I'm Polish and in a relationship with New Zealander/British man. We've been living in Poland together for couple of years but now he's planning to start his phd studies in London so I'm coming with him. In Poland I work as a junior accountant in a big outsource accounting company for Eastern Europe - http://www.tpa-horwath.com/en. Before this job, I worked in bookkeeping practice and also had other jobs as office worker/customer service not related to accounting. All together I have 3 years accounting experience and 5 years experience in different fields. I'm 28 and have a bachelor degree in Finance and Accounting from Warsaw University (best university in Poland). Generally, here in Poland I have a good career prospect and I would prefer to stay here but my situation is how it is and in October I'm moving to London. I'm a bit scared of it, especially when I think about having an interview in english (I don't think my english is very good) ... Anyway, my questions are:
Do British employers recognize non british qualifications - does my bachelor degree from Poland mean anything in Britain?
I think to start study towards british qualifications, thinking about ACCA at the moment. My degree would give me an exemption from first three or four exams. Do you think it is a good idea for me to start ACCA or should I start with something more basic like AAT?
Do I have any chance to get a job in London without previous work experiance in Britain? How do british employers look at people like me? I don't want to start everything from the beggining as I'm not 21 anymore and would like to have a chance for a good accounting related job. Do I have any chances to compete with British people?
What would be your advice for me? I don't even know if I should sending my cv before I get some experiance and education in London.
Any answers to this post would be much appreciated. Maybe some people on this forum were once in similiar situation.
(And I'm very sorry for all of the mistakes I could have made)
don't worry, there were no major spelling or gramatical issues in your post.
You actually have a distinct advantage for some jobs over British people.
There are a lot of Polish businesses in the UK who find it difficult to stay within the tax regulations due to language difficulties.
There are pockets of Polish communities all over the UK including all of the major cities plus places like Stafford and Boston.
Mid sized firms in areas where there are polish businesses would be interested in someone able to speak both languages. Also there would be credit control roles again utilising your mix of finance background and ability to speak both languages.
I will say though that things are very difficult in the UK with many people from other countries actually leaving these shores to return home.
It will very much be your language skills over your financial background that finds you work as then are a lot of unemployed accountants and bookkeepers in the UK.
Once you find work or even in order to find work ACCA may be the better option for you as it's a higher qualification and to say that you are self funding working towards that combined with your language skills may open doors for you.
The above said, there is nothing wrong with AAT but as you already have a degree and a finance background you may find it unsuitable for your requirements in the long term.
Good luck with finding a suitable role and I look forwards to chatting with you on the site in the coming month,
kindest regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
You seem to have enough qualifications to get you started here, especially as you have some experience too. But obviously you would improve your prospects by undertaking further study: counting money is the same everywhere, but you must also learn about English taxation and law. Don't forget, however, that the Anglo Saxon approach to speaking foreign languages is simply to shout louder, so if you come here with fluent Polish (and perhaps some other languages?) you will have a valuable skill for any UK firm that needs to deal with Poland directly. (I used to work for a London bank where the foreign secretaries earned more than I did simply because of their linguistic ability.)
But often it's not what you know that's important, but whom you know.
I note that TPA Horwath has offices all over East Europe, but none in UK. I bet a zloty to a grosz that they do have contacts here, however. So why not speak to your boss in Poland to see if he can think of anyone you could contact. And if he doesn't know anyone then look around the city you live in and try to find some British firms - or Polish companies dealing with Britain. Ask them if they could use your help in England.
Good luck.
Iain
-- Edited by ilsm on Sunday 26th of May 2013 03:00:05 PM
