Your worth
Now a qualified accountant, your market value will leap significantly (find out by exactly how with our latest salary survey). But the six-figure salary and juicy benefits package are not guaranteed. Education and qualification impact the salary of few disciplines more than that of the accountant, but the job market is shaped by many more factors, including experience, performance, perception, responsibility, geography, industry and qualifications. The latter three are all assessed in our latest salary survey, while all these factors are considered in more detail in our guide to your worth: your personal salary guide.
Action these practical tips to start increasing your worth:
- Focus on your performance, track your successes and have a clear development plan.
- Find out what the general perception of you is in the company and work on fixing the bits that might be harming your personal brand. Ask for feedback on your work and behaviour whenever you can.
- Consider whether you might welcome a change of location – it can have a huge impact on your earning potential if you are not tied to any particular place.
- Become an industry expert. Qualification mixed with extensive sector knowledge will put you on almost any shortlist.
- Develop all your business skills, especially communication (communication skills are the key differentiator).
- Take an interest in projects outside of your function, as your contribution to other areas of the business will impact on your value as an employee. Why not use your knowledge and experience to manage the finance on your company’s corporate social responsibility scheme or charity committee?
Your professional development
It is important for professionals to protect the reputation of their qualification throughout their career. With ever-increasing demands such as speed of innovation, role diversification and research-based knowledge, it is imperative to engage in career-long learning and development to shield the privileged status so hard won at qualification stage.
Accountants have always needed to take responsibility for their professional development but for the first time (other than for selected groups of accountants) this is now a formal requirement. UK institutes (ICAEW, CIMA, ACCA) now expect their members to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) relevant to their individual needs, to assess the value of development undertaken or outcomes achieved, and to retain appropriate evidence.
CPD activities can include:
- Development activities that occur in the workplace, e.g. discussion groups, mentoring and coaching, briefings from auditors
- Learning from networking and discussion/work groups
- Reading and research; completing further study or qualifications
- e-Learning
- Writing and presenting on business or technical issues
- Attending courses, seminars or conferences
Make sure you are fully up to date with your relevant CPD requirements.
www.icaew.co.uk/cpd
Each year members are required to declare that for the previous year they have:
- Reflected on their learning and development needs for their professional and
other work; and - Taken appropriate and effective CPD action to fulfil identified needs.
www.cimaglobal.com/cpd
CIMA’s scheme focuses on the value of development undertaken for a current role – in addition there is also clear encouragement to include development relevant to a member’s career progression. Members are required to formalise their CPD activities using the CIMA Professional Development Cycle.
www.accaglobal.com/cpdrealise
ACCA operates a unit scheme route where you must earn at least 40 units of learning activity per year (one hour of learning activity equals one unit), of which 21 must be verifiable. While CPD activities are not prescribed, your choices must be relevant to your individual development needs. ACCA also offers an Approved Employer Programme through which to meet CPD requirements.
Your consultancy relationship
Keeping your career on track is a full time job in itself, which is why so many professionals now rely on recruitment consultancies to help them job search. The relationship you have with your consultancy is a vital key in your future success and there are ways to make the relationship work for you. Read our guide to getting the most from your recruitment consultancy (this link will take you to our job site).
Other useful resources
If you’re starting to look for a new job, you may also like our guides to interviews, interview questions, competency-based interviews. You can also visit www.badenochandclark.com to search for a job or set an email job alert.