Career libido gone - change wanted but how/idea
Discussion
Hi,
I am fast losing motivation for my role and career. I struggle to get up in the mornings because of it, have no aspiration to do the same role again elsewhere. On the plus side since Covid we all work remotely which works well for me as although I do like chatting to people I find the office environment similar to prison - chained to a desk, surrounded by people you may not like, restrictions on what you can do etc etc
In an ideal world I'd have a practical job where I used my head but also and about in either the countryside or working doing something with cars. I have many DIY level skills - welding, a lot of the skills that go into restoring old cars, plumbing, general building work. I enjoy anything where I can step back and take satisfaction in job well done.
However in my current working world I have been an accountant for 18 years. I am a financial controller and have been in this role for nearly 2 years. It's a smaller company, limited resources and I find the whole thing pretty dull. Long hours (ave 12hrs per day) don't help as limited hands available and means less time for the stuff I enjoy in my life. Prior to this I was working in a finance systems role and quite specialist - I have learnt I preferred the specialist nature of that role. I also found in my prior role I could step back and enjoy the fruits of my work - developing a system is almost like landscaping a garden, building a wall, restoring a car. I get no such joy out of producing month end numbers, I do somewhat enjoy annual accounts process, leading the audit and researching and answer technical accounting questions but it's not particurlay interesting to my core interests.
I've been looking for a role similar to what I did before but it's few and far between. Covid related I suppose as it was project based and projects have been culled. To be honest though I've only been half looking, mainly as I am really busy in current my role but also I don't really want to go for another role in another office and deal with the same old issues.
I think my ideal role would be in business related to my interests - maybe a busy classic car restoration workshop - where I can use my accountancy skills to support the business but also have the opportunity to work on cars. I did contact a local automotive business and got quite far in conversations however they were not really that interested in my accountancy skills and wanted to train me in applying paint protection film to high end cars. It would have been a massive pay cut that I couldn't afford to take and wasn't really using all of my skills. The opportunity dried up with Covid anyway.
Without blowing my own trumpet, friends and acquaintances often make nice comments on how I seem to be able to turn my hand to anything. For me if I am interested I just research, read, youtube, watch others and apply. It's quite frustrating for me that I can't fix this current career problem though.
What am I looking for in posting this? I guess success stories from people who changed from an administrative career into something they loved - how did you do it, where do you look for opportunities. Any routes I could consider as a bloke in my late 30s - is there a larger company where I could train and get an baseline skill - I notice many builders have a trade but stretch out into other skills (not that i want to be a builder). If I was 21 again I would take an apprenticeship in an automotive setting and am kicking myself now for not doing it. I think I could have built up a classic car business or something. Any advice and perspective welcomed.
I am fast losing motivation for my role and career. I struggle to get up in the mornings because of it, have no aspiration to do the same role again elsewhere. On the plus side since Covid we all work remotely which works well for me as although I do like chatting to people I find the office environment similar to prison - chained to a desk, surrounded by people you may not like, restrictions on what you can do etc etc
In an ideal world I'd have a practical job where I used my head but also and about in either the countryside or working doing something with cars. I have many DIY level skills - welding, a lot of the skills that go into restoring old cars, plumbing, general building work. I enjoy anything where I can step back and take satisfaction in job well done.
However in my current working world I have been an accountant for 18 years. I am a financial controller and have been in this role for nearly 2 years. It's a smaller company, limited resources and I find the whole thing pretty dull. Long hours (ave 12hrs per day) don't help as limited hands available and means less time for the stuff I enjoy in my life. Prior to this I was working in a finance systems role and quite specialist - I have learnt I preferred the specialist nature of that role. I also found in my prior role I could step back and enjoy the fruits of my work - developing a system is almost like landscaping a garden, building a wall, restoring a car. I get no such joy out of producing month end numbers, I do somewhat enjoy annual accounts process, leading the audit and researching and answer technical accounting questions but it's not particurlay interesting to my core interests.
I've been looking for a role similar to what I did before but it's few and far between. Covid related I suppose as it was project based and projects have been culled. To be honest though I've only been half looking, mainly as I am really busy in current my role but also I don't really want to go for another role in another office and deal with the same old issues.
I think my ideal role would be in business related to my interests - maybe a busy classic car restoration workshop - where I can use my accountancy skills to support the business but also have the opportunity to work on cars. I did contact a local automotive business and got quite far in conversations however they were not really that interested in my accountancy skills and wanted to train me in applying paint protection film to high end cars. It would have been a massive pay cut that I couldn't afford to take and wasn't really using all of my skills. The opportunity dried up with Covid anyway.
Without blowing my own trumpet, friends and acquaintances often make nice comments on how I seem to be able to turn my hand to anything. For me if I am interested I just research, read, youtube, watch others and apply. It's quite frustrating for me that I can't fix this current career problem though.
What am I looking for in posting this? I guess success stories from people who changed from an administrative career into something they loved - how did you do it, where do you look for opportunities. Any routes I could consider as a bloke in my late 30s - is there a larger company where I could train and get an baseline skill - I notice many builders have a trade but stretch out into other skills (not that i want to be a builder). If I was 21 again I would take an apprenticeship in an automotive setting and am kicking myself now for not doing it. I think I could have built up a classic car business or something. Any advice and perspective welcomed.
I hear similar anecdotes from my colleagues (also in Finance).
Are you able to get yourself into a financial position that you don't 'need' the money and therefore could afford the pay cut to take on something more interesting down the line? (i.e. paying off the mortgage, downsizing etc.)
Are you able to get yourself into a financial position that you don't 'need' the money and therefore could afford the pay cut to take on something more interesting down the line? (i.e. paying off the mortgage, downsizing etc.)
Afraid I can't help but am interested in similar experiences.
Had a head injury, result is that I'm very poorly suited to office work now, and it's slowly killing me off.
I need to do something hands-on but have no on-the-job qualifications, skills that are refined enough to make saleable products from, spare time to learn, or money to get me going...
Had a head injury, result is that I'm very poorly suited to office work now, and it's slowly killing me off.
I need to do something hands-on but have no on-the-job qualifications, skills that are refined enough to make saleable products from, spare time to learn, or money to get me going...
Cheers, I do have a big mortgage here but can take a cut for a small while - say 12-18mths if i could find something that had growth potential.
I am fortunate in the sense that I do have somewhere else to live for free - a small holding in the middle of Wales, not enough to live off and would need to build accomdation for my wifes aging father which is doable - but it means moving from an area I like (rural hertfordshire) sooner than I'd have liked. It would give finances a relief to retrain but quite an upheveal (2 young kids). To be honest I think my wife would rather sell the holding and stay here but that is not an option yet.
None of that fixes things now but it does give the opportunity to train on the side of my current job with the knowledge mortgage finances will get easier at some point so i see it as opportunity i should not pass up. I could switch to contracting in finance to keep things fresher and free up my time for re-training too but really need an exit plan.
I am fortunate in the sense that I do have somewhere else to live for free - a small holding in the middle of Wales, not enough to live off and would need to build accomdation for my wifes aging father which is doable - but it means moving from an area I like (rural hertfordshire) sooner than I'd have liked. It would give finances a relief to retrain but quite an upheveal (2 young kids). To be honest I think my wife would rather sell the holding and stay here but that is not an option yet.
None of that fixes things now but it does give the opportunity to train on the side of my current job with the knowledge mortgage finances will get easier at some point so i see it as opportunity i should not pass up. I could switch to contracting in finance to keep things fresher and free up my time for re-training too but really need an exit plan.
You sound like someone who would enjoy consultancy. The whole enjoying putting systems togethers and seeing something develop is something you can get in projects, and when a firm has a project to do do, they often engage consultants / interims.
Also, restructuring & insolvency is quite technical so maybe look at retraining at that. There's a well trodden path from accountants to Insolvency Practitioners.
Also, restructuring & insolvency is quite technical so maybe look at retraining at that. There's a well trodden path from accountants to Insolvency Practitioners.
I had a middling career in IT, but always had an idea I'd want to do something more practical related to my DIY and car dabbling habits.
I don't think I'd ever have willingly left on my own, but redundancy forced my hand and gave me the opportunity to try something else.
I did return to IT but it took me a couple of years to realise I'd had enough.
The severance was good so financially I was able to take the pay cut to essentially minimum wage, but I'm now working part-time for a certain large DIY store. I couldn't be happier with my work/life balance. My DIY skills are useful in the role and I enjoy being around the manly DIY environment
.
I'm not having to commute, so saving money on fuel, parking and the need to upgrade the sensible car more regularly.
It's going to be different for you financially. Is a "down-shift" job nearer home or moving to a house with smaller mortgage an option?
Sometimes you realise you don't need so much and can look back on the big-pay years as putting the effort in to be able to slow down later.
Having said that, stepping away from a good salary is a big step in reality.
I don't think I'd ever have willingly left on my own, but redundancy forced my hand and gave me the opportunity to try something else.
I did return to IT but it took me a couple of years to realise I'd had enough.
The severance was good so financially I was able to take the pay cut to essentially minimum wage, but I'm now working part-time for a certain large DIY store. I couldn't be happier with my work/life balance. My DIY skills are useful in the role and I enjoy being around the manly DIY environment
.I'm not having to commute, so saving money on fuel, parking and the need to upgrade the sensible car more regularly.
It's going to be different for you financially. Is a "down-shift" job nearer home or moving to a house with smaller mortgage an option?
Sometimes you realise you don't need so much and can look back on the big-pay years as putting the effort in to be able to slow down later.
Having said that, stepping away from a good salary is a big step in reality.
Is the 12 hours a day necessary?
Even if I was Scarlett Johanssens personal masseuse, I’d be sick of it after multiple 12 days. That’s either chronically understaffed or a failure to set boundaries.
What would happen if you logged off at 5 or 6 and just told the managers they need more resources?
If it is somewhat related to not pushing back, you could find yourself in a similar situation on the next role.
Even if I was Scarlett Johanssens personal masseuse, I’d be sick of it after multiple 12 days. That’s either chronically understaffed or a failure to set boundaries.
What would happen if you logged off at 5 or 6 and just told the managers they need more resources?
If it is somewhat related to not pushing back, you could find yourself in a similar situation on the next role.
BeeBopp said:
You sound like someone who would enjoy consultancy. The whole enjoying putting systems togethers and seeing something develop is something you can get in projects, and when a firm has a project to do do, they often engage consultants / interims.
Beat me to it.Op - I work in the Big4...I don't do audits as that would drive me insane and in the past just bored me to death and wasn't motivated.
Instead I get the freedom to work in a more consulting/BA type role with clients, typically reg-related projects but that involves thinking about the systems side and how they interact, data quality etc
V challenging and still long hours I'm afraid but I find much more of it interesting and motivating Vs audit type work.
Cheers some good thoughts there. Consulting probably is a good route for me - i hate being embedded in company politics and rather spend my time getting the job done so to speak.
Insolvency sounds interesting i'll look that up.
RE the hours, it's understaffed. I push back a lot and still end up here - for example it was suggested I personally should implement, without budget or resource over the next 3 months whilst already carrying out a busy role: a purchasing system, upgrade the finance system, re-write all the management reports, implement an internal audit function to KPMG standards (1,200 page document), manage the facitilties for the building (made them redundant), manage an office sale, sell the fleet of cars (done, that was fun actually) and lead the audit and accounts production (6 mth cross organistaion project in my sector). Of course I've told them where to go and if we did that we'd end up delivering nothing and instead should prioritise and work on what can be done.
The entire them is lean - there are 5 of us including me and the Director. I have 2 lowely paid staff on my side, I need a manager in between really but we're on a spending freeze. I end up having to support a team during the day, and am developing one of them well but still a long way to go before they are able to truly fill the gap. I do everything else when they're gone for the day. I am not a micro manager but am forced to do it as nothing gets done to timescales with this team. Unfortuantley both me and my FD work these hours as the buck stops with us and there is no one else to do the type of work we do. I joined when the team was made of 5. My FD values the other side of finance as that is his back ground (FP&A) and took my manager out and moved to the other side of finance however the orignisation needs improvements my side more - systems need to be put in place, processes and controls need improving. Budget and availablity of resource is the constraint. Anyway that's a summary of the world i am in, even resourced proplery it would not light my fire.
Insolvency sounds interesting i'll look that up.
RE the hours, it's understaffed. I push back a lot and still end up here - for example it was suggested I personally should implement, without budget or resource over the next 3 months whilst already carrying out a busy role: a purchasing system, upgrade the finance system, re-write all the management reports, implement an internal audit function to KPMG standards (1,200 page document), manage the facitilties for the building (made them redundant), manage an office sale, sell the fleet of cars (done, that was fun actually) and lead the audit and accounts production (6 mth cross organistaion project in my sector). Of course I've told them where to go and if we did that we'd end up delivering nothing and instead should prioritise and work on what can be done.
The entire them is lean - there are 5 of us including me and the Director. I have 2 lowely paid staff on my side, I need a manager in between really but we're on a spending freeze. I end up having to support a team during the day, and am developing one of them well but still a long way to go before they are able to truly fill the gap. I do everything else when they're gone for the day. I am not a micro manager but am forced to do it as nothing gets done to timescales with this team. Unfortuantley both me and my FD work these hours as the buck stops with us and there is no one else to do the type of work we do. I joined when the team was made of 5. My FD values the other side of finance as that is his back ground (FP&A) and took my manager out and moved to the other side of finance however the orignisation needs improvements my side more - systems need to be put in place, processes and controls need improving. Budget and availablity of resource is the constraint. Anyway that's a summary of the world i am in, even resourced proplery it would not light my fire.
_Mja_ said:
Without blowing my own trumpet, friends and acquaintances often make nice comments on how I seem to be able to turn my hand to anything. For me if I am interested I just research, read, youtube, watch others and apply. It's quite frustrating for me that I can't fix this current career problem though.
I could have written that paragraph word for word.My experience is that this is not seen in a positive light by agencies or by HR departments in larger companies (and these are the gatekeepers). We live in a world that expects people to specialise, "jack of all trades" is seen as a "master of none", and because of credentialism if you don't have a piece of paper to say you have a certain skill, then you might as well not have that skill.
Mid to late 30's is a really tricky time. You've been there, done it, you're expert and looking for new challenges. Take some comfort that you're not alone!
You've recognised that you need to make a change. The first thing is to shift your mindset from always trying to do your best for the benefit of others (which is absolutely usual if you've always worked for other people) and switch it to doing your best for yourself.
You have a job and you have a wage. Focus on what it is you want to do and sweat your professional and person contacts mercilessly. That's now your new day job. Your existing employment is is now a means to an end. If your employer is as lean as you say they are, you are worth far more to the them than you are giving yourself credit for. They can't sack you. Or at least it will take a long time for them to do so.
You have to reprioritise your thinking. You'll have a good 6 months with your current employer if you're careless, you can drag it out for 12months + if you're clever. Aim to do whatever you want to be doing for 6 months before jacking in your current job.
Cautionary note; assume 99 out of 100 promises of future work won't materialise.
Good luck. It won't feel like it now, but it is one of the most exciting times of your life. You can either keep doing what you do until you work yourself into a grave, or rise up and make something happen for yourself. It's not easy, but it is worth the effort and stress
It's up to you.
You've recognised that you need to make a change. The first thing is to shift your mindset from always trying to do your best for the benefit of others (which is absolutely usual if you've always worked for other people) and switch it to doing your best for yourself.
You have a job and you have a wage. Focus on what it is you want to do and sweat your professional and person contacts mercilessly. That's now your new day job. Your existing employment is is now a means to an end. If your employer is as lean as you say they are, you are worth far more to the them than you are giving yourself credit for. They can't sack you. Or at least it will take a long time for them to do so.
You have to reprioritise your thinking. You'll have a good 6 months with your current employer if you're careless, you can drag it out for 12months + if you're clever. Aim to do whatever you want to be doing for 6 months before jacking in your current job.
Cautionary note; assume 99 out of 100 promises of future work won't materialise.
Good luck. It won't feel like it now, but it is one of the most exciting times of your life. You can either keep doing what you do until you work yourself into a grave, or rise up and make something happen for yourself. It's not easy, but it is worth the effort and stress
It's up to you.Edited by ben5575 on Sunday 20th June 22:19
Strongest advice is that you do need to make a change . Life is not a rehearsal, and every year that goes by that you are doing something you don’t love is a waste.
True story: a friend of mine finally jacked in a marketing career in his late 30s to become what he always wanted to be: a pilot. Sounded impossible, but after 10 years he achieved his ultimate dream of flying big jets. Now 10 years on from that he can look back on a career doing what he loves. Imagine if he’d stayed in marketing, thinking it was impossible, or focussing on maintaining a certain income. He’d be just regretting what he should or could have done, instead of having done it.
There are some good options for what else to do already mentioned here to which I’d add - what about starting your own business? Your finance skills and broad ability would be very useful. And nothing is more motivating or satisfying in my experience. Whatever you do, good luck!
True story: a friend of mine finally jacked in a marketing career in his late 30s to become what he always wanted to be: a pilot. Sounded impossible, but after 10 years he achieved his ultimate dream of flying big jets. Now 10 years on from that he can look back on a career doing what he loves. Imagine if he’d stayed in marketing, thinking it was impossible, or focussing on maintaining a certain income. He’d be just regretting what he should or could have done, instead of having done it.
There are some good options for what else to do already mentioned here to which I’d add - what about starting your own business? Your finance skills and broad ability would be very useful. And nothing is more motivating or satisfying in my experience. Whatever you do, good luck!
I'm a management consultant. Trained as a Chartered Engineer with a very well known UK company and then did an MBA before joining the world of management consulting, which I viewed as a temporary thing until I'd worked out what to do. 21 years later I'm still here. I love it.
I'm a partner in a small company and we've been trying to recruit people over the last 6 months. Can't do it easily. The salary expectations are too high or the experience is not quite right. 2 years experience? You want £50k. So we're trying to work our way through this.
I have no idea of your salary expectations but if £50-£100k is your bracket then consultancies are chewing good people's arms off.
Happy hunting. If you want some leads PM me.
I'm a partner in a small company and we've been trying to recruit people over the last 6 months. Can't do it easily. The salary expectations are too high or the experience is not quite right. 2 years experience? You want £50k. So we're trying to work our way through this.
I have no idea of your salary expectations but if £50-£100k is your bracket then consultancies are chewing good people's arms off.
Happy hunting. If you want some leads PM me.
A lot of common sense replies here, but I'm to add something regarding people who have not had the hardships that many of us experience, you WILL run into these people, they literally do not live in the same world as the rest of us, they're company men through and through, they've been in the same job 20+ years and they have absolutely no idea what it's really like.
I just recently did a Teams interview with a guy who's had the same management job for 18 years in the same company, he was surprised that i'd never used Teams from home, I guess that's because i'm an engineer and we're not trusted to work from home......
He couldn't understand why my CV did not have finish dates for former employers, I explained that it was because agencies view job gaps very negatively, he didn't think this was true.
I said i'd done some temp work between roles, he thought this should be on my already 4 page long CV even though it had no relevance to previous experience, agencies see this as someone who doesn't know where they're going and short term roles are viewed VERY negatively by agencies who don't want to risk losing their commission to someone who will move on after a couple of months.
So what i'm saying is, keep your head about you, don't listen to people who have this fantasy view of the world, i've seen people like this in the job centre, in a complete state of shock that their 20+ year career just ended in their 40's or 50's, if they manage to not throw themselves off a bridge, they might be lucky enough to get a job stacking shelves.
It pays to be aware that they exist, you might encounter them, but keep your head at ground level.
Thanks folks, some sage advice. I've just taken a couple of days off from work (first since last summer aside from x-mas/boxing day).
W1bbles I've pmd you
I'm concluding I need to wittle down exactly what I want to do and then spend some time re-training for it whilst keeping the day job moving. If am working on a way out then that is a good feeling. Finance contracting is a possibilty, haven't really gone down that route as could be the same old however perhaps not and worth a dabble.
W1bbles I've pmd you
I'm concluding I need to wittle down exactly what I want to do and then spend some time re-training for it whilst keeping the day job moving. If am working on a way out then that is a good feeling. Finance contracting is a possibilty, haven't really gone down that route as could be the same old however perhaps not and worth a dabble.
lyonspride said:
A lot of common sense replies here, but I'm to add something regarding people who have not had the hardships that many of us experience, you WILL run into these people, they literally do not live in the same world as the rest of us, they're company men through and through, they've been in the same job 20+ years and they have absolutely no idea what it's really like.
I just recently did a Teams interview with a guy who's had the same management job for 18 years in the same company, he was surprised that i'd never used Teams from home, I guess that's because i'm an engineer and we're not trusted to work from home......
He couldn't understand why my CV did not have finish dates for former employers, I explained that it was because agencies view job gaps very negatively, he didn't think this was true.
I said i'd done some temp work between roles, he thought this should be on my already 4 page long CV even though it had no relevance to previous experience, agencies see this as someone who doesn't know where they're going and short term roles are viewed VERY negatively by agencies who don't want to risk losing their commission to someone who will move on after a couple of months.
So what i'm saying is, keep your head about you, don't listen to people who have this fantasy view of the world, i've seen people like this in the job centre, in a complete state of shock that their 20+ year career just ended in their 40's or 50's, if they manage to not throw themselves off a bridge, they might be lucky enough to get a job stacking shelves.
It pays to be aware that they exist, you might encounter them, but keep your head at ground level.
I've read this a few times and trying to work out what it actually means?I just recently did a Teams interview with a guy who's had the same management job for 18 years in the same company, he was surprised that i'd never used Teams from home, I guess that's because i'm an engineer and we're not trusted to work from home......
He couldn't understand why my CV did not have finish dates for former employers, I explained that it was because agencies view job gaps very negatively, he didn't think this was true.
I said i'd done some temp work between roles, he thought this should be on my already 4 page long CV even though it had no relevance to previous experience, agencies see this as someone who doesn't know where they're going and short term roles are viewed VERY negatively by agencies who don't want to risk losing their commission to someone who will move on after a couple of months.
So what i'm saying is, keep your head about you, don't listen to people who have this fantasy view of the world, i've seen people like this in the job centre, in a complete state of shock that their 20+ year career just ended in their 40's or 50's, if they manage to not throw themselves off a bridge, they might be lucky enough to get a job stacking shelves.
It pays to be aware that they exist, you might encounter them, but keep your head at ground level.
_Mja_ said:
Thanks folks, some sage advice. I've just taken a couple of days off from work (first since last summer aside from x-mas/boxing day).
W1bbles I've pmd you
I'm concluding I need to wittle down exactly what I want to do and then spend some time re-training for it whilst keeping the day job moving. If am working on a way out then that is a good feeling. Finance contracting is a possibilty, haven't really gone down that route as could be the same old however perhaps not and worth a dabble.
Long, rambling reply sent! I've sent you my grown-up email address with it rather than my PH PM one.W1bbles I've pmd you
I'm concluding I need to wittle down exactly what I want to do and then spend some time re-training for it whilst keeping the day job moving. If am working on a way out then that is a good feeling. Finance contracting is a possibilty, haven't really gone down that route as could be the same old however perhaps not and worth a dabble.
lyonspride said:
A lot of common sense replies here, but I'm to add something regarding people who have not had the hardships that many of us experience, you WILL run into these people, they literally do not live in the same world as the rest of us, they're company men through and through, they've been in the same job 20+ years and they have absolutely no idea what it's really like.
I just recently did a Teams interview with a guy who's had the same management job for 18 years in the same company, he was surprised that i'd never used Teams from home, I guess that's because i'm an engineer and we're not trusted to work from home......
He couldn't understand why my CV did not have finish dates for former employers, I explained that it was because agencies view job gaps very negatively, he didn't think this was true.
I said i'd done some temp work between roles, he thought this should be on my already 4 page long CV even though it had no relevance to previous experience, agencies see this as someone who doesn't know where they're going and short term roles are viewed VERY negatively by agencies who don't want to risk losing their commission to someone who will move on after a couple of months.
So what i'm saying is, keep your head about you, don't listen to people who have this fantasy view of the world, i've seen people like this in the job centre, in a complete state of shock that their 20+ year career just ended in their 40's or 50's, if they manage to not throw themselves off a bridge, they might be lucky enough to get a job stacking shelves.
It pays to be aware that they exist, you might encounter them, but keep your head at ground level.
If I interviewed someone who couldn't work Teams from home I'd bin them on the spot. The corporate world has been using Teams since (at least) March 2020 and if you're after a professional role then you'd have worked that out. It only takes 30 mins to explore and work out.I just recently did a Teams interview with a guy who's had the same management job for 18 years in the same company, he was surprised that i'd never used Teams from home, I guess that's because i'm an engineer and we're not trusted to work from home......
He couldn't understand why my CV did not have finish dates for former employers, I explained that it was because agencies view job gaps very negatively, he didn't think this was true.
I said i'd done some temp work between roles, he thought this should be on my already 4 page long CV even though it had no relevance to previous experience, agencies see this as someone who doesn't know where they're going and short term roles are viewed VERY negatively by agencies who don't want to risk losing their commission to someone who will move on after a couple of months.
So what i'm saying is, keep your head about you, don't listen to people who have this fantasy view of the world, i've seen people like this in the job centre, in a complete state of shock that their 20+ year career just ended in their 40's or 50's, if they manage to not throw themselves off a bridge, they might be lucky enough to get a job stacking shelves.
It pays to be aware that they exist, you might encounter them, but keep your head at ground level.
If you've a deeper interest in financial transactions and accounting philosophy, go to a larger company or maybe some organisation which used to be government controlled and is not privatised/"corporatised"/whatever. You might find a happy hunting ground of inept practices and processes to sink your teeth into. Places which receive some sort of free money and don't declare it as revenue, can't tell what's operational or capital expenditure.....
I'm not an accountant but I started doing a Masters degree in it as the accountants where I am are fairly lacklustre. The final thing which drove me to sign-on for a few years of hard graft was when a bunch of the accountants did the old "do the needful and revert" on a small list of things they wanted to create financial assets in SAP for. Anything more than half an hours work in one go is too much for them so they needed to have IT do it. Their contact in IT hand-balled it to someone else and that's when I took an interest. The list was pretty much an inventory of a shipping container full of tree pruning equipment. Three accountants and their quasi-accountant IT support wanted to create financial assets for individual hammers, packets of saw blades, box cutter knife refills..... Yes, a financial asset for a packet of disposable knife blades.
I'm not an accountant but I started doing a Masters degree in it as the accountants where I am are fairly lacklustre. The final thing which drove me to sign-on for a few years of hard graft was when a bunch of the accountants did the old "do the needful and revert" on a small list of things they wanted to create financial assets in SAP for. Anything more than half an hours work in one go is too much for them so they needed to have IT do it. Their contact in IT hand-balled it to someone else and that's when I took an interest. The list was pretty much an inventory of a shipping container full of tree pruning equipment. Three accountants and their quasi-accountant IT support wanted to create financial assets for individual hammers, packets of saw blades, box cutter knife refills..... Yes, a financial asset for a packet of disposable knife blades.
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