ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. Careers

    Access current vacancies and understand what it’s like to work here at ICAS.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Find a CA
  • Careers
  • Contact us
  • Become a CA
  • CA jobs
  • SCABA
  • ICAS Foundation
  1. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Manage my membership
    3. Benefits of membership
    4. Professional development
    5. Mentoring
    6. Member rewards
    7. CA jobs
    8. Area networks
    9. International communities
    10. Get involved
    11. CA Connect
    12. CA magazine
    13. Top Young CAs
    14. Career breaks
    15. The ICAS member app
    16. Newly admitted members 2021
    17. CA Wellbeing
  2. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
  3. CA Students
    1. Studying with ICAS
    2. Timetables and exams
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
  4. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office (ATO)
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices (ATO)
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  5. Thought leadership
    1. Technology
    2. Trust
    3. Talent
    4. Research
    5. CA Agenda podcast
    6. CA Agenda videos
    7. ICAS webinars
    8. CA Summit
  6. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Charities
    5. Coronavirus
    6. Corporate and financial reporting
    7. Business and governance
    8. Ethics
    9. Insolvency
    10. Pensions
    11. Practice
    12. Public sector
    13. Sustainability
    14. Tax
  7. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  8. Governance
    1. At a glance
    2. Charter, rules and regulations
    3. Council
    4. Boards and key committees
    5. Public reporting
    6. Executive team
    7. Diversity
    8. Member research
  9. Contact us
    1. ICAS technical helpdesk
    2. ICAS logo request
  10. Careers
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS

Newly qualified? What to consider when planning your future career

NQs planning for future career
  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By Lesley Stewart, CA Today

26 February 2019

NQ welcome offer:

  • A free online course pack
  • 50% discount off your first face-to-face or Online Classroom Live course booking
  • Free attendance to regular webinars

Accountants face career decisions at every stage of their professional lives and for newly qualified accountants figuring out the next steps can be daunting.

Congratulations! Your years of hard work, effort and dedication have paid off and you're now a newly qualified Chartered Accountant. Your CA qualification can take you anywhere and there's a world of opportunities available.

The decisions you make following the CA qualification will have implications for your future, and you might be asking - what comes next?

Many new accountants will have clear career ambitions. To perhaps land the coveted role of CFO, to make Partner at a particular firm, or move into the world of entrepreneurship and start-ups. The career options for newly chartered accountants are varied, but what isn't always clear is how to achieve your desired result.

We know that whatever route you choose you'll have a fantastic career - it just needs a bit of planning. Read on for advice and tips on how new CAs can achieve their career aspirations.

1. Think strategically about your Career Plan

Think strategically about your career goals. As a newly qualified accountant understanding the career paths available to you is crucial and will help you determine your career objectives. What area of accountancy is your skill set most suited to? What are you passionate about? Do you need to do more training for your chosen specialism?

Be open to opportunities and look to gain experience in your chosen area. Research the career paths of those you admire, build professional networks and work to understand what a business needs from its future leaders.

2. A mentor is a must for your Career Development

Having a mentor who can offer career advice is invaluable. Your mentor may be someone you know and admire - your manager or a more experienced colleague. Or your mentor could be an impartial expert in your chosen field. Your mentor will share their own experiences, may support you in bridging a specific skills gap or can advise you on decisions that could impact your future career.

ICAS truly understands the importance of career mentoring and we know that it is a vital activity for career success. With that in mind, we will launch a new career mentoring platform in the coming months, so that we are providing our members with the very best experience and service.

If you are seeking a mentor, learn how to get started with our guide to finding a mentor.

3. Take advantage of your introductory CPD offer

At every stage of your career, there are core skills areas that you need to develop and sharpen to truly create an outstanding professional profile. Using the ICAS Professional Development framework, you will be able to plan your route to personal success, choosing select training courses within each of our key skills competency areas to ensure a fully comprehensive and effective approach to undertaking Continuing Profession Development (CPD). When planning your CPD, don't underestimate the importance of developing your non-technical skills as you progress in your career. Sometimes it's your interpersonal expertise - or soft skills - that sets you apart.

ICAS works with selected CPD partners to deliver a range of high-quality CPD opportunities for our members. If you're looking to build your communication or interpersonal skills, we can help you. Our lead training partner BPP Professional Development has designed an exclusive introductory CPD welcome offer for newly qualified CAs, to help support you in developing your core professional skills. The welcome offer includes:

  • A free online course pack
  • 50% discount off your first face-to-face or Online Classroom Live course booking*
  • Free access to webinars

There's also a range of other learning and development opportunities and CPD focused content from ICAS to keep you motivated and inspired.


To redeem the Offer, ICAS members must call BPP on 0330 060 3303 or email LDicas@bpp.com to place the booking quoting the reference “PDICASNEW” and their ICAS membership number when making their booking for a face to face PD Course or for an Online Classroom Live PD Course.  To redeem the free online PD Course pack, members must visit the following website, log in to their ICAS account, and follow the Offer instructions on the website: https://www.icas.com/members/professional-development/nq-course-pack. This NQ offer is subject to BPP Terms and Conditions. You must be a newly-admitted ICAS member to take advantage of this offer. The offer ends on 1 February 2021.

For more information on Professional Development and the full offerings available, visit the Professional Development section:


ICAS Professional Development

Find out more


Young professional working at laptop

Here's what you actually need to achieve your goals

By Lesley Stewart, CA Today

29 March 2019

Mentoring

Learn about the benefits of mentoring and mentoring options for ICAS members.

2021-04-lendingcrowd 2021-04-lendingcrowd
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba
ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: