RSS feedsOne of the great advantages of working in an accountancy practice, irrespective of its size, is that there will always be plenty of opportunities to try something different. Whether it is a switch from audit work to consultancy or tax advice, or a change of sector from, say, non-profit organisations to banks and financial institutions, opportunities can be easily found.
But you shouldn’t expect such moves to land in your lap. You have to get out there and find them, because you won’t be the only one looking to widen your experience.
Accountancy practices ceased being merely audit firms a long time ago, and despite the worries over conflicts of interests, which forced a number of the larger firms to move out of management consultancy work altogether, there are still more opportunities now than ever before to switch jobs without changing firms. And a good breadth of experience will stand you in good stead as you climb the promotional ladder. So where should you start looking?
The growth of merger and acquisition business has kept corporate finance departments constantly on the lookout for talent. Increasing tax compliance means that tax advisers need all the help they can get, while the threat of fraud or a possible economic downturn make busy forensic accounting and business recovery departments attractive to recently qualified professionals. Internal audit is sexy in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley, and corporate and social responsibility services are also growing in popularity. There are also the structured finance departments, pension and actuarial practices and public sector groups, to name but a few.
Nor do you have to stay on the client-facing side of the business. There is always a demand for qualified staff in a practice’s training department, or you might even consider a spell in marketing and business development.
Clearly, not everyone is suited to all these possible roles, but partners and directors have a number of common requirements from those who want to join the ir particular areas.
Sam Weston, a human resources director at Grant Thornton, highlights the required strengths. ‘You will need good client handling skills, strong communication skills, equally strong practical skills and the ability to defend your own opinion,’ she says.
She adds that standing your ground is particularly important when working in a corporate finance department, where you might be asked to give an opinion that the client simply doesn’t want to hear.
But above all else, Weston says that people who want to move into such areas need to demonstrate keen commercial awareness.
Creativity will also figure high on the wish list for a prospective new partner, no more so than in tax. ‘You will need to be able to interpret tax laws and not just look at the numbers,’ Weston says.
Grant Thornton, like many other practices, takes steps to ensure that newly qualified professionals are made aware of opportunities in the firm through a one-on-one career planning meeting.
Likewise, KPMG’s director of learning and development Akber Pandor urges newly qualifieds to talk to their peers and managers so they can take an informed decision. Through a system of ‘people management leaders’ KPMG staff are taken through a five-stage process to ensure that moves, both internally and externally, are carefully considered by staff.
The first stage is to understand yourself: think about your strengths and particular skills. Second, think about where you want to be in the future. Third, research all the available options, both internally and externally. After this, you can clarify your options and finally take an informed decision.
Pandor says the concept of people management leaders – where senior managers at KPMG pull back from client work and are dedicated full-time to developing their staff – is proving a popular career move in itself. ‘In financial services we are now having to turn people away,’ he says.
Pandor says that the firm’s advisory services – not to be confused with old style management consultancy – are also proving very popular. They include transaction services and private equity, which are flavour of the month. Other areas of the broad advisory service include restructuring and forensic accounting.
As Pandor says: ‘Forensic accounting takes auditing to a very different level. It can get you out of the routine work and into nonrecurring project work. People love it.’
And, as Weston observes, forensic accounting would suit those with an inquiring mind who are not happy just to take matters at face value.
Finally, don’t forget about audit. Pandor says that his firm is busy reselling audit to its own staff. ‘The job is so different now from when I used to be an auditor. ’But he adds that KPMG learnt a long time ago that you can’t keep everyone in audit.
So the opportunities are clearly out there, but you need to hunt them down. The smart people will identify growth areas before the rush. For instance, if you think the current interest in private equity will not last, why not move to corporate restructuring to help pick up the pieces.
Above all else, though, talk to partners, find out what sort of person works in those areas and ask yourself: ‘Is this me?’
Move up without moving on
You don’t have to move to develop your career. It is always possible to build up a specialism within your own department, which could be on the technical side or an industry sector.
According to Tim Forster, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ head of UK experienced recruitment, the cross-disciplinary nature of much of a firm’s work means that staff can be exposed to different parts of the firm without having to change jobs.
‘You might not have to actually move to start getting experience of different areas,’ he says. ‘But you need to be proactive, and make it known that it’s the sort of work you want to do, and work the network that you know. Then people can make formal decisions and change direction later on.’ Secondments are an effective way of, as Forster says, ‘dipping your toe in the water’. He says:‘ Short-term secondments are not a one-way ticket – they give you the opportunity to try something out.’
International secondments are particularly popular, not Only with individuals, but with their practices as well, and will be seen as a career-enhancing move.
‘We push it quite hard. Most senior partners have done a stint overseas,’ says Forster. ‘It is seen as a great way of broadening your network, and it is a great retention tool for us. People like doing it and like to feel they’ve got a home to comeback to.’
Practices will also place considerable emphasis on continued learning, either on the job or through more formal routes. Make the most of these opportunities.
As well as the more run-of-the mill courses, KPMG, for instance, can offer its high-fliers an executive MBA, run in conjunction with Edinburgh Business School and ENPC in Paris. Likewise, PwC offers its own business diploma with input from London Business School.
Participation in such courses will go someway to answering the conundrum of experience. PwC’s Forster says that some of the more specialist areas, such as M &A, are more likely to take on those with prior knowledge of the area.
