1. Get Your CPA
The first thing you should do is get your CPA. Gaining this credential is one of the single best ways to advance your career quickly. Are you wondering why? It’s because gaining your CPA credential is a very complicated process and it’s a widely recognized recognition. Along with this, it will showcase to respective employers that you have taken the necessary steps to be seen as the best in your field. This can boost your value to prospective employers and even clients.
2. Improve Your Networking
Networking is often an after-thought among accountants. The fact is, you will gain a lot from focusing on it. If you’ve ever heard the saying, “it’s not what you know, but who you know” then you are well aware of how important it is. When it comes to advancing your accounting career, getting the right contacts can make or break your efforts. By making important contacts early on, you will be able to not only get specific career advice from professionals, but you will also be able to get inside information when a position opens up or when someone needs something done. This will give you opportunities to advance that you wouldn’t otherwise have available.
3. Gain More Expertise
If you want to give yourself the best chance to succeed, you should be making a concerted effort to gain as much experience as you can in a wide range of specialties and areas. This will allow you to expand the branches from which you could take as you move forward in your career. While you may be doing a bookkeeper’s job right now, you want to gain a lot of experience and expertise in various areas that some of the larger firms would seek. This can include handling audits, reports, and even taxation.
4. Gain More Soft Skills
Another big thing that a lot of accountants don’t take seriously is the importance of soft skills. While technical skills and competence is certainly important and it does take priority, you want to ensure that you are developing and honing your soft skills. Soft skills include interpersonal skills that will enable you to fit in seamlessly with different groups or teams. You want to develop these skills to make yourself a much more attractive candidate or employee to a prospective employer.
5. Find Someone To Mentor You
If you are looking to advance your career, getting a mentor is a must. Find someone that you will be able to lean on when you are at critical points in your career. Having someone that you can speak with about things you are dealing with or decisions you have to make can help lead you down the right path. It doesn’t have to be a single person, but you do someone who has experience with the career path that you are looking to go down.
6. Stay Updated On Technology
While getting your CPA is certainly a good first step, you will need to remain as updated as possible on the latest advancements in technology. You want to stay abreast of the latest developments in your area of work because it can be critical to function. By doing this along with gaining new skills, you should be able to make yourself as competitive as ever as a candidate.
7. Don’t Get Trapped In a Box
While some things are best done the way they are intended, that doesn’t mean everything is. If you want to advance in accounting, you may need to question how things are being done. This can help you figure out ways to improve or optimize processes. Bringing your unique solutions to the table is a great way to identify yourself as a valuable contributor to your company.
8. Think Different
You want to begin to think differently. Everyone who is an accountant is in business for themselves. Because of this, it is time to start acting like it. You want to think like an entrepreneur which will help you advance yourself in the field tremendously. You need to begin focusing on branding, servicing, and growing. The sooner you begin thinking like an entrepreneur, the sooner you will be able to get your clients and build a business for yourself.
9. Manage Your Career
If you are looking to move up in the accounting world, you will need to manage your career properly to get where you want to go. Look at yourself and figure out what roles suit you the best. Contact www.tickjobs.co.uk/accounting-financial-and-insurance for advice.
10. Just Ask
A lot of accountants end up getting stuck in a position they don’t like. Sometimes, all it takes is asking or letting it be known that you want to move up. If you don’t get the promotion you are seeking, you don’t get it. If you do, you will be thankful you made your pitch. Constantly track things you are doing that is contributing to the growth of the company to showcase your value to your respective employer. This should help you get the promotion you desire.