ACCA used AI to source thousands of comments on career planning for people in the early stages of their finance career. Jamie Lyon shares some of the insights.
1. Personal networks matter
Professional relationships are crucial for career success. A strong external network built over a career lifetime opens new opportunities and helps people learn and develop. In a digitally driven world, being prepared to invest in the relationships that matter – and not just seeing networking as acquiring online connections – is essential.
Strong, personal relationships and contacts can often be a valuable differentiator.
2. Have an entrepreneurial mindset
As work transforms and careers transition, building an entrepreneurial mindset pays dividends for accountants. This isn’t necessarily about deciding to start your own business – increasingly, many finance roles now require more entrepreneurial- like skills. Whatever your chosen finance career path is, traits such as commercial acumen and innovative thinking will be increasingly prized.
3. Build early momentum
The early stages of careers are all about exploration, learning and setting a strong foundation for the future. The truth is that these early years can often build the basis for what happens much later. Being prepared to try different roles, industries and working locations can keep options open. Having ambitions that are based around short, medium and long-term goals also helps give your career a sense of direction.
4. Protect your wellbeing
A positive work-life balance is essential in protecting your mental and physical health. It’s important that wellbeing is never sacrificed for work reasons, and employees are more productive if their health is good. Work should support your life but not take over it. It’s also important to choose employers carefully, ones that respect your values and support your personal and professional growth. And sometimes it’s necessary to say ‘no’ – clearly defined work limits help prevent burnout and overwork.
5. Learn for life
Life-long learning and continuing education are essential as work and jobs transform in accountancy and finance, with new skills in demand. Workers can no longer rely solely on their employers to provide all the necessary training and learning opportunities. It’s vital that learning is increasingly self- directed, proactive and continually updated – whether through formal qualifications and micro- credentials or work-based learning initiatives. Stay curious.
6. Be resilient and adaptable
Longer term career success is built on determination and patience. It’s about working hard, learning from mistakes, and staying focused to achieve your career goals. As careers transition and new, different opportunities open to finance and accountancy professionals, having sufficient resilience is crucial – along with belief in your own abilities, knowing your own value and backing yourself. Career success is a lifetime journey.
7. Embrace AI and data
Technology will transform work in accountancy – for the better.
With the advancement of AI technologies in particular, roles will change and more routine transactional work will be automated. But new roles focused on value will continue to emerge, and many of these will require a much greater understanding of AI as well as data literacy.
Data-centric skills and tools must be a core part of the future accountant’s toolkit.
8. Be authentic
Confidence, integrity and discipline are key to navigating work challenges and building a fulfilling career. It’s important to maintain personal values and, above all else, to be authentic. Authenticity helps build meaningful connections and creates a solid foundation for success. But it’s also an invaluable trait to develop for later career stages. Authentic leaders are admired because they build trust, have an indelible impact on an organisation’s culture, and help their co-workers feel engaged.
9. Do the right thing
Doing the right thing as an accountant and complying with professional codes of conduct and ethics are vital. The workplace is increasingly complex – the risks that organisations face continue to grow in terms of technological advances and a more unpredictable business environment. This heightens the individual risks faced by finance professionals, but it also reinforces why professional accountants are so important at the core of future sustainable and ethical businesses.
10. Do what you love
It’s difficult to fake enjoying a job that you don’t. Those who have real ‘career success’ are the ones who love what they do. It’s about finding a purpose in life and ensuring that whatever career path you choose – it ultimately proves to be fulfilling. This also matters because growing life expectancy and dwindling financial security mean that career life spans are extending for many, and it’s not unreasonable to assume a career to last for 50 years or more now.
Find your cause.
The insights in this article were researched during the compilation of ACCA’s Global talent trends study. You can read all the findings of ACCA’s UK talent trends report here.
- Jamie Lyon is Global Head of Skills, Sectors & Technology at ACCA
