The benefits of interim accountancy work
The benefits of interim accountancy jobs can be significant and include:
- Exposure to interesting and challenging projects across various industry sectors
- Flexibility around the hours or periods of the year that you choose to work
- First-hand experience of different organisations' systems and procedures enhancing the skills and expertise you have to offer organisations in the future
- Knowledge and experience that can be invaluable when it comes to making decisions on which career direction to take longer term
- You can also build a depth and variety of experience in a one or two-year period that might take significantly longer to attain in permanent accountancy jobs, providing the opportunity to fast track your career.
Before deciding that interim work is suited to you, it is worthwhile considering a few very important questions.
- Am I doing it for the right reasons?
- Have I thought about the practical implications of not having permanent employment status?
- Do I fully understand what being an interim involves?
- What do I have to offer the market?
- Do you have the necessary skills and a CV that supports this?
For Andrew Harb, working in interim accountancy jobs was a lifestyle choice. “I wasn’t certain which route to take next. After working in audit and financial services, I found that a career portfolio approach provided me with more challenge and interest and I enjoy change - as a result, interim has been a growing focus of my career over the last three years.”
You should consider the difference an interim assignment versus a permanent posting. Make sure interim is for you, the upside is about flexibility and variety of experience. The downside is the loss of some of the stability and protection that comes with permanent employment. Make sure that you are suited to the different challenges of a career as an interim.
There will be periods where you are out of work and you will need some form of financial buffer, although being flexible abut the contracts to undertake can help minimise this, you will not have the automatic protection that a permanent employer offers during sickness, holidays or prolonged leave.
An interim career in accountancy can seem isolated at times, so you will need to be self confident, resilient and above all flexible.
Interim accountancy jobs
What is the accountancy interim market like?
What are the attributes of a successful interim?
Why work with Hays Senior Finance?
