Accountancy and Finance Careers - Positivity is Paramount

Charles Magill, Director, Adlestrop Consulting, shares his thoughts and observations on the current accountancy recruitment market.

In the current circumstances and level of uncertainty, I was keen to share my personal thoughts on why it is paramount for people to remain positive with regard to their career. 

The last six months have been the perfect opportunity for you to take some quality time to review and reflect on your current position and to ask yourself some honest and frank questions. 

We all previously had many distractions. The pace of life was 110mph which possibly didn't afford you the opportunity to think about what you really want from your career. 

In the last few months, I have had multiple conversations with accountancy and finance professionals who are uncertain about what the future may hold for their current role and firm as well as their long-term goals. This has been the result of an individual reflecting on their circumstances as well as being led by change within their team, office or firm.

How can a career adviser help you?

I have always positioned the way that I work as a career coach and adviser, sharing knowledge and insight combined with mentoring. In this current time, a sounding board to share thoughts with and someone to ask questions is of great value. 

Conversations have and continue to take place with professionals at all levels and service lines - from Partners through to Newly Qualified. 

This level of uncertainty naturally prompts you to evaluate a few things about your personal and professional lives - 

• Are you actually enjoying your role?
• What have your learnt about yourself in the last few months?
• Are you missing a previous role, firm or nature of work? 

At a hectic time with rapid change from an organisational and firm level, have you considered what this change means for you?

How do you handle level of considerable change? 

As firms consider the viability of offices, considering reducing their real estate portfolios and restructuring teams. How do you filter this down to what it actually means for you?

This has led me to think about being rewarded for your loyalty - is this a thing of the past? 

As I said, these are just a few of my thoughts and reflections on what I am seeing in the accountancy and fiancé market.

What are you seeing, hearing and thinking about the market?