Accounts Assistant
Davis Langdon
Christopher Y
00:02 My name is Christopher Y I’m an accounts assistant and I work for Davis Langdon.
00:08 It wasn’t something I always wanted to do, I wasn’t really sure what clear path to take I stayed on at school until the sixth year and then I left school and I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to, to go basically.
00:24 When I was at school the careers advice probably wasn’t the best I don’t think. They basically just put you in a, a direction just to think about what you wanted to do and didn’t really, didn’t re-really help you along with it. So I think that’s why I kind of became stuck and, and didn’t really know which path to go down.
00:42 My dad works for, for British Gas. There was 9 of them in his family so they, they weren’t, they, they weren’t well off really so he’s had to really work for, for what, what he’s got really. So that’s and he’s always tried to, to put, he’s put my big bro-brother through, through University and college and he always said just whatever I wanted and, and he’d stand by me.
01:08 Initially when I left school I worked in a factory just to, to get some income in basically and just to, to keep me going, I, while I tried to think of, of what I wanted really to do with my life. So it was, it was quite a boring job, it was making mobile phone covers but thankfully I was only there for, for a few months.
01:32 Then I managed to get a job with the Department of Work and Pensions and I worked there but it was only on a temporary basis. I was paid off unfortunately and that was when I realised that I just couldn’t go from job to job and that I actually wanted a career, a career and life. So I think that was the major turning point that, that made me look at other avenues and, and what career path to do down.
01:56 I thought accountancy looks more my things really to get into that so I started doing home study in that. I was unemployed while I was doing my home study and then I was really just looking out for account assistant jobs through the papers and at the job centre.
02:14 My big brother actually worked with the, with the companies as a quantity surveyor, they’d been looking for another, someone to work in their finance department so he put my name forward and I come in for an interview and thankfully I got the job.
02:28 I did think it would be accountancy firm that I work for cos again I wasn’t really sure what it entailed or that but when I first initially started studying I thought it would be, it would be continuous accountancy for various companies.
02:44 The, plan is yep to keep studying, I’ve only got, I’m at the intermediate level at the moment so once I’ve passed the technician level then, then that’ll be me a fully fledged accountant. But there’s also, because there’s not really any need for it now with Davis Langdon, they’ve started to put me onto financial modelling and I’ve got a few courses, I’ve got my own that I’m hoping to go on as well. And I’ve already produced financial models for some of our clients through the help of, through the help of some colleagues.
03:23 Yeah I think my future with the construction industry. I’ve learned quite a lot here since I’ve been here, not just accounts but obviously how the construction industry works and I’ve got a fair idea now and I’m learning every day as we go so hopefully I’ll be able to merge my finance background now with the construction and, and continue, continue with Davis Langdon.
03:55 END
Christopher Y is an Accounts Assistant with construction consultants, Davis Langdon. His first job after leaving school was in a factory, then he did a temporary office job at the Department for Work and Pensions. When that came to an end he realised he needed to decide what to do with his life. He thought that being an accountant was a good idea.
More information about Financial and accounting technicians
The UK average salary is £29,813
There are 37.5 hours in the average working week
The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male
Future employment
- Maintains profit and loss accounts, budgets, cash flow forecasts and other accounting records;
- Produces, collates and reports financial information for managers;
- Liaises with clients to ensure that payments are made on time and credit limits are not exceeded;
- Ensures invoices and payments are correct and sent out on time;
- Monitors accounting systems to determine accounts are being maintained effectively and provides information on accounting practices to auditors.
