This week in Career Bites, we heard from Cara Hyde and her journey so far in the field of accounting and finance. Cara began as a graduate from the University of Nottingham with a BSc in Economics and soon began her career as an audit trainee at BDO LLP, where she earned her ACA qualification. Following this, Cara worked as a Finance Manager at Carat and Albion Capital LLP for a total of 5 years before taking on the role of Finance Business Partner at Solidatus. Now, she is the Financial Controller at Proxymity, working towards her goal of becoming Head of Finance in the near future. Over Cara’s 14-year journey, she has gained much experience in the field, sharing with us the highlights of this profession.

To begin with, although Cara works from 8.30 to 5, she explained how the hours are really flexible with multiple breaks included throughout the day. The starting salary in this field is around £30,000, but this can rapidly increase with years of knowledge and experience – the role of Financial Director which Cara is pursuing, pays around £80-90,000 each year.

So you might now be wondering what Cara’s day-to-day work looks like – well it involves two main things: looking back at and reporting financial transactions that have taken place, and presenting these monthly accounts to key persons in the workplace; or planning ahead, assessing budgets and financial data to provide insights and analysis for Proxymity.

Now, after having heard Cara’s journey, gaining insight into the work life, and most importantly, learning what the pay is like, you may be questioning yourself how you can get into a career like this? Well, Cara explained how there are two main ways in which you can start out: joining an Accounting/Professional Services firm; or working in Business in Industry. Joining an accounting firm involves a 3-year qualification which is encouraged and funded (after university) or a 4-year apprenticeship. Otherwise, you could choose to start out with a business (like a bank) which may offer you an accounting qualification. Whichever path you take, both are open to school leavers and graduates.

By Aryan, 11 Throwley