Find the right job for you

More than 3,200 members, affiliates and students took advantage of ACCA UK’s recent Virtual Careers Fair, which provided introductions between attendees seeking a graduate scheme, trainee opportunities or full-time employment, and a network of more than 20 premium employers looking for new talent. In total, 3,674 jobs were viewed and 783 applications made during the event.

In response to the challenges posed to financial professionals and businesses by Covid-19, ACCA UK has created a range of content and resources to help deal with its impact and plan for recovery. The Virtual Careers Fair brought these together.

Begin the journey

In the ‘Begin your ACCA journey’ section, participants took part in live chats with ACCA professionals, watched member videos from across the world and found out about the full range of qualifications available.

A free career review was on offer in the ‘Careers advice’ section, along with information on additional certification and learning outcomes.

Attendees could also access videos of experts providing top tips for writing CVs and cover letters, and developing interview skills, as well as browsing ACCA internship jobs in various locations around the world.

Resources on CPD, learning and wellbeing during the pandemic formed part of the ‘Covid-19 support’ section, which proved popular with both students and members in practice and business.

Support for students

In ‘Student resources’, recruiters explored what the role of the professional accountant might look like in the future with increasing digitalisation, automation and use of artificial intelligence.

The benefits of working in a small and medium-sized practice (SMP) were covered in a section that included past webinars and articles. SMP cooperation with universities was also highlighted.

Meanwhile, in three employer halls, companies including Morgan Stanley, Standard Life and B&Q advertised live vacancies and ran interactive booths giving attendees the chance to learn more about individual organisations and what they could offer.

Virtual revelation

For some, like Debbie Talbot from accountancy practice Albert Goodman, the event on 17 September may have been their first experience of a virtual careers fair.

‘It was very strange to be looking at an event like the ones I would normally attend, but to be on virtual chats with people from my dining room,’ she says.

‘A lot of attendees were interested in what trainee and other roles we had. It was great to have the facility to speak to people in real time and follow up on queries without the time lag of email.’

Talbot says the event has so far generated a dozen or so applications and many more emails. ‘The virtual event allowed us to speak to everyone around the world, rather than just local to the careers fairs we may have attended, which hopefully will attract talent from further afield,’ she says.

For Sara Harrison, recruitment manager at whisky maker Edrington, it was ‘great to have the opportunity to showcase not just our vacancies but our organisation, finance careers, personal experiences of our colleagues and global opportunities.

‘The virtual chat rooms allowed for a direct conversation with the members, and hopefully they felt they had the opportunity to connect directly to Edrington employees, which is not always possible.’

Networking opportunity

The careers fair also enabled council members and panel members to speak with ACCA members seeking help.

For example, Claire Jenkins, chair of ACCA’s Public Sector Network, gave lots of advice and support to a member looking for information about becoming a forensic accountant; they’ve also connected on email and LinkedIn to discuss future support.

In addition, ACCA will be checking in with attendees shortly to see how they have progressed in their journey towards their next role.