Motivation | Career changer
Second time lucky
Changing careers in my 40s has changed my life
Planning a career change? The success of these two trainee accountants – who started apprenticeships after many years working in different industries – may convince you to help make the switch…
Introducing Emma and Dave
In the summer of 2020, Dave Bennett was a couple of years away from his 40th birthday. The sound engineer had been doing a job he loved for 20 years, touring with bands such as Hayseed Dixie (an AC/DC bluegrass covers band) and putting on gigs at Manchester Academy and Liverpool’s O2 Academy. Yet, he was also feeling that he’d “reached a point where I didn’t want to be away so much or doing student club nights at 4am.”
But what next? Having spent much of his career working a sole trader, Dave knew a little bit about tax and business management. Maybe accountancy could work? There was one big stumbling-block: he had no financial qualifications. Surely, it was too late to retrain now. Or was it?
Today Dave is working as a semi-senior accountant at Carter Clear Accounting, having recently been promoted from trainee accountant. Since taking the plunge with an AAT Level 3 course four years ago, he joined the firm in 2022 and has now completed Level 4.
“I was apprehensive about starting AAT,” he admits. “But ever since school, I’ve always studied new things, such as electrician qualifications, which has helped my music career. It’s no different now.”
Sitting alongside Dave at Carter Clear’s offices in Warrington, Cheshire, is 35-year-old trainee accountant Emma McGarity. Just a few years ago, she was working as a cleaner, helping to make the desks at Carter Clear spotless. After speaking with boss Caroline Carter, Emma was taken on in an admin role, which triggered her interest in accountancy. Eventually, Emma was offered an AAT apprenticeship which is why today she can be found preparing financial statements for the firm. She starts Level 4 in September.
Nearly half of the apprenticeships started in the UK during 2022/23 were by people aged 25-or-over
Why today’s businesses want career-changers to work for them
At 35 and 42-years old respectively, it’s easy to think that Emma and Dave might be older than the average trainee. But today nearly half (48%) of the apprenticeships started in the UK during 2022/23 were by people aged 25-or-over (there’s no upper age limits on apprenticeships). Many of these are career-changers, just like Emma and Dave.
Businesses are also discovering that career-changer recruits can be hugely beneficial to their firms. Their experience from previous roles means there’s relatively little handholding: they’re easier to onboard and often hit the ground running from day one.
Many career-changers are also unaware that the skills they picked up in their old jobs are instantly transferable to a career in accountancy. Take Emma.
“It wasn’t until working as an apprentice at Carter Clear that I realised I had so many transferrable skills,” she says. “In my previous job as a cleaner, I was regularly processing invoices without realising it was a part of accountancy!”
Career-changers can also bring in contacts and fresh perspectives from their old jobs too.
“Many bands, musicians and freelancers have been inquisitive about why I’m now an accountant,” says Dave (who still works part-time as a sound engineer). “With Making Tax Digital coming in, many people in the music industry have struggled to find accountants who understand what they do. As a result, they’ve asked me to do their tax returns and I’ve brought them into Carter Clear as clients.”
Similarly, Emma has also introduced new retail clients to Carter Clear, from the days when she used to clean shops and stores.
It’s all about finding the balance and realising the skills learned through AAT, such as business awareness, will benefit you in the long-term.
Financial insecurity and family duties: the challenges of being a career-changer
Understandably, many people are reluctant about taking the leap into an entirely new career. One of the biggest sacrifices about starting an apprenticeship is that it will possibly involve taking a pay cut. Dave admits he earned less as a trainee accountant than he did as a sound engineer, but he expects this to change in the next few years.
“[Changing careers] wasn’t about looking at the short-term,” he says. “It was a long-term plan that should build towards something in the future.”
Those starting a new career in your 30s and 40s also find themselves juggling the pressures of studying (something they may not have done since school) with childcare/caring commitments. As Emma points out, “Being a newly single mum with three kids, I admittedly do struggle to find time to study.”
Her tips? “It’s all about finding the balance and realising the skills learned through AAT, such as business awareness, will benefit you in the long-term. To be honest, the biggest challenge for me as a career-changer is sitting still! I just want to get as many qualifications as I can.”Similarly, Emma has also introduced new retail clients to Carter Clear, from the days when she used to clean shops and stores.
TOP TIPS
Here’s the skills that bosses want…
Career-changers have plenty to offer accountancy firms – despite having never worked in the sector before. Here, Caroline Carter, director of Carter Clear tells us the three things that employers such as her looks for in career-changers…
1
Communication skills
One of the most important skills [that career-changers bring] is their ability to talk with clients: they often have strong people skills. As a cleaner, Emma has worked in the homes of people who come from a wide range of backgrounds, from ordinary families to those who are very wealthy. As such, she can chat with anyone. Since joining Carter Clear she has built relationships with our customers. Sometimes the client doesn’t want to speak with me anymore – they want to speak with Emma!
2
An awareness about other sectors
Many career-changers may not have been trained to pass exams or know how Excel works, but they do have life experience and an in-depth knowledge from their previous roles. Carter Clear has many clients in the music/entertainment industry. Thanks to Dave bringing in clients from his music career (see above), it’s opening the industry to us, something we hope to develop in the future.
3
Management skills
Because our career-changer apprentices have managed people in their previous roles, if we hired any new apprentices, I wouldn’t hesitate to let Dave or Emma manage them.
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