Time frame for applying jobs

1

1lum1nat1

Active Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Bloemfontein
Hi all

I need some advice.

I'm completing my SAICA articles end of this year, but I'm really not sure when to start applying for openings, or to contact a recruitment agency. When would be the ideal time? I don't want to leave it to late or apply to early only to be forgotten.

I currently Live in Bloemfontein but would ideally like to move to the West rand, but of course not limited to this area. Beggars can't be choosers and I would move to where my wife and I can find proper jobs.

My second worry. My wife currently works for a large mobile company in their customer service department and would probably be able to get a transfer to their Randburg office. She has a B Com Law degree and she's completing her LLB this year, she already finished her articles, but still need to write board exams. I've got a B Com Acc degree and I'm completing my B Com honors and the operational level of CIMA this year. What kind of salaries can one expect with our experience?

Any and all info would be much appreciated.
 
If you are a white male, start applying earlier rather than later. Allow at least a few months
 
1lum1nat1 said:
Hi all

I need some advice.

I'm completing my SAICA articles end of this year, but I'm really not sure when to start applying for openings, or to contact a recruitment agency. When would be the ideal time? I don't want to leave it to late or apply to early only to be forgotten.

I currently Live in Bloemfontein but would ideally like to move to the West rand, but of course not limited to this area. Beggars can't be choosers and I would move to where my wife and I can find proper jobs.

My second worry. My wife currently works for a large mobile company in their customer service department and would probably be able to get a transfer to their Randburg office. She has a B Com Law degree and she's completing her LLB this year, she already finished her articles, but still need to write board exams. I've got a B Com Acc degree and I'm completing my B Com honors and the operational level of CIMA this year. What kind of salaries can one expect with our experience?

Any and all info would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

SAICA article clerks with no experience requiring companies to enable them to gain the relevent experience as of what I have seen range from R6000 -R10 000 .This is not a figure that you cannot increase but with what I understand you do not have experience. Secondly, SAICA and CIMA are two different things so I am a little confused as to what you are doing.SAICA relates to graduates/accounting students who have the relevent NQF level,completed an honours or relevent CTA(bridge year) and now wish to apply to a registered company for the 3 year boards of level 1 2 and 3,requiring a registered auditing firm to sign off for the end to gain a CA(SA) title.

CIMA relates specifically to cost and management accounting and is a completely seperate board exam focusing more on the standard costing,and finance roles within a company...Cost analysis/Ratio analysis/Budgeting forecasts etc.

You will start at the same general monthly salary of R6000 -R10 000 but the end goals and end salaries for top end are vastly different(hope I havnt repeated something you already knew,if I did I didnt receive that much info from you and all of this is not cast in concrete)

To mention your lovely wife(no sarcasm).It would depend on experience and where she is aiming herself.Bcom Law with articles completed is a plus,would be great if boards were complete.

If the choice was mine,Id do my boards from a proper legal company such that of bowman and Gilfillan,or Norton rose.But thats just me. Maths would say she has 2 years experience within the law field(hopefully) so around R12 000- R18 000 with possible increase upon completion of board exam.

You generally only get the big numbers Ie R20 000 and above monthly salary when 3 yrs of relevant experience is gained.

For anyone that responds and for you this info is relatively speculative, I am not a recruitment agent,but I would have your wife ask for the transfer and I would be looking for a Job right now.

A wise person told me a while back that
'finding a job ...IS YOUR JOB'
and that its not your first job that matters...its your second.

Wishing you luck going forward
 
Thanks Greg, appreciate the reply.

I'm completing my SAICA articles this year, so this is my 3rd year doing articles. I'm not going the full CA(SA) route, I require one final subject for my honors so that our firm can sign my articles off. I did the articles as it's a fundamental part of any career in finance. I'm aware of the differences between CIMa and SAICA. I'm doing CIMA because I want to be part of the decision making, not reporting on historic events.

Edit: My wife did her articles with one of the biggest law firms in Bloem, she does not want to stay in practice, so be it debt collection for a large company, company secretary etc. anything in a commercial environment would be perfect, but like I said, we will do the work, were not picky.
 
Last edited:
1lum1nat1 said:
Thanks Greg, appreciate the reply.

I'm completing my SAICA articles this year, so this is my 3rd year doing articles. I'm not going the full CA(SA) route, I require one final subject for my honors so that our firm can sign my articles off. I did the articles as it's a fundamental part of any career in finance. I'm aware of the differences between CIMa and SAICA. I'm doing CIMA because I want to be part of the decision making, not reporting on historic events.

Edit: My wife did her articles with one of the biggest law firms in Bloem, she does not want to stay in practice, so be it debt collection for a large company, company secretary etc. anything in a commercial environment would be perfect, but like I said, we will do the work, were not picky.
Click to expand...

From what ive read, in SA a CA can easily become a decision maker. i read 2 years back that 1/4 of CEO's in the top listed JSE companies were CA's. its a VERY respected title. i dont know how well CIMA is in SA, but they can rake in the money in England. this is just from what ive read.
 
HeftyCrab said:
From what ive read, in SA a CA can easily become a decision maker. i read 2 years back that 1/4 of CEO's in the top listed JSE companies were CA's. its a VERY respected title. i dont know how well CIMA is in SA, but they can rake in the money in England. this is just from what ive read.
Click to expand...

I don't really want to go in to the semantics too much, to be a CA is probably the best professional qualification for any one considering a career in finance, especially in SA. Its a long and tedious road to success.

I made certain choices that made it very difficult for me to obtain this qualification, however it's not the alpha and omega of everything, I'm moving on. I've always loved management accounting and it was the natural choice for me to put me one step ahead of the next applicant. CIMA is becoming more popular in SA, but work is limited to the larger centres.
 
1lum1nat1 said:
Thanks Greg, appreciate the reply.

I'm completing my SAICA articles this year, so this is my 3rd year doing articles. I'm not going the full CA(SA) route, I require one final subject for my honors so that our firm can sign my articles off. I did the articles as it's a fundamental part of any career in finance. I'm aware of the differences between CIMa and SAICA. I'm doing CIMA because I want to be part of the decision making, not reporting on historic events.

Edit: My wife did her articles with one of the biggest law firms in Bloem, she does not want to stay in practice, so be it debt collection for a large company, company secretary etc. anything in a commercial environment would be perfect, but like I said, we will do the work, were not picky.
Click to expand...

Doing my CFP certification and I cannot agree with you more about the be all and end all.People put so much emphasis on the CA(SA) they dont realise that that does not make you a good leader,decision maker or role model.But alas.Wish you luck with the boards.You should be able to get substantially more than the R10 000 I used.Reason you are far further in your articles,I would be looking at around R15 000 mark if I was you.

I understand your girlfriends decision but let me just say one thing Im sure she knows(will make me feel better).
By leaving her profession she will never quite have the edge that people who studied in what shes looking to move into will have. Ie Accountant can theoretically be an engineer or in that profession but its not a wise decision.

But thats my 2 cents and I am sticking to it for what its worth.

Wish you luck m8.
 
Greg I don't think you quite understand what I mean. I'm completing my articles, I dont want to leave the firm now for greener pastures to earn slightly more. I want to know when should I apply for work if I want to start in Jan 2013. If I were to stay on as an audit superviser i can earn between 18-22k (from what I've seen) and slightly more in the private sector.

My wife don't want to leave her profession altogether and become a dentist's assistant, she does'nt want to work as a lawyer in a firm, going to court etc, but she still want to use her legal educarion/expertise in a business environment.
 
1lum1nat1 said:
I don't really want to go in to the semantics too much, to be a CA is probably the best professional qualification for any one considering a career in finance, especially in SA. Its a long and tedious road to success.

I made certain choices that made it very difficult for me to obtain this qualification, however it's not the alpha and omega of everything, I'm moving on. I've always loved management accounting and it was the natural choice for me to put me one step ahead of the next applicant. CIMA is becoming more popular in SA, but work is limited to the larger centres.
Click to expand...

No of course.its not the be all and end all. and CIMA is no slouch either.from what ive Done/seen, id maby like to go that route myself.
 
Ive heard that you should apply for positions after the national budget is released. this way companies will know how they will be effected and plan accordingly. (like get training subsidised,etc).dont know if its true.
 
1lum1nat1 said:
Greg I don't think you quite understand what I mean. I'm completing my articles, I dont want to leave the firm now for greener pastures to earn slightly more. I want to know when should I apply for work if I want to start in Jan 2013. If I were to stay on as an audit superviser i can earn between 18-22k (from what I've seen) and slightly more in the private sector.

My wife don't want to leave her profession altogether and become a dentist's assistant, she does'nt want to work as a lawyer in a firm, going to court etc, but she still want to use her legal educarion/expertise in a business environment.
Click to expand...

Companies list vacancies at recruitment agencies or place advertisements only once the vacancy occurs, i.e. somebody resigns or gets promoted. So you cannot say you want a job in Jan 2013 and ask when do I apply!? Perhaps I'm missing something?

The kind of positions you are aiming for will not remain vacant for a long period, (difficult to cope without a management accountant or finance manager for more than 1 or 2 months...) so if you can only start in Jan 2013 you should apply for positions which are advertised in Nov/Dec.
You can list your CV with a recruitment agency, but my experience is that if you cannot fill a position they currently have on their books, your CV "might" go into a database that is checked now & then if they do not get a "fresh" applicant with the next vacancy.

Probably sounds negative but Management accountants/Cost accountants are a dime a dozen and most places will require some experience in ERP systems,e.g. SAP which I guess you don't have?
In the Eastern Cape, where we generally earn far less than our Northern counterparts, with your qualification I would think anything less than R30k CTC per month is a slap in the face.

My 2cents (audited btw)
 
Another thought, most people will try and see out the calendar/financial year to get their bonuses/incentives. (Companies generally will only pay out 13th cheques if you are still there in December.)
So you might find more vacancies in January...
 
I'd aim for 2-3 months before starting date. 1st month & a half will prob be a bit thin but its better to be early rather than late imo.

Regarding the 2nd part of your question (salary): Bit difficult with such patchy info, but I reckon about 20k.
 
Thanks Yamana. I have only applied once for a job and that was almost three years ago for my articles, so I can't say I'm a seasoned campaigner. I don't know whether or not you should contact a few recruitment agencies before hand or just apply for specific jobs as they become available. I phoned Hire Resolve earlier today to get an agent's opinion and he said I should wait till mid September to contact a recruitment agency, for them to line up a few interviews in Nov and appointments to be done in Des.

I don't know why, but this feels very late, I mean at the end of Des I'm out of a job. Salary wise, I'd be very happy with 30k a month.

EDIT: Havoc, 20k for whom? Me or my wife?

Another thing, anybody willing to have a look at my CV for me? Preferably someone that has some experience in this field or in my line of work.
 
Last edited:
20k for you. The main issue is that you don't have CA & the experience you've got is fairly audit specific. Unfortunately that area you've picked (fin management) has quite a bit of competition in it. The lower end is flooded by people who studied fin management at uni but aren't CAs and the top end is dominated by CAs with experience.

1lum1nat1 said:
Salary wise, I'd be very happy with 30k a month.
Click to expand...
30k is already into fully qualified CA territory. Not sure how well CIMA does salary wise, but I doubt its anywhere near that especially on operational level. Bit of experience and some CIMA progress should get you there reasonably fast though.

I'm guessing you're at a small auditing firm by the sounds of it?

So finishing CA isn't possible at all?

Regarding the CV: I'll have a look at it if you like. Writing CVs isn't my strong suite though, so zero promises on any useful feedback. ;)

If I were you I'd start saving like crazy right now so that you're got a couple of months cash to burn if the job thing takes longer than expected. I suppose the wife's salary will help though while you are searching.
 
Well, I really would'nt say my experience is limited to auditing alone. Thats probably only 4 months' work during the year, at most. I guess being at a smaller firm does have it's advantages.

TBH, doing CTA and board exams requires all your attention and if your not 110% into it you won't make it. I'm not interested in auditing and I don't want to stay a day longer than I have to in practice. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life and the most obvious reason why most people encourage one to do the CA route is for monetary reasons (although it's probably a good one), I don't have a burning sensation to become one, so I'll only waste my time and money.

I don't think money will be a mayor issue to tide us over for 2-3 months, if push comes to shove, but I'd ideally like to move to GP during Des.

Your not some scaly guy that I need to be afraid of, are you? If not, pm me your email addy, I'll only leave out one or two details, don't want you to come visit me in the middle of night :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X