A little while ago I talked about choosing accountancy as a career. So to follow up I'd like to share some thoughts on the next important choice: the firm you'll train with.

A quick browse of graduate recruitment forums and it's clear to see there's one thing on everyone's mind when it comes to making this all important decision: salary.

Time for the shock; the starting salary doesn't matter, it's really not important. I know many might have trouble believing me, but you'll just have to trust me here. Whether you start on £18k or £20k, £25k or £29k in the end it's the least of your worries!

So what is important?

Well first off it's finding a firm with the right 'personality' and 'culture', one that suits you. Think of it as like choosing a friend to go travelling with; you wouldn't choose someone you didn't get on with and couldn't spend time with, including a few stressful moments. Well you're going to be spending the next 3 years of your life with this firm, so don't you think it's important that you get on well?

Of course a firm's personality is dictated by the staff. Therefore the easiest way to see if you'll get along is to take every opportunity at the interviews, assessments, careers days etc. to talk to them, if you have friends or friends of friends who work for a firm then ask them what it's like as a place to work, an insider's opinion will be more insightful than any recruitment brochure. Best of all try getting some work experience with them, not only will you get first hand experience on which to make a judgement, you'll make yourself a much more attractive recruit in the future.

Second, but no less important, is choosing the firm that matches your career needs. Ask yourself: what sort of clients do I want to work on? Do I want to focus on one industry straight away, or do I need to get experience in a range of sectors? What qualifications do they offer - ACA, CA, ACCA, CIPFA, CTA, AAT, ATT? Do I want to specialise in audit, tax, recovery or finance, or do I want to a mix of two or more? What opportunities do I want when I qualify - secondment, travel, promotion? Do I want to work in large teams or independently?

Therefore you need to consider things like the size of a firm and its area(s) of specialisation. The Big 4 tend to grab the headlines but the mid-tier and smaller firms all have something to offer. It depends what you're looking for, so try to keep an open mind; bigger isn't necessarily better for everyone.

To put it in context, let me (briefly) share my experience: at the time I accepted my offer from PKF I had two offers on the table and a couple of second interviews lined up. But when I got the offer from PKF I knew it was right for me.

Why?

First off I genuinely got on well with everyone I met at the interviews, in fact they felt more like friendly chats than interviews to be honest. Nearly three years on I've a lot of people who are not just colleagues but friends. Secondly, my educational background and previous work experience (teaching) left me feeling I needed as broad an education as possible in business and finance for the future. Therefore a mid-tier firm seemed to me the perfect choice; I would get a wide range of experience in terms of sectors and clients, whilst still gaining exposure to big business, listed markets etc. In the past couple of years I've worked on private equity funds, luxury hotels, children's charities, pension funds, watch makers and central government departments, and I've learned something from each of them.

When making your choice, everything should be considered in the context of where you want to be post-qualification; decisions made early on could well dictate the course of the next 20 years of your career. So that extra £2k in your first year really isn't all that important.