Hi guys
I’m going to uni soon and I’m having a hard time choosing between Accouting and Computer Science, so I’m wondering if anyone as a degree/job in these sectors who could give a output
Thanks
I wouldn’t bother doing accounting at university, as long as you get a good degree from a good university then you can get a training contract and study for a professional qualification in accountancy after you graduate.
Personally, I would say Computer Science now. I suspect AI will automate much of the low level accountancy work in the next 10-20 years (and I say that as an accountant!)
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Bear in mind with Computer Science some are very simple at undergraduate level and are designed for people with no background, so you might find it very simple and not challenging.
This is the one thing I state first when I speak to any student for my university.
Accounting can be a very useful degree to have. Yes, training contracts are possible but I have seen students on A&F graduate and go straight into very good jobs at big firms.
Either way you’ll find that a career path can be carved out, no matter what your degree.
Save your time/money and do neither. You’ll thank me later.
If you want to become a developer there are plenty of resources online to learn the basics, from there you can get an internship and build your career from there.
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If you start one and it’s not what you expected you can always change next year. I started off doing sound and broadcast engineering and the next year changed to politics. You end up with a much bigger student loan but better than finishing something you’re not happy with.
Look up the full syllabus and options for both courses and see which you’re most excited about. And then look at post graduate options like the cert in accounting to see where each course could lead
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Have a think about which you enjoy the most.
Both degrees will open different doors, but think again about sectors - you could work for Monzo, your local council or for a consultancy in either, but each would be really different experiences.
Also, think about the future. Which one has more longevity? And could you be creative - would you like to use code to do financial analysis (like a data scientist, for example)? Perhaps that would suggest a different route?
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I went to Aston, and they do three ways of getting a bit of each. You can do Computing for Business, which is about 70% computing and 30% business (including Finance, Financial Accounting, and Management Accounting), Business, Computing and IT (which is the other way round) or Combined Honours (Computer Science and Business Admin), which is 50:50.
And it’s the greatest Uni ever. Ain’t that right, @Naji?
The one with more business content has slightly higher entry criteria. I did the more CS-based one cos I didnt think I’d get the grades but I did in the end!
It’s a cliche, but do the one you enjoy more!!!
I did A&F and then qualified and I’d say that the degree was a waste of time. I learnt lots as a person at uni but you definitely don’t need it to be an accountant.
Fees were £1K when I went but given the cost now I’d tell anyone to just get an entry level finance position and qualify on the job. Once you’re qualified and have experience no one’s looking at your degree.
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I did Computer Science up at Stafford. Learnt about 15% of what I know about programming on that course, but it has enabled me to get all my following jobs as 90% of software houses require a degree in CS to even get an interview. I think they are starting to lax up on this now due to the fees and less people going to uni, so its a tough call.
If you arent sure what you want to do (sounds like you aren’t if you’re considering two degrees) then i would not recommending spending the money on university and potentionally it going to waste. (So many of my friends have gone to uni to do course they do not need for their now jobs at all). If you do that you are wasting £45K and 3 years of your life.
For you I would perhaps suggest you try and get an accounting internship somewhere and work your way up through that career while teaching yourself programming skills and developing a git hub profile portfolio in your spare time with no pressure. That way if accounting is not for you, then you have a fall back and already have a portfolio of programming work to show potential employers. If accounting is for you then you can always do some freelance programming work to make some extra cash here and there (not that you’d need it as an accountant) 
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I agree with most of what this fine fellow has said.
Also did a degree in Computer Science, found that most jobs require a CS degree for entry level jobs.
Also I did a placement year as a part of my degree, some universitys offer this. Where you go out and work at a company for the year after 2 years of study and i learnt 100x more in this year than i did in my first 2 years of study
Best of luck both ways though with whatever you decide
Doesn’t it kind of depend on what you want to do after qualifying in whatever field you choose? Degrees cost a lot these days - do you even need one for what you really want to do?
When faced with an apparent dilemma of equal risk/merit, Freud suggested tossing a coin and if you feel unhappy with the outcome, then change your mind!
My two cents: consider a coding boot camp such as North Coders, CodeClan, General Assembly, etc, rather than uni.
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Dropped out of my Computer Science degree after first year due to it being 90% theory and only 10% actual programming but am working as a Web Developer now anyway. So your degree isn’t then end of the world, most employers looking for devs that i’ve interviewed with wanted proof of your technical/practical skills and the degree was just an added extra
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I’d love to know what area of the UK this happened in. I left my CS course after first year but not having a degree has never stopped me getting an interview and i’m not the next Bill Gates/Mark Zuckerberg and i’m in the South East/London
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Software houses that require a degree are not places you want to work at even if you had such degree.
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I’d have struggled to get my foot in the door with many of the software companies in this area without a degree. My first 2 software jobs required a degree qualification, so wouldn’t have even gotten an interview without one. I’m sure there are a number of software jobs around here you could apply for without a degree but those first few years after uni. were much easier as there was so many more jobs to choose from. For me it was money well spent.
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First off I’m biased given I recruit students for a university so just to throw that out.
I totally understand what folk above have said and why. University isn’t the answer for all, and if you work hard you can get almost anywhere without it.
But also bear in mind the non-academic benefits of university. Personally, I’d never have been able to move to London from the Lake District at 18, meet the people I have and have the experiences, live in another country for a year and have the network to grow and develop my career as I have.
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I guess my assumption comes from the job specs I saw that recruiters sent me / on the normal job sites. about 90% of them had a line stating ‘A degree in computer science or similar field is required for this role’
sometimes they added a particular grade too. I.E minimum 2:1.
If that’s not the case anymore then that’s great, I’m all for it. If i could go back I totally wouldnt do Uni again.
Maybe get better recruiters? On LinkedIn I get spammed every day by them and none that I can remember ever sent me job specs requiring degrees. Could also depend on your location though.
Everyone gets spammed by LinkedIn and Email everyday… And you don’t exactly go out and get a recruiter either…
Literally had one this morning too.
Who you are…
- B.Sc. in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related field
- Self-directed and comfortable supporting the data needs of multiple teams, systems, products and our customers
- Experience building and optimizing ‘big data’ data pipelines, architectures and data sets
- Strong analytic skills related to working with unstructured datasets
- Ability to manipulate, process and extract value from large disconnected datasets
- 2+ years’ experience in Data engineering, analysis or software development
- Good knowledge of SQL (SQL and NoSQL databases)
- Knowledge of ETL/SSIS tools is an advantage
- Hardworking, energetic, team player with great interpersonal skills
- Fluent English
This was for a role in Birmingham.
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