Henkeschip

I'm attending an event for accountants in Edinburgh tomorrow sponsored by CPA and the Melbourne Government.

Having done some research it would seem that it has the best opportunities (in terms of numbers) outwith Sydney.

Would that be correct?

Can anyone suggest other areas of Austrlia that might be worth a look for a qualified (CIMA) accountant?

Sue McK

Hi
if you go onto seek.com and on the search type in CIMA, it will bring up all the vacancies that will recruit CIMA,
hope this helps
sue

Henkeschip

Great site - I will do some research into Perth as a result.

Thanks

Hellboy663

The market is good so there are plenty of jobs available. However, please note that many employers prefer person to have local experience but this is not a big issue if one is coming from places like UK, Europe or US. It may only be an obstacle for people from 3rd world countries. You may be able to secure a job with CIMA but for long term career prospects you might want to consider Oz CA or CPA (CA is realtively better as its got a higher standing as well as it provides exemption from 1 subject out of the 5 in the CA program). Oz CPA also requires a person to have a bachelor's degree before applying for its program so those without one would also be better of applying for CA.

worzel

Lots of jobs for us beancounters (and just about every other profession) in Perth at the moment

Henkeschip

Thanks

I hadn't really banked on having to gain another qualification - how necessary do you think that is?

Outline plan would have been do some initial temp work to gain experience and knowledge of the market and then try for perm.

Moving to a country with a fantastic climate and then finding the nearest library doesn't really appeal

Nicholson_family

I attended an expo in London recently and met with people from CPA and CA. They told me that any ACCA or CIMA qualified from UK or similar with a decent CV and experience could land a job within 2 days (temp) or a couple of weeks (perm) in any of the major cities. There's obviously lots of jobs otherwise we wouldn't be near the top of the skilled professions list. The key issue is the lower salaries and bonuses. The impression I get is that the accountant is not likely to be the highest paid member of staff in Aus, whereas in the UK it is more the norm for the accountant to be highly ranked.

There are salary guides on agency sites.

Good luck!

JAJ

All probably true, but it's also true that obtaining the Australian CA designation will likely open additional doors in the medium to long term.

If you haven't got a university degree, it won't hurt to plan to obtain one (using credits for prior learning) again in the medium to long term.

Henkeschip

At the event last night I spoke to a chap from CPA.

He thought that there was no need to do another qualification unless you are after a job in smaller firms. If you are looking at public sector, blue chip or larger firms then CIMA is recognised and should be sufficient.

Nicholson_family

"CIMA is recognised and should be sufficient"

Yeah that's what I was told by CPA and CA. JAJ's right that it wouldn't do any harm and may give an advantage, but we are all studying IFRS so it's the same set of standards now.

The bridging exams give the knowledge on tax and law.

The mutual recognition topic keeps rolling too, so over time the CPA and CA may invite ACCAs and CIMAs in anyway.

gunners1

Im sure if you are ACCA/CIMA qualified and have been for years, with a good CV working for multi national companies this will be good enough to get you an interview with employers. However, your work experience and your performance at the interview will be key to getting a job.Just like every other country I have worked in!!

CharleneG

Until early last year, my sister spent 2 years working in a couple of finance jobs in Sydney.
She has no professional qualification, 9 years business analyst experience and a degree is in Business French and Italian. She landed a temp job within 3 days and was never out of work in the 2 years she was there.
Her advice to me (a qualified CIMA, 8 years post qual experience) was that so many employers are now understanding what a CIMA qualified accountant can do that any OZ qualification is just not necessary.

Sure, as JAJ says, it is a nice to have for the employers and I am sure some of their auditors would want to see at least one person in a department with a recognised OZ qualification but at the end of the day, we are on the MODL list because our skills are in demand, most employers are not going to get upset if we don't have the set of letters after our name that they are used to.

Charlene

JAJ

It's really down to the individual to decide. I just would like to point out that many employers know nothing about non-Australian qualifications and really are not all that interested in finding out.

More so in smaller companies and regional areas (where a lot of jobs are).

Just be aware that if you decide not to obtain an Australian qualification, you do need to accept that you may miss out on opportunities (as opposed to being unable to find work - that's a different issue).

gunners1

Hi All

I went to the Oz Expo in london yesterday and there were many companies looking for UK accountants, and have even forward my CV to some of them.

I spoke to a recruiters from Hays (actually it was the a director of the company) and he said after looking at my CV that he would be surprised if I didnt have 5/6 offers within 2 weeks of arriving in OZ( the demand is that great). In terms of salary he said that you should double you UK salary and that is what you should expect to earn in Aus.

There was not mention of having to have an Oz qualification ACCA/CIMA was acceptable. I would like to also add that why would an Oz company come to the UK looking for accountants and expect them to then have an Aus qualification. It just dosen't make sense!!

My personal opinion is that in a few years time an international qualification like ACCA/CIMA will start to be the norm as more Australian's will opt to do these qualification rather than the local CPA/CA as this qual is more portable and non-restrictive to a particular country.

Hope I was of some help, any comments are welcome.

Henkeschip

The "doubling salary" comment surpises me. From the web sites that I have been looking at salaries would seem pretty similar. I suppose it depends on your level and specialism.

At the Edinburgh event I was at the folk from Hays were saying similar things about the numbers of jobs and I totally agree with the earlier comment on experience and interview performance.

Starting with the process to get my skills assessed this week. Hopefully CIMA dont't take an age getting the info to me.