Accountancy or Law
Discussion
Amidst all this doom and gloom, I'm thinking of taking a long break and then a career change but not sure what's best in this environment. Problem is i'm the wrong side of thirty, and though i've studied a year of Accountancy before, it's still going to be a big upset to the routine of working in the City. Plus points would be working from home, or just commuting to the smoke a couple days a week. Opinions and experiences from those of you who have moved on from your initial careers are most welcome.
Wow, some big no's from the law community here .. there must be some enjoyable bits to your job?
H_Kan said:
I'm in accountancy, and tbh there aren't many in our firm who work from home.
It's certainly a pretty stable industry relative to others at the moment.
I have quite a few friends who are accountants - have to say it increasingly looks like an attractive proposition, even if not the most exciting.It's certainly a pretty stable industry relative to others at the moment.
Edited by fido on Saturday 31st January 15:01
I am neither lawyer nor accountant but I work very closely with both. Most lawyers are OK and some are even interesting. Most accountants are too boring and serious all the time. The law as an industry is shrinking and changing and becoming more commodified. The opportunities are fewer and the little firms are pretty much all going to disappear within the next twenty years to be replaced by Tescos and AA law factories. This will not happen for a long time in accountancy.
Similar dilemma here but I fancy a career break to study Law although have no inclination whatsoever to actually practice it once qualified. I guess I just think it would be interesting and challenging. To be honest tho, I have had the same thoughts for the past few years but not got round to either getting the bottle to do it or pulling my finger out to get on with it.
I work as a Finance Director - the work is really interesting (the route I took was Engineering degree followed by MBA a few years later ).
Pure accountancy is dull as s
t - and the "accountants" in our business are the "back room boys" who just sort out the stat accounts, and dont really get involved in ( or understand ) the business.
The fun work is in Finance - as it is mainly very hands-on commercial management and deal- related work.
Pure accountancy is dull as s
t - and the "accountants" in our business are the "back room boys" who just sort out the stat accounts, and dont really get involved in ( or understand ) the business.The fun work is in Finance - as it is mainly very hands-on commercial management and deal- related work.
Accountancy can be varied and interesting - it just depends in which areas of accountancy you work and your own personal preferences. I run my own practice dealing with a wide variety of clients who are engaged in a wide variety of activities. Although I perform broadly similar work for all of them, it is their individual circumstances which make them interesting to work for.
Edited by Eric Mc on Saturday 31st January 17:24
I should add a long-standing friend of mine is a partner in a tax/accountancy practice and he finds the work very interesting as he has a wide variety of clients from city-boys to landed gentry. It is probably a lot more interesting than crunching year end stat accounts for a small bit of a large corporate.
Law is a very broad discipline.
Commercial, Family, Criminal, Personal Injury, Conveyancing etc etc.
Some of it is interesting, some is deadly boring.
Bits of it are fantastically well paid. Most of it is surprisingly badly paid.
Most lawyers I know wouldn't wish the experience upon their worst enemy. At the moment there are plenty of solicitors being laid off.
Personally, I enjoy hacking around the magistrates courts, representing society's lost souls, the misunderstood, the confused, the intoxicated and the downright evil.
It makes for an interesting and varied day. You are a free range chicken and are rarely tied to a desk.
But the pay isn't great and the hours can be antisocial.
This morning (Saturday) I was the duty solicitor at Wigan and had to endure fifteen minutes in the cells with the world's smelliest man. So it isn't always glamourous.
The main problem with law is that it takes a long time to qualify, so you will be skint far longer than an aspiring accountant.
It took me until I was 36 before I could afford to buy that red Italian sports car that I had always promised myself.
To be honest, the fact that I am now self employed is far more important than what I actually do for a living.
Commercial, Family, Criminal, Personal Injury, Conveyancing etc etc.
Some of it is interesting, some is deadly boring.
Bits of it are fantastically well paid. Most of it is surprisingly badly paid.
Most lawyers I know wouldn't wish the experience upon their worst enemy. At the moment there are plenty of solicitors being laid off.
Personally, I enjoy hacking around the magistrates courts, representing society's lost souls, the misunderstood, the confused, the intoxicated and the downright evil.
It makes for an interesting and varied day. You are a free range chicken and are rarely tied to a desk.
But the pay isn't great and the hours can be antisocial.
This morning (Saturday) I was the duty solicitor at Wigan and had to endure fifteen minutes in the cells with the world's smelliest man. So it isn't always glamourous.
The main problem with law is that it takes a long time to qualify, so you will be skint far longer than an aspiring accountant.
It took me until I was 36 before I could afford to buy that red Italian sports car that I had always promised myself.
To be honest, the fact that I am now self employed is far more important than what I actually do for a living.
It does take a while to get qualified as a solicitor or barrister if you intend to pursue a career in Law. It took me more than 7 years to fully qualify. Three years doing a degree. Then a part-time LPC which took two years. Clerking for nearly a year without a training contract. Landing a training contract when all hope was nearly gone.
Two further years as a lowest life form as an articled clerk. Funnily enough, my then firm decided to offer me a solicitor's role after I qualified. Spent a further year there and then headed out in-house where I still am today.
Having said all of this, I would have it any other way. Good luck
Two further years as a lowest life form as an articled clerk. Funnily enough, my then firm decided to offer me a solicitor's role after I qualified. Spent a further year there and then headed out in-house where I still am today.
Having said all of this, I would have it any other way. Good luck
Good to hear some balanced views on Law, personally I'm opting for a career change into law with a focus on insolvency, litigation and corporate recovery. My eventual aim is to have my own practice within 10 years or before I'm 40. Everyone keeps telling me its a very "dry" subject to study and passing the American Bar exam is not a doddle apparently !
Here is the flip side to the coin.
I am a 23 year old trainee solicitor in a provincial firm, although I do find myself in London a fair bit for work.
The work I am involved in is mostly litigation involving Landlords and Tenants, and bread and butter civil litigation such as debt recovery and contractual disputes.
I am paid under £20,000 pa. I have some but little secretarial support. I am expected to run my own case load and assist with the partner's cases, as well as be a general dogsbody, and go on courses every so often.
I find myself being yelled at on the phone almost everyday, and I have to deal with abusive letters from errant tenants who I am trying to evict from their property or whom we are involved in lititgation against, and abusive letters from solicitors on the other side. A lot if not all of it is crap and bullst but it does wear you down occasionally.
It is not a job I wake up to most mornings with the thought of excitement of doing. It uses a great deal of nervous energy. A lot of the solicitors and partners don't have the time to give you the support and guidance you need despite the fact you are a trainee and are there to learn.
The week started badly this week when I and the other 2nd year trainee were told we were not going to be kept on at qualification in 6 months time. This doesn't bother me as I was going to leave anyway for personal reasons and in a couple of weeks I will start the search for a job in London. The other trainee is gutted though because she has just exhanged contracts to buy a house.
The only good thing that happened this week was when one of my clients sent me an email saying she couldn't thank me enough for the settlement deal I got her recently, as she was at her wits end and didn't know what the future held for her finances. She also said there is a present in the post for me, which is touching as I know until her settlement cheque clears she has next to no money.
This is a rare ray of light from a career which involves you getting your hands dirty and dealing with peoples insatiable greed and general reprehensible behaviour every day.
That said I intend to stick at it as long as I can because you can make a lot of money. However, how long I can justify the adjustment to my morals and standards which it seems a career in law demands is something only the future knows.
I am a 23 year old trainee solicitor in a provincial firm, although I do find myself in London a fair bit for work.
The work I am involved in is mostly litigation involving Landlords and Tenants, and bread and butter civil litigation such as debt recovery and contractual disputes.
I am paid under £20,000 pa. I have some but little secretarial support. I am expected to run my own case load and assist with the partner's cases, as well as be a general dogsbody, and go on courses every so often.
I find myself being yelled at on the phone almost everyday, and I have to deal with abusive letters from errant tenants who I am trying to evict from their property or whom we are involved in lititgation against, and abusive letters from solicitors on the other side. A lot if not all of it is crap and bulls
t but it does wear you down occasionally. It is not a job I wake up to most mornings with the thought of excitement of doing. It uses a great deal of nervous energy. A lot of the solicitors and partners don't have the time to give you the support and guidance you need despite the fact you are a trainee and are there to learn.
The week started badly this week when I and the other 2nd year trainee were told we were not going to be kept on at qualification in 6 months time. This doesn't bother me as I was going to leave anyway for personal reasons and in a couple of weeks I will start the search for a job in London. The other trainee is gutted though because she has just exhanged contracts to buy a house.
The only good thing that happened this week was when one of my clients sent me an email saying she couldn't thank me enough for the settlement deal I got her recently, as she was at her wits end and didn't know what the future held for her finances. She also said there is a present in the post for me, which is touching as I know until her settlement cheque clears she has next to no money.
This is a rare ray of light from a career which involves you getting your hands dirty and dealing with peoples insatiable greed and general reprehensible behaviour every day.
That said I intend to stick at it as long as I can because you can make a lot of money. However, how long I can justify the adjustment to my morals and standards which it seems a career in law demands is something only the future knows.
Edited by princeperch on Saturday 31st January 19:01
alfaman said:
I work as a Finance Director - the work is really interesting (the route I took was Engineering degree followed by MBA a few years later ).
Pure accountancy is dull as st - and the "accountants" in our business are the "back room boys" who just sort out the stat accounts, and dont really get involved in ( or understand ) the business.
The fun work is in Finance - as it is mainly very hands-on commercial management and deal- related work.
+1 on this. I trained as an accountant and now work more closely with the commercial people in the business than the bean counters. Getting the qualification gives you choice plus when you learn how the business works you can be an invaluable asset that is high regarded.Pure accountancy is dull as s
t - and the "accountants" in our business are the "back room boys" who just sort out the stat accounts, and dont really get involved in ( or understand ) the business.The fun work is in Finance - as it is mainly very hands-on commercial management and deal- related work.
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