Meet Your Future: Talk Money Week
Welcome back to another Meet Your Future article here on GMACS. Each of these articles is all about helping you to get to grips with a career or sector you might not have considered before. We’ll include resources, tips, and careers tasks that you can think about. It’s all been designed to give you the best introduction to a part of the economy that you might be interested in!
In this article, we’re covering Talk Money Week and all things to do with the finance, business, and accounting sectors. This is a really varied set of careers and jobs, so there’s lots of different things for you to explore and think about. Check out some of the resources below, and make sure to give a couple of the careers tasks a try!
Cost of living support
Talk Money Week is also about making sure that we all have a good sense of how to talk about money and how to manage our own finances. Money management and financial planning are important career skills for some – but a vital life skill for all.
This is especially true at the moment, with the economy in trouble and the cost of living crisis never far from the front pages. You might be struggling financially at the moment, or you might just be worried about what impact the crisis could have on you.
Remember that you’re not alone – everyone is going through this together. For resources, advice and help, check out the GMACS blog on the cost of living crisis. It’s got lots of things specifically aimed at young people that could help you.
Check out some data on the finance and business sector
To help you get a sense of what the accounting, finance and law sector is all about, we’ve created an infographic with all the headline stats you need. For example, did you know that 23% of the workforce in Greater Manchester are working in this part of the economy? Or that there are over 9,000 employers in GM in the sector?
Check out the infographic for details on some of the biggest companies you could work for, as well as some of the careers that are in demand right now. This could help you plan for your future – if you start thinking now about the kinds of jobs that companies need, it’ll set you up for a great career.
Careers Task: Look at the qualifications and types of entry level roles on the infographic. Are any of these in your plans at the moment? If not – have a think about whether you might enjoy that kind of role or training. Also, read about the future trends in the sector. Do these sound like things you could be a part of?
Explore the GMACS sector page
As well as the infographic, you can explore the sector page for the business, financial and professional services sector on GMACS. On this page, we’ve got some general info about the sector as well as some examples of the popular jobs in the sector that you might want to go into. This includes roles like management accountant, finance officer, and insurance broker.
Careers Task: Read about the popular jobs in the business and finance sector. Do any of them match up with careers you’ve thought about in the past? Why do you think you might enjoy them? What parts of the job might you enjoy less? Thinking about things like this can help you figure out what you might want to do in the future – so it’s valuable time spent now.
Watch some video interviews with real people working in the sector
We’ve produced some videos with Digital Advantage where we interview real people working in the financial and business sectors. Watch them below – and don’t forget to check out the video careers tasks they set for you. These can really give you a sense of what it might be like to work with them and what their jobs are all about.
First, meet Avril, an accounts director at Deloitte. In this video, she talks about her typical day at work, some of the challenges of working in the sector, and what she enjoys most about work.
Careers Task: Click here for Avril’s video careers task for you. In the video, she talks about what goes in to preparing a due diligence report – and asks for your help! Are you up to the challenge?
Now, meet Enam Islam, who works in insurance risk management – he’s here to tell you about how every day is different, what tools he uses in his day-job and the biggest challenges.
Careers Task: Click here to watch Enam’s careers task – it’s all about how you can persuade your parents to choose an alternative holiday destination. Give it a try and work on your business skills by thinking about the benefits of choosing specific kinds of holidays.
Careers Task: Look at the apprenticeships in this sector that are within 5 miles of your postcode. Do any of them look like something you’d be interested in? Have you heard of any of the employers near you?
