that you working? My advise would be (once you decide which career path to go) try to take one year leave without pay with your current employer and try out the new career and see whether you like it or not. If you do that is fine resign the current job and continue OR if you don't like it at least yo have a job to go - Very conservative path if you choose different career path.

  Did you consider being a loan broker(not niche market) OR insurance broker(niche market) OR because you have accounting background did you ever thought of Forensic Accounting heard very good things about the position, very interesting and if you end up working with Federal Govt you would be laughing and set for life.

  Whatever you do good luck and keep us posted : )