5 Game Changing Tips on what to do now you’re exam qualified

1. Identify your career goals:

With a variety of routes to take, identifying your career goals is crucial in determining how you see your career progressing. It may be the case that you have ambitions to one day be a financial director or partner of a firm. Will this firm be Top 4 tier or much smaller? Or do you see yourself running your own business in the future?

It’s important to recognise that there are many steps to take to reach your goal, so identifying them earlier on only means that you can begin to map out your career, ensuring that every move you make will be working towards your future.

2. Research your options:

There are a variety of options available at the NQ stage, so it can be hard to know what they actually entail and which one will be the right one for you. Researching your options will help to inform you on how to plan your next move.

If you’re in the position of knowing what you want to do, you can explore the options that will help work towards your end goal. If not, then researching all the options will only help to make things clearer for you.

Possible options could include:

Move within same service line - This can be achieved with a move to another office internally (possibly via a secondment initially), or a move externally to another firm (larger, smaller, competitor). Doing this can help to provide a new dimension to your experience, from working in a different culture or with a new client base. (E.g move from a top 20 to a top 10 to work on larger, more challenging clients)

Move into a different service line – either via an internal secondment or to a different firm. It may be the case that you’ve now built up foundational experience but want to move into a more appealing service line where you can develop a different skill set and broaden your experience.

The best time to do this is at NQ level, as you are not too engrained into 1 service line, allowing you to adapt easier. E.g. a move from Audit into Corporate Finance.

Industry and commerce – it’s always useful to explore what size of business or industry sector you may want to go into, whilst also considering the type of role and level so that you can judge whether a move into industry is the right move for now or further down the line.

Staying put – Where you can work towards a promotion, or if there is a specific type of role that you want but feel you lack the experience, you can stay for 6 months to consolidate your skills to make the move more comfortable.

Researching your options helps you to understand your competitive position, allows you to spot any opportunities and also make better decisions for the future.

It may be that you’re unsure of what options will be best suited to your goals, so exploring as much as you can will allow you to gain valuable insights, helping to put you in a stronger position of distinguishing those that might be for you.

3. Broaden your skill-set:

Now that you have an idea of what your plans and options are, you need to ensure that you position yourself to be the best candidate for the role. Try to broaden your skill set, so that you stand out from the crowd and have the best mix of experience for the roles you want. For example this could be asking for more responsibility with certain tasks or trying to work on a certain project for a particular client.

Another great place to start with this is your CV! Doing so provides a base to see where you’re currently at, as well as identifying areas where you have limited experience or exposure to. Once distinguished, you can then pin-point the possible skills you want to develop for the sectors you’d like to explore.

During this time, it’s also useful to focus on those skills that can add something extra to differentiate yourself from the rest. This could range from getting involved in work initiatives to networking opportunities or taking part in professional societies. Just think, having a good blend of technical and interpersonal skills could be the factor that sets you apart from the rest.

4. Get ahead of the game:

Exploring your options early has never been so crucial in this candidate driven market. So many firms are now wanting to meet with trainee accountant’s months before they have fully qualified. And it’s no surprise why...

By speaking to potential employers early, you could be exposed to the best opportunities first, ahead of other candidates – so that when you qualify, you’re ready to begin your future straight away! Just think, the firms are planning ahead to beat the competition, you should too!

Did you know?

Around 40% of NQ’s move within a year of qualifying, meaning that the majority of activity takes place at this level! With the high demand of qualified accountants, make sure you’re fully prepared at this critical stage.

5. Land your dream role:

It’s never been easier! Through following these steps over the coming months, it allows you to be proactive and provides you with a clear focus through each stage of finding your next role.
What’s more by talking to Adlestrop Consulting, we can help guide you through these steps, tailoring each to your personal situation. With access to key decision makers, you’ll be exposed to the most relevant opportunities, alongside others that at first glance you may not have considered.