What would be a better commerce major to do between Accounting and Finance in terms of the increased likelihood of getting full time work after uni and career prospects?
Also for people that may have done both as majors, which of them is easier?
Thanks
No idea what kind of work I want to do tbh.. just letting things play out.
What does CA stand for?
Chartered Accountant.
What does CA stand for?
Question probably shows a lack of interest in accounting ;)
Yeah don’t know much about accounting at all actually.
I did this, and believe this to be the easiest career path. Audit/Assurance at one of the BigFour Accounting Firm (EY, PWC, KPMG and Deloitte) for 3 years to complete your CA then move to Commercial for a better pay and work life balance.
Audit/Assurance graduate positions are relatively easy to get into given they take in quite a large number of graduates a year due to their churn and burn model. The 3 years there will be hard but is fine as long as you treat it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
In terms of major, you should be able to fit in a double major in Finance and Accounting with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. If you have made the decision too late, and are missing some degree points, university often allow you to do extra courses (external) to top up so worth looking into and exploring with your university before ruling anything out.
If you want to specialise in audit accounting is better. Finance just gives you a wider range of choices. In saying that degrees don't really matter once you are out of uni. Experience is king within the workforce. Don't waste your money with masters and PHD unless your role demands it. No one will pay you more because you have certain degree.
Lol I certainly won’t be staying at uni any longer than I have to.
Not looking to specialise in audit and honestly, not sure what sort of role I want to do in the future aside from it being a decent paying job.
Probably not the best approach. It doesn’t seem like you’re really interested in either finance or accounting. To earn in these jobs you need to work your ass off for a while and it sounds like you just want to cruise instead. Maybe find something you’re interested in? I can promise you that doing a highly paid job you despise is a horrible experience.
Yeah I’m not sure. I am a pretty realistic person, not striving for an extremely high paying job. Just something decent tbh.
Why not do both? Or do you have another major in mind?
Don’t really want to extend uni more than I have to
Which are you more interested in? Have you done 1st year accounting and finance subjects?
No idea. I’m just after the easier option between both. Had some exposure but undecided.
As someone with a B.Comm (who wishes they had a time machine) I'll give you this advice. Unless you absolutely LOVE these topics, work out your true passion and pursue that, no matter how sh*tty the pay. That's the advice I would give my 18 year old self.
The sad irony, in the years that have followed I have never once been asked to prove that I actually HAVE the degree I put on my resume. I could have faked it the whole time.
A lot of people in Commerce do marketing because they enjoy gas bagging. Then the find out there is a lot of people who also like to gas bag.
You can't compete against Art majors, so no sense of wasting your time studying marketing.
Would you have done some other degree instead of Commerce, or are you saying you wouldn’t have done uni at all, if you could have your time again?
Accounting & Finance 2 different career paths.
Finance: unless out a HD then get first class honors you won't get a high flying job. Might work at a bank pretending to be a banker.
Accounting: Big4 and second tier grad programs will get you a CA. Then you depend on previous CAs getting into high positions and willing to hire CAs because they seem to think of themselves as top shelf. Most people in industry and public practice are CPAs
Easier? Probably accounting … get into a large chartered firm, do your CA and go from there.
That said, depends what work you want to do.