Accounting & Professional Services

Working for an accountancy and professional services firm is both challenging and rewarding. You will get the choice of working in various business areas, including audit, consulting and advisory services, tax, and corporate finance. The ‘big four’ accountancy and professional services firms, KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and Ernst & Young offer many graduate programmes and experiences both on and off campus, so you can discover if a career in this fast moving industry is for you.

Role:

There are a vast number of roles you can perform in an accounting and professional services firm; whichever one you do, you know you’ll be a vital cog in a machine that keeps some of the biggest organisations in the world going.

As a graduate analyst there is a good chance you will start working towards further professional exams when you start in the industry. This will add to your already impressive list of mathematical skills and personal attributes, which will allow you to work and communicate effectively in a team to deliver advice and services to clients around the world.

Skills Required:

• Numerical, analytical and logical skills
• Business and commercial awareness
• Communication skills
• Drive and motivation

Advantages:

• Opportunity to use your mathematical and analytical skills in providing financial services and solutions to your clients.
• Most firms will require you to take professional exams to become a chartered accountant which will further your employability.
• There are countless smaller firms, other than the big four, that offer great career prospects all over the UK.
• Opportunities exist within larger firms for international travel and work.

Things to consider:

• Although professional exams should be seen as an opportunity, be aware that this will involve considerable study, often outside of working hours.
• Among the top 5 graduate recruiters, by volume, are the big four. It goes without saying that these four provide incredible career opportunities. However, don’t discount smaller accountancy firms; there are firms all over the country, many offering as good if not better employment prospects.