Nigel

Degree subject Computer Science
Job title Articled Chartered Accountant/Tax Technician
Employer Garland McDonald & Co.

Before, during and after my degree, I worked in a number of positions in banking and really enjoyed the entire world of finance. I was particularly drawn to the area of financial advice. Banking involved a lot of sales and I felt that chartered accountancy would allow me to give more impartial advice while providing a challenging professional career.

There's no such thing as a typical day – that's one of the main attractions of a smaller firm. It could involve planning an audit or preparing taxation returns for a small builder or large company. It may mean advising an individual on the sale or acquisition of a property or developing an accountancy system for a web-development business. In a small firm, you need to react to client's wishes and it's important to be able to cover both the compliance and advisory issues in a number of areas such as taxation, accounts preparation and company law.

The best things about the job are the variety and the opportunity to learn: accountancy is a career of lifelong training. Of course, it can be great dealing with people so often as well!

Job-hunting tips

It's important to look beyond the training contract and decide where your future career lies – be it as an expert in a small area in a larger firm or more of a generalist in a smaller firm. The profile of clients that the firm acts for is very important too, as this will determine the experience you obtain.