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At lunchtime I had the meeting with the recruitment consultants. It alsted twice as long as planned, because they decided to send in the MD as well as the tax specialist.
The options available to me appear to be:
- stay in practice, in the Big 4, and work up the promotion ladder. No interviews needed, moving location is easy, I know the job, posibilities of internal transfers.
- stay in practice, move to a mid tier firm. More experience of smaller (though not small; still FSTE 250) clients, sooner promotions, better work-life balance, broader scope roles including more project work & OMB issues.
- Move into industry in a financial reporting role. Keep some tax involvement & pick up on the accounting as well. Probably move into a senior role immediately or very soon.
- Move into industry, in a tax and treasury role. Learn about banking, hedging, gilts & bonds etc. in more detail.
- Move into industry, in a project finance / analysis role. Least tax content, but more mathematical / analytical.
Overall, staying in practice seems the least appealing to me. I'm not interested in smaller companies (ruling out the mid-tier firms) and staying where I am will restrict future options in a year or two, if I'm promoted, since the tax compliance role is so narrow. And that promotion isn't guaranteed.
So, it looks like I need to move into industry. The reporting roles would feel like a step back to me; it would involve working with auditors & preparing accounts, and I moved away from that when I went into tax.
Tax & Treasury appeals to the New!Shiny! part of me, since I don't want to feel as if I've wasted my experience in corporate tax. But then, so does project work & analysis; I get bored quickly & regularly getting new Things to pick over & model could be fun.
Regardless, I need to stay in the role into which I'm recruited for a year or two, look for an internal promotion / transfer (apparently normal practice) and then look to move on after that. The initial industry is unimportant, since it's getting me broader experience that's the main thing. Once I *have* 4-5 years' experience, then I can start looking for what I *really* want (read: send my CV to all the automotive companies' head offices & start a bidding war...)
So, I'll be in my late 30s before I get a job I want, enjoy, and that keeps my interest. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the other hand, I'll be going up against newly qualified people for these first round of positions, and I have 4 years' experience to offer. On the other other hand, if I had the 4 years' experience in industry already, my CV would be on its way to Toyota for a £48k project finance position :)
*rubs hands* Right. If it's going to take four years, I'd better get started.
The options available to me appear to be:
- stay in practice, in the Big 4, and work up the promotion ladder. No interviews needed, moving location is easy, I know the job, posibilities of internal transfers.
- stay in practice, move to a mid tier firm. More experience of smaller (though not small; still FSTE 250) clients, sooner promotions, better work-life balance, broader scope roles including more project work & OMB issues.
- Move into industry in a financial reporting role. Keep some tax involvement & pick up on the accounting as well. Probably move into a senior role immediately or very soon.
- Move into industry, in a tax and treasury role. Learn about banking, hedging, gilts & bonds etc. in more detail.
- Move into industry, in a project finance / analysis role. Least tax content, but more mathematical / analytical.
Overall, staying in practice seems the least appealing to me. I'm not interested in smaller companies (ruling out the mid-tier firms) and staying where I am will restrict future options in a year or two, if I'm promoted, since the tax compliance role is so narrow. And that promotion isn't guaranteed.
So, it looks like I need to move into industry. The reporting roles would feel like a step back to me; it would involve working with auditors & preparing accounts, and I moved away from that when I went into tax.
Tax & Treasury appeals to the New!Shiny! part of me, since I don't want to feel as if I've wasted my experience in corporate tax. But then, so does project work & analysis; I get bored quickly & regularly getting new Things to pick over & model could be fun.
Regardless, I need to stay in the role into which I'm recruited for a year or two, look for an internal promotion / transfer (apparently normal practice) and then look to move on after that. The initial industry is unimportant, since it's getting me broader experience that's the main thing. Once I *have* 4-5 years' experience, then I can start looking for what I *really* want (read: send my CV to all the automotive companies' head offices & start a bidding war...)
So, I'll be in my late 30s before I get a job I want, enjoy, and that keeps my interest. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the other hand, I'll be going up against newly qualified people for these first round of positions, and I have 4 years' experience to offer. On the other other hand, if I had the 4 years' experience in industry already, my CV would be on its way to Toyota for a £48k project finance position :)
*rubs hands* Right. If it's going to take four years, I'd better get started.
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