A guide to writing your newly qualified ACA CV
Congratulations! Following your ACA qualification, you may be considering a new career in banking, commerce & industry or even progression in practice - creating a professional newly qualified ACA CV is the first step to success.
The newly qualified ACA job market is fiercely competitive, differentiating yourself from your peers is essential to access the best positions. With over 25 years experience helping candidates like you, our guide will ensure you stand the best chance of securing interviews.
Your CV is a representation of you. The information must be honest whilst selling your skills to prospective employers. You may need to tailor your CV to specific applications; however a good CV should demonstrate your capability, knowledge and experience without too much waffle!
Download the complete guide to writing your first professional ACA CV |
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Commerce & Industry** DEFAULT postresults.contenttypelabel - en-GB **
Market Insight Reports
28/08/19
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Part Qualified & Transactional The beginning of this year was busier than usual, with consistent job flow and healthy activity - junior professionals are less worried about moving roles with Brexit on the horizon. New budgets are set at the beginning of the year, and companies were certainly hiring. Newly Qualified 2019 got off to a subdued start, it’s often a challenging period where clients are busy with month/quarter/year end, and recruitment isn’t the priority. In addition to this, the political landscape made employers much more considered about their hiring strategy and we saw 17% less permanent roles being registered. In saying this, as the year has progressed, the volume of roles has increased and the market is buoyant. Our main challenge is that the market is in short supply of candidates. Reasons for this are that Q1 is a busy season for ACAs in practice so they do not have the time to interview, and also many permanent candidates are reluctant to move due to economic uncertainty. Qualified Interim The qualified and interim market enjoyed a successful 2018, with a record Q2 for the business. Albeit a slow start to 2019, the market gained some momentum after January. These peaks and troughs perhaps mirror the political uncertainty around how we are to leave the EU. Despite the turbulent environment, our data points towards a busy recruitment market where we are seeing increases in the number of permanent and interim roles being registered. Considering the UK’s high employment rate and the demand for high calibre individuals, there is an emphasis on engaging with passive candidates in new and innovative ways. INSIGHT: Will IR35 affect your business? Employees in the United Kingdom can be categorised as full-time, part-time, casual, freelance and contract workers, with the self-employed bracket now making up 15% of the entire working population. The number of self-employed workers jumped from 3.3 million in 2001 to 4.8 million in 2017, with a corresponding fall in the unemployment rate showing the overall boost in jobs growth from the rise in self-employment. Download the full Commerce & Industry 2019 Market Insight Report » View salaries and commentaries in other UK regions and Ireland »
by
Pres Pillai

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Commerce & Industry** DEFAULT postresults.contenttypelabel - en-GB **
Market Insight Reports
20/08/18
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View the newly qualified market salaries within London's commerce and industry sector. Download the full London Commerce & Industry 2018 Market Insight Report here » NEWLY QUALIFIED Job title Salary range Day rate Newly Qualified | ACA/ACCA/CIMA £45,000 - £55,000 £250 - £275 1 year PQE £50,000 - £55,000 £275 - £300 2 years PQE £55,000 - £60,000 £300 - £325 View London salaries in other sectors within commerce & industry »
by
Charlie Buddery

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Commerce & Industry** DEFAULT postresults.contenttypelabel - en-GB **
Career Advice
01/11/17
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Sugar, Spice and Thai Fragrant Rice... that’s what careers in ABF are made of! ‘Woohoo! No more exams!’ was my first thought once I’d finally qualified as a management accountant. Shortly followed by ‘what next?’. Outside the structure of a grad scheme - where you’re deliberately moved through different roles to meet CIMA’s experience requirements - I realised there was no ‘right’ answer to that. More revelations followed after, such as being qualified may get you an interview, but it’s the type of experience you can demonstrate that actually gets you the role - and the more breadth and depth the better. I joined ABF’s grocery group of businesses as a Commercial Finance Analyst for The Silver Spoon Company eighteen months after qualifying. When I joined the usual new company things happened: Everyone made me feel welcome, I started to get to grips with the role and there was plenty of exciting stuff to do. So far so good! Then in my second week something strange and different happened, I was reviewing a promotion for sign off with my manager and she asked me ‘What do you think? Would you sign it off?’, I was slightly surprised, it was only my second week, how would I know if it was a good idea or not? Clearly I didn’t, but that isn’t the point. I could have an opinion and that opinion was valued regardless of how long I’d been there. Working within ABF’s structure where every business has its own board means even as a newly qualified analyst your opinions are often stress-tested by the senior stakeholders you get exposure to, allowing you to quickly improve their quality and delivery. After two years of business partnering the sales and marketing teams, being involved in the launch of new products, winning and losing big contracts with the big four retailers and landing a lot of new listings I began to think about my next step. My Finance Director strongly advised that I looked for a role with a different experience set from the commercial roles I’d been in to develop my range of finance experience (he was right. Always take the advice from people who know more than you). Being in ABF meant I was able to apply internally for other vacancies around Grocery Group and after a few months, (and as I later found out following the intervention of my FD) I was given an opportunity as a Finance Manager at Westmill Foods. There I looked after a broad team and remit, including purchase ledger, cash management, treasury, master data and central overheads. That turned out to be one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced at work: getting my head around so many different parts of finance, learning a new business, whilst also managing my own team. Like Silver Spoon, the culture at Westmill was very supportive. It’s like you’re working for a small family business, even though really it’s a massive FTSE100 company. That made all the difference in giving me the time and confidence to adapt to my new role. Two years ago I was asked if I was interested in the newly created Commercial Finance Manager role at Westmill, which is the role I’m in today. It’s allowed me to build on everything I’ve learnt in my two previous ABF roles and continue my development ahead of the next challenge. If you would like to learn more about ABF and our career opportunities, please visit the microsite here Guest author: Luke Butcher - Commercial Finance Manager of Westmill Foods
by
Becky Hughes
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