Like this:

This past week has been full of learning all about the UK ACCA Qualifications (the CPA equivalent), enjoying my first curry, and jetting off to Dublin for a long weekend!

The education system in the UK is a lot different than ours in the states.  At 16, students can take their certificate of general education and then enter the workforce.  If they choose to, students can continue onto college which is similar to our junior and senior year of high school.  In college, students study for their A-Level examinations which essentially help them to prepare to go to the University.  So while we often refer to the time we spend studying at a university as “going to college”, here, everyone refers to their time studying at a university as going to university or “uni”.

I’ve also found it really interesting that many of my Hurst co-workers did not in fact study any type of accounting in the university (or any type of business for that matter).  I’ve worked with colleagues that have degrees ranging from Law to History to English.  Once you have a degree, you can work in public accounting as an “accountant in training” and begin to work towards your ACCA Qualifications.  Given that you do not have to have any type of accounting back ground in order to become qualified, accountants in training spend weeks at a time in “college” taking accounting classes.  They’re given time off from work to attend these classes during the day.  And similar to M&A, these classes are paid for by Hurst as well as the first attempt at the exams.  After each session at college, there are a round of exams.  In total, there are 9 exams plus one year’s practical experience.  On average though, it takes about 3 years to pass all of the exams and become fully qualified.  Just as in the states, everyone is very relieved once all their studying is done and they’ve passed their exams!

This week, my friends at Hurst, took me out for my first curry!  In Manchester, there is a street called “The Curry Mile” which is lined with all sorts of Indian restaurants offering the best curry around!  It’s sort of like an Indian version of “Chinatown” in most U.S. cities.  About 15 of us went out to enjoy some delicious curry!  I tried a “Rogan Josh Chicken” but I think my favorite part of the night was the Peshwari Naan which is a sweeter version of traditional naan.  I highly recommend trying a curry sometime (just be careful if you don’t like spicy food)!!  Check out Curry Night Pics Here!

This weekend was another “bank holiday weekend” (I think it’s just a coinicidence that it coincided with our Memorial Day this year) so I took advantage of having a 3 day weekend and jetted off to Dublin, Ireland with my co-worker, Claire!  We had a great 3 days and saw so much of Dublin including Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Temple Bar, Graffton Street, Guinness Brewery, and Kilmainham Gaol.  Check out Ireland Pics Here!

I started at a new client this week that is a company that manufactures machinery.  I’m there with 3 other Hursters so it’s nice to be on such a big team!  Tomorrow night, Gemma, one of my buddies, are joining Simon, the marketing director, for the Beyonce concert in Manchester!  (I’m SO excited!)  Then this weekend is the finals for Britain’s Got Talent so a bunch of us are planning on watching the finale together!  One quick story below that I thought was worth sharing…

“Ambler Gambler”

In the UK, when a traffic light turns “amber” (aka yellow), traffic comes to a stop.  This is very different from what I’ve experienced in the states where yellow normally means put your foot to the floor and try and make it through before the light turns red.  Here, if you go through an “amber” light, you’re called “an amber gambler” so I’m trying my hardest not be an amber gambler!

Advertisement