Careers Brief - Finance & Law FdA
Overview
The Finance and Law Foundation degree can provide you with the knowledge and skills relevant to jobs across the financial and business sectors. There are a wide variety of opportunities with entry at all levels of academic qualification, as well as prospects for mobility and career change. However, the advantages of being an Honours graduate can be significant.
Key finance occupations include: Chartered accountant; Chartered certified accountant; Chartered management accountant; Chartered public finance accountant; retail banking and personal financial services; financial management; insurance and pensions; taxation; management consultancy; investment management.
Most finance careers require professional qualifications for career progression, usually taken through further study part-time whilst in relevant employment.
The employment rate is high from finance and business Honours degree courses, though some career opportunities are conditional on achieving a good Honours degree qualification.
Be aware that many of the multi-national companies start their recruitment programme for graduate trainees from the Autumn Term of your final year. If you plan to continue onto a one-year top-up honours degree or final year honours degree, you should be prepared for job-hunting before you start your final year.
In the legal sector, opportunities are substantially more limited. There are very few openings for non-graduates and the professionally unqualified.
Competition is keen to become a solicitor or barrister from good Honours graduates, for both the compulsory professional training courses (The Legal Practice Course or The Bar Vocational Course) and practical legal experience (training contract or pupillage). Training in professional law is very expensive with any financial support going to the most able. There is no guarantee that even if you do complete the hurdles to qualify, that you will be able to make a successful career as a lawyer.
Other related non-professional careers include: the Civil Service (eg The Lord Chancellor's Department, Inland Revenue, Customs and Immigration Service); tax adviser; personnel officer; insurance loss adjustor; Trading Standards; police; prison service; probation officer; patent agent; accountancy technician.
Go to the website links below to find out more.
Further Study
You will be able to apply for a top-up degree. Top-up degrees are designed for direct progression from Foundation degree to achieve an Ordinary or Honours degree, though entry may be selective.
Alternatively, you could transfer onto a related Honours degree. Entry point would depend on your grades, experience and overlap between courses but could be the final year.
Go to http://onlineservices.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses/ for information on the BA (Hons) Finance and Law Top-up course at Bournemouth University, designed as progression for this course.
Other institutions offering related Top-ups include:
Birmingham City University; Blackburn College; Bradford College; University of Huddersfield; London Metropolitan University; Manchester Metropolitan University; Southampton Solent University; University of Sunderland.
To search degree courses go to www.ucas.com/ (UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK). Use the university/college links for course details.
You will need to use UCAS to apply for courses. Contact the Course Tutor of your chosen course to find out your position, before you make your formal application.
Find out how much this will cost you. Where is the funding coming from? Go to the university/college website for information on costs and finance and to www.direct.gov.uk/uni/ for additional help with student support.
With a good Honours degree (First or 2.1), you may progress onto an appropriate higher level Masters and/or PhD doctorate. This could be to develop your area of study to a more in-depth practical and/or academic level or to gain other specialist training.
For information on postgraduate study and finance, go to the national online directory at www.prospects.ac.uk/study.htm .
Go to the main section Further Study in this Guide for more information and help.
Useful Links
www.prospects.ac.uk/starting_out.htm
Graduate Prospects - national careers website for HE students studying in the UK:
Drop down 'Job sectors' and click on 'Banking and finance' + 'Law'
Drop down 'Jobs' and click on 'What jobs would suit me?' to use Prospects Planner.
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/lawmagazine
Graduate Prospects Law - Explore a career with law
http://juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk/
The Law Society Junior Lawyers Division - click on side-heading 'A Career in law'
Check out 'career paths in law' for both professional and alternative legal careers
GTI Media publication for graduate jobs and careers advice - click on sub-heading 'careers advice'
GTI Media graduate careers publication - 'Advice by graduate career area' for 'Finance & banking' + 'Law & related work'
Inside Careers publication - graduate careers & jobs in 'Business & Management' + 'City & Finance'
http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/
Government Careers Advice service
http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/
Government Careers database and links to jobs nationally. Search by either clicking on side-heading 'Careers' and choose a category or type in job title.
www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u
Jobs4U Careers Database - click on sub-heading 'Job Families & Articles' or Quick Search by typing in job title
www.guidance-research.org/future-trends/banking/
Warwick Institute for Employment Research - Financial Services sector
Go to the Job Applications section of this Careers Guide for additional help and advice with making applications.
