MyCIMA

CIMA - working abroad

Posted: Sunday 01 January 2012 by R56
Replies : 1
Keywords: Abroad

Hi everyone,

I finished all of my exams in Sept 2011 and am due to submit my practical experience in a few weeks.

I have always had it in my mind - rightly or wrongly (!) - that once I'm CIMA-qualified then it'll be relatively easy to get a job outside of the UK. Is this actually realistic? I'd quite like to live in Australia or Canada, but I'm not sure how feasible this dream is. I work for a US multinational in the UK, but it is very rare for them to offer international relocation (and certainly not to the more desirable countries that I'm hoping for!).

 Regards,

 Owen

Australia

Posted by Paula on Tuesday 10 January 2012 16:07

Hi Owen,

I travelled to Australia in 2009 on a working holiday visa, having only completed the Certificate level of CIMA (but with 5-6 years' relevant work experience - I'd just been rather lazy with the exams before then).

I easily found work in Brisbane & completed two decent Finance / Management Accounting style roles whilst there. My personal experience was that pay is much better in Oz, as is the work / life balance. Additionally, there were more opportunities to work on interesting / challenging projects (presumably because there is less competition for PQ roles in Brisbane than London, so less qualified candidates are given more of a chance).

I returned to England with an Aussie boyfriend - we will definitely move back to Oz once I've completed my CIMA qualification!

Good luck.

Paula