Finance Jobs in UK

Hi All,

I would like to know how is the job market for the Finance & accounts related jobs in UK. I have around 4 years of experience in Finance sector.
I am from India & currently working for Bank.

VJ

If you are a qualified accountant, you shouldn't have any problems. If you're not, you can go to the UK and train as an accountant, meaning you would work as a trainee for a firm or practice who would pay all your exam and course fees. Having experience will help you get a job as well. You can look into the ACCA or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, Wales, etc.

Hi thank you for your response,

I have completed my post graduation in finance & worked for companies like Tesco, Barclays bank, and Honeywell as a financial analyst. Now working for accenture as team lead & project is Australian National Bank.

I am not a qualified accountant, my goal for my life is I want to do a professional course in abroad like you said ACCA or CIAM or ACA.
My plans once I land in UK, I am looking for a descent job & also want to do my further education.
Do you think this would be good move?
Are you from finance field?
Do you think with the above qualification & experience will I get a job?

VJ

iamwhoever wrote:If you are a qualified accountant, you shouldn't have any problems. If you're not, you can go to the UK and train as an accountant, meaning you would work as a trainee for a firm or practice who would pay all your exam and course fees. Having experience will help you get a job as well. You can look into the ACCA or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, Wales, etc.

If you seriously want to become a qualified accountant, you will have to take a pay cut most likely. Exemptions are given based on your degree(s) and possibly work experience. There may be a time limit, but I don't know. I don't know if you can transfer any of your experience over to count towards the 3 years of training required. You will have to contact the accountancy bodies. I couldn't find a page on any of the ACA websites in regards to a training permit, but the UK Border Agency does have a training permit, but you will have to check out all the details. However, this option requires you to have the intent of returning to your home country after completion.

With a degree and work experience in the finance field, you may be able to qualify through the UK Tier 1 (general) program. You can check your points with the points calculator and see if you qualify as for the Highly Skilled Work Permit (where you wouldn't need a job offer) or the Sponsored Skilled Work Permit (where you have to have an employer prior to application). This way, you wouldn't have to qualify as an accountant, but that qualification always helps.

If you have problems finding a way into the UK, you can always consider training in Ireland as the have a reciprocal agreement with the UK. Either way, The BIG 4 accountancy firms, as well as most of the larger and medium size firms, will be starting their recruiting for Autumn 2009 intake very soon, usually with the application deadlines in August. These firms in Ireland pay the best with a starting salary 24K, which I believe goes up slightly if you have a Master's Degree. Anyway, it will all depend on what suites you. The UK salaries should be comparable.

Below are links that will be of some help:

ACA - England & Wales:
http://www.icaew.com/index.cfm?route=125013

ACA - Scotland:
http://www.icas.org.uk/site/cms/content ... chapter=76

ACA - Ireland (including Norther Ireland):
http://www.icai.ie/en/General/About-Us/ ... ming-a-CA/

ACCA - UK:
http://uk.accaglobal.com/

ACCA - Ireland:
http://ireland.accaglobal.com/

UK Boarder Agency (TWES): http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/work ... rkpermits/

UK Border Agency (Skilled Workers):
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/

You should be able to find all info on the given websites. I would suggest reviewing them to see which interests you. Once you decide, you can post specific question in the respective forum for the UK or Ireland.

Good luck. Cheers!

Hi Vijay,

I think you are being misled by what "whoever" is saying. I have been working for a year in an investment bank here in London so, I think my views matter a bit.

My advise:

1) Since, you are from Banking sector - Stay & work in London. Dont go anywhere else (eg. Ireland etc) and talk to ur career. If you are from Finance sector - this is THE PLACE.

2) Observe what skills are required for ur job profile from www.cityjobs.co.uk; and try to highlight all the rltd banking exp in ur CV.

3) Don't enroll to accountancy or any qualification immediately (I did the same mistake). Co's encourage their employees to take up qualifications and so pay half of the tution fee and even coaching class fees. So, once u are here for about 6-8 months speak with ur Manager and select the right one for u.

4) You will also get exemption mostly for Level 1 & maybe even Level 2..for CIMA, ACA's etc

PM me... if you require any support.

And han, one more thing...you don't need to start from scratch if u come to UK. If "iamwhoever" can't make it - doesn't mean everyone can't. It all rests with the individual.

Iamwhoever - One request - Pls don't generalise statements and scare ppl like Vijay. Just share YOUR exp.

rsathish wrote:Hi Vijay,

I think you are being misled by what "whoever" is saying. I have been working for a year in an investment bank here in London so, I think my views matter a bit.

My advise:

1) Since, you are from Banking sector - Stay & work in London. Dont go anywhere else (eg. Ireland etc) and talk to ur career. If you are from Finance sector - this is THE PLACE.

2) Observe what skills are required for ur job profile from www.cityjobs.co.uk; and try to highlight all the rltd banking exp in ur CV.

3) Don't enroll to accountancy or any qualification immediately (I did the same mistake). Co's encourage their employees to take up qualifications and so pay half of the tution fee and even coaching class fees. So, once u are here for about 6-8 months speak with ur Manager and select the right one for u.

4) You will also get exemption mostly for Level 1 & maybe even Level 2..for CIMA, ACA's etc

PM me... if you require any support.

1. I'm not telling vnvijay what to do.

2. I said vnvijay probably will qualify for the Tier 1 (general) with proper degree and experience.

3. An accountancy qualification is always welcomed.

4. If vnvijay choses to do the accountancy qualification, I only gave vnvijay options.

5. Providing someone with informative websites, which give the person every option out there, is perfectly fine.

I wouldn't tell anyone what to do. I know people who are from outside the EU and work in London, and yes, it is a good place to be, though not my choice of place. I am simply providing websites and info to give the person a choice on which route to take, as well as supplying alternative options if one should fail. There is never any guarantee with immigration.

rsathish wrote:And han, one more thing...you don't need to start from scratch if u come to UK. If "iamwhoever" can't make it - doesn't mean everyone can't. It all rests with the individual.

Iamwhoever - One request - Pls don't generalise statements and scare ppl like Vijay. Just share YOUR exp.

I don't feel I gave any info to scare anyone. I simply provided site with info that will allow this person to make an informed decision and take all possible routes. I never said anyone would have to start from scratch. Also, there are times when I said I wasnt' sure/didn't know. How is that telling someone what to do and scarring that person?

Also, I have not tried to move to the UK as I have no desire to. My sister lives there, and her and her British husband are looking forward to moving as soon as they save enough money. I do know people and have helped a friend research moving there; he was successful, as well as others. I've only done some research because my partner was thinking of doing a graduate program in Scotland, so I was looking into my options.

Anyway, just to clarify for you and vnvijay, my posts here are simply suggestions. I do not have all the facts for vnvijay's immigration, nor am I an immigration specialist. I have never claimed to be. I have simply done loads of research for myself and others and am offering websites, which I always provide, for people like vnvijay to check out and decide for themselves. It is not my place, nor is it yours or anyone else's to telling vnvijay or anyone on here what s/he must do. All we can do is offer advice. And, I don't believe I have given vnvijay bad advice. I simply gave vnvijay the websites to figure things out and make an informed decision.

Cheers!

I think "whoever" is right in some sense. It can be a bit difficult for non-EU professionals coming to the UK, especially for those without prior UK experience. A way of mitigating against such difficulty is to be prepared to start from the scratch or do some voluntary work. A registration with a recognised professional accountancy body such as ACA, ACCA and CIMA is also worthwhile.

When I came to the UK, I was only equiped with a professional qualification and four years experience from my home country but recruiters and employers would only ask for a UK qualification and experience. I had to register with a professional body and included this in my CV as part qualified. Also, I took up a voluntary work for one month after which I got my first break of a 30k per annum job. After working for another three months, I was offered another better paying and prospect job. I am planning to start in the middle of next August.

I believe I would have been able to achieve this feat sooner if I had register with a professional body as soon as I got to the UK. My resolve to start from the scratch by taking up a voluntary work without pay also helped a lot.

My advice -

- Be prepared to face challenges down here. Although, these will ultimately make you a stronger and more developed person.

- Bring enough money to the UK to sustain yourself during the difficult period. I hope this wont be more than a month or two if you do the right thing.

- Register with a professional body as soon as you get here and include this in your CV ASAP.

- Ensure that you most of your job applications are made to employers directly. Agencies can be very mean in the sense that they discourage you by disqulifying you most of the time without even looking at your CV.

- Try to have one or two UK references handy. Most employers do not like non-UK referees as they consider this a waste of time contacting them.

Please learn from my mistake and achieve a better result.

Hi Taiwookunade,

I agree with most of your comments but can you be more specific in terms of your work area etc. The guy who had posted this query had worked with well known UK brands (TESCO, Barclays) and has got prior banking experience.

Considering this, there are lot of temp jobs in the finance sector which are dependant on skills - Not need to do any Voluntary work without pay.

Not all agencies are bad. There are seperate posts on them so I don't want to elaborate here.

Who said non-UK references are not preferred. Again, please be specific in your posts so it is clear for everyone.

For finance jobs (and as for I know in other sectors too) references from other countries ARE accepted. You can't possibly give UK references when you come from another country.

My last point - You don't have to start from stratch here. It all depends on your previous experience & how well you sell your CV to the employer.

taiwookunade wrote: My advice -
- Register with a professional body as soon as you get here and include this in your CV ASAP.

- Ensure that you most of your job applications are made to employers directly. Agencies can be very mean in the sense that they discourage you by disqulifying you most of the time without even looking at your CV.

- Try to have one or two UK references handy. Most employers do not like non-UK referees as they consider this a waste of time contacting them.

Please learn from my mistake and achieve a better result.

I had worked with a multinational company as a senior accountant prior to coming to the UK and I was confident then that no employer would see that on my CV and not be tempted to give me a call. Although, I got few calls from recruiters but immediately they knew that you had not worked at any time in the UK, they stopped communicating with me. Frankly, I was gutted and almost made the decision to take up one of those account payable clerks roles but fortunately, I got a call from an employer who offered to have me on voluntary basis for sometime. I decided to do the job on voluntary basis based on the advice I got from the caller.

He told me it is usually difficult to get a good job here if you do not have prior UK experience or someone to vouch that you can do the job here. I realised that we had a lot of competition not only from the British professionals but from professionals from other European countries that are moving to the UK everyday as they are to be considered first under the EU law.

I agree with your view that one may not necessarily start from the scratch but instead of doing menial jobs at Tesco or any other place for that matter, is it not better to take up voluntary work as a start. I am happy today because of the decision to do voluntary. I am sure if you are good enough as stated on your CV, the employer will notice and may consider you for a paid job.

Concerning the issue of agencies, I am sorry if I made you misunderstood my point. All I was trying to point out is that agencies do not look at CVs criticially but on the surface. It would be distrastrous to place all your hope in them. I did that when I first came and regreted it. Personally, I believe 90% of the agencies are not reliable and as far as I am concern, that is enough to genaralise in the field of research.

On UK and non-UK references. I still maintain that it is better to have UK reference on your CV or applications. Employers and recruiters believe that you can follow up better on references when the referees are here. By the way, what is the use of reference when the integrity of the references cannot also be checked, especially for finance jobs where the employees are likely to be in contact with the employers' funds?

rsathish, please note that i'm not faulting your opinion on the job market, but I have also had my fair share of experience to comment on it. Also I have friends that had to go through the same route to make a break in the finance sector in the same UK job market.

One must keep in mind that everyone will have a different experience. Also, where you are at in your career as well as where you have worked in the world can affect how likely a company is willing to hire you. If you do register with an accountancy body and claim some exemptions, I believe it will go a long way.

In the business world, your knowledge of law and taxes in the country you work is very important. I think that is why people are more willing to hire someone who has worked in the UK or withing Europe than someone from outside. That experience shows that you should have the knowledge of law and taxation, depending on your area. This is why I believe registration with a local accountancy body would help. If you have the money, it definitely wouldn't hurt, and I would assume, only help.

All I can say is go voer every option. Contact the accountacy bodies if you are interested, an hope for the best.