Are you the ultimate number cruncher -the king of the spreadsheet? Want a career where money isn’t just the reward but the focus?

If you’re often the one left deconstructing the bill after dinner, have a sharp eye for detail and a mathematical mind then working in finance could be the perfect career for you. Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered.

Here are some careers to consider in the finance industry and some of our top tips to help you get ahead:
 

Finance assistant

What they do
Support the finance team by taking responsibility for numerous administrative duties. This includes managing purchase ledgers, keeping an eye on financial policies, setting up direct debits and standing orders to make sure the department runs smoothly.

What you need 
An organised and methodical approach to your work is essential, as is a strong aptitude for numbers. You won’t need previous experience for many entry-level roles, but being able to use excel would be preferential.

Earning potential
Starting salary will be around the £16,000 mark, rising to around £20,000 and above with additional experience. 

Perfect for
People who like to keep everything organised.

Accountant

What they do
Manage organisations’ accounts, ensuring their financial position is constantly updated and reported on. Oversee all incoming & outgoing costs of the company ensuring these are in line with the company budget as well as providing reports on improvement.

What you need
Numerical ability is a must, not to mention a passion for arithmetic and rigorous attention to detail. Qualifications are preferred but not always essential although a familiarity with financial accounting customs is favoured for most entry level positions.

Earning potential 
Entry-level salaries start at around £22,000 rising to £30,000+ with the right level of experience and qualifications.  

Perfect for
People who like deconstructing analysis.

Auditor

What they do
Support the finance department by reviewing risk, identifying opportunities and keeping up to date with any legislative changes ensuring the organisation is fully compliant with industry best practice.

What you need 
Excellent industry awareness and a duty of care to provide the business with the best possible advice.

Earning potential 
Initial salary may start at around the £22,000 mark, but successful auditors can be paid up to £40,000+

Perfect for
People who are great with advice.  

Finance manager

What they do 
Leading the finance department in the direction of the business objectives, ensuring team duties are delegated efficiently, working with the team to provide a strategic vision for the future. Control over analysis, reviews and forecasts of the business strategy.

What you need 
Excellent analytical skills, confidence and the ability to make decisions under pressure. Leadership will also be of paramount importance to your team. A degree is preferred, but experience in a similar financial capacity could work in some cases.

Earning potential 
Anything between £40 – £50,000 is typical for a finance manager depending on the size of the company.
 

Top tips

1. Set your Goals
   The first step is the hardest step. Visualise the job you want. If the end goal is a stretch too far at this point, break it down into realistic and achievable steps.
    
2. Know your abilities
   It’s time to look in the mirror and get to grips with your own strengths and weaknesses. Be brutally honest, know where you are in relation to your goal, but don’t let this put you off. You’re on a journey and that journey may take you onto some ‘B’ roads before you hit the motorway.
    
3. Get a Personal Development Plan
   Craft a Personal Development Plan and decide what actions you need to take to reach your goals. Be specific, make your actions measurable and write a date in which you are going to hit the mile-stones and stick to them!
    
4. Take advantage of the many opportunities 
   Maximise the in-house training that working in the finance sector offers. Talk to your line-manager about doing external courses or gain additional experience by shadowing others. If you’re working with suppliers they often offer free events to join that will add to your knowledge base. Take advantage of any free learning that is going on offer.
    
5. Talk to someone who is where you want to be
   Find someone doing what you want to do. Now that you have a role model ask yourself what is it about them that has made them successful. Maybe sit and have a coffee with them and talk about their career journey. Find out their secrets-of-success. You will find that people are often more than happy to talk about themselves and offer this key information quite freely.
    
6. Connect with others
   Build connections with people who can help you. Join communities and professional networks – these may be specific functional groups or skill specific associations. Build a LinkedIn profile. Be relevant to their conversations and be prepared to hold your own opinions. It’s important to share your passion but stay on piste and develop an antenna to tamper down when necessary.
    
7. Be prepared for change
   Change is constant – get on board or get left behind. Keep your eyes-open to new deployments in your sector and do not be afraid to offer your services and get stuck in to any new project.
    
8. Brush-up on your knowledge
   Keep abreast of your profession, read sector related magazines and journals attend events and talk to people in commerce to get a fresh and up-to-date perspective.
    
9. Adopt a commercial mind-set
   Providing value-for-money in the finance is not good enough. The whole sector wants to see a measurable cost benefit and accountability for service delivery. Demonstrate that you can not only achieve targets but know how you can make these relevant to your audience.
    
10. Finally...
    Passion and ambition is infectious. Your drive and energy will elevate you to stand out in the crowd. Be generous with your ideas and treat others how you wish to be treated yourself.

 
Morgan Hunt is a leading finance recruiter with a wealth of finance & accounting recruitment experience. We appreciate the essential function of finance and the importance of finding the right finance & accounting professionals – not only in terms of skills and experience, but also in terms of cultural fit and long-term development. 

Contact us or call the team on 0207 419 8900 to find out more.

Career ceilings can hit anyone

The glass ceiling is often used as a metaphor to describe the barriers that women face to success within the workplace, but this is a phenomenon that can affect both men and women. Career ceilings can in fact affect anyone, so that they find themselves in a position within their career when they feel they can go no further.

This might be due to any number of reasons – class and social background, age, disability, weight, appearance or simply being in a role that presents no options for career progression. Most of us possess a strong, in-built drive for success, and when we find ourselves in this position it can be immensely frustrating. Here are a few pointers that can help you combat the issue, should you find yourself in this position.
 

Regularly evaluate your prospects and position

The first step towards solving a problem of this kind is knowing that it exists in the first place. Many of us, once stuck in a rut, can simply sleepwalk our way through the day without making any effort to evaluate our position. If we do this for too long, the problem can become insurmountable, so the first thing you need to do is to ensure you recognise that you are being prevented from moving up the ladder if this is the case, then take steps to improve your situation.

Keep tabs on your performance – are you doing well? If you have been in a role for some time and produced consistently good work, you should eventually be in line for promotion, or at least for a review and most probably a pay increase. You should also keep an eye on what is happening to your colleagues. Are they in the same position or are they often being promoted at your expense? If the latter is the case, and you feel you are being overlooked, then you should consider the reasons for this. If you feel you are being discriminated against, this is unlawful and you could have grounds to protest.
 

Be vocal

If you don’t ask, you don’t get, and very often the reason you are not rewarded for your efforts is simply because you have not made it clear that you expect more. Others may be more vocal and employers will often put these people first in line for promotion of salary increases, as they are more likely to put up a fuss. This being the case, you should make sure that your employer is clear about your expectations, and if you are not offered regular reviews or opportunities for promotion, actively approach your line manager and bring the issue up. You may find that they respect you all the more for it.
 

Be prepared to create change

If you have done all you can within your current circumstances, then be prepared to think about alternatives. You may be better off looking for a new role elsewhere, where your talents will be more valued, or you may even find it is possible to set up your own business or to work on a freelance basis. Whatever the case, don’t stick with your current situation if it just hasn’t been working for you, but actively seek to make a change.

To find out more about how to get past these kind of barriers within the workplace, get in touch with one of our recruitment consultants at Morgan Hunt.

More than just a fun way to get fit

Whether you love it or hate it, football at school is a great way to get kids outside and doing some exercise yet football can offer wider benefits.

We are all familiar with the traditional skills that are promoted in football such as team building, resilience, determination and respect. However, there is now a growing realisation that football can also be used to develop maths and English skills and even open up other career paths.

Understanding the angle of the corner kick

There are many opportunities to promote maths actively during matches, this can be as simple as working out how much time is left of the game or as complex as working out angles of corner kicks and pitch marking distances. Outside of the match environment the opportunities to embed maths become even more numerous if you excuse the pun. Take for instance player and club stats; by getting pupils to study player stats they can calculate a huge number of interesting facts such as the most consistent goal scorer in a league or number of saves made by a specific goal keeper. This kind of maths is much more fun than when most of us were taught at school.
 

Football commentators and writers

Initially it appears harder to promote English skills in to schools’ football, however this is only true if you simply view football as a physical activity. Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker, Clarence Seedorf all need a good command of English to write and comment on football matches.

When looking to embed English it is important to consider the entire sport and the opportunities that this presents. For instance, getting pupils to watch a game and then write a match report is an easy and enjoyable way to get pupils engaged with English outside of the traditional classroom environment.

What is football

Is it a game or an entire industry? Is it a sport or a career, a TV show or a university degree course, a way of keeping fit or a way to relax in an armchair? Football is all these things and more. In the wider context it can be used to engage pupils with maths, English and other key curriculum areas, in history, geography, business studies even technology.

Students learn better when they are engaged in a subject and apply thinking and enquiry. Lessons are more interesting and learning more effective. The student can experience greater achievement and be spurred on to further improvement. So football can be more than just a fun way to get outside, with a little intervention and creativity it can have a big impact on functional skills with possibly even having a greater impact than the traditional maths and English course delivery models.
 

Career Opportunities

So we have looked at football as a way of embedding maths and English but what about potential career opportunities? Ask many school aged pupils what careers football opens up and the majority will undoubtedly talk to you about becoming a professional footballer. However, there are many other career paths open to pupils interested in football, not just those on the pitch.
 

More than the sum of the parts

A football coach/teacher can make a significant contribution to their overall grades, even lead the way towards a high performing school. Exceptional schools are characterised with having cross school strategies linked to student achievement with a strong motivation to learning. The football coach or teacher is ideally placed to nurture these attitudes and behaviours in their pupils but it takes great commitment and creativity to put together lessons that will inspire. And a strong obligation to their pupils, that they deserve a whole learning environment when it comes to football, not just the head and footwork drills.
 

Play your part!

The English Schools’ Football Association (ESFA) is the National Governing Body for Schools’ Football in England and now runs over 40 National Schools’ and Colleges’ Cup competitions for both boys and girls. With such a wide reach, the ESFA realises the importance of supporting its members in the improvement of wider skills and actively encourages schools to make a football match a school-wide event.

For more information about the ESFA please got to: http://www.esfa.co.uk/