Getting a foot in the door...

The news is full of economic doom and gloom these days, especially if you're a graduate or school leaver looking to get into work for the first time, and with the spending axe being sharpened to a diamond edge, ready to hack and slash its way through the nation's finances, it's probably not going to get any easier in the short term.

Therefore I thought I'd share a few pearls of wisdom (well rough pebbles) on how to get yourself ahead of the, ever increasing, pack when it comes to getting yourself through the accountancy door. To do this I've asked the people who make the hiring decisions for their input, so it comes from the horse's mouth.

One: get some (sector specific) work experience; the value of this really cannot be overstated. Not only will you have an insight on what it's really like in the sexy world of accountancy, you'll be able to show you've developed the beginnings of a work ethic, you'll have a much better knowledge of what the job's all about and you'll hopefully develop some extremely useful contacts within a firm that you can exploit at a later date for advice and a helping hand. Perhaps most importantly, if you make a good impression at the firm, you've put yourself way ahead of all the other applicants who no one at the firm has ever met, been bought a drink by or trusted with a piece of real work. It is also the easiest way of following all my other advice in one go!