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Career development

Plan your career strategy and set goals for your career and personal development with our selection of articles, reports, webinars, eBooks and quick links to useful resources.
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Latest on career development

Read our latest features and articles on career development.
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The headhunter’s view: the downside to remote working
  • Article
  • 22 Oct 2024
Want to get ahead? Get into the office, says Mark Freebairn.
Female in smart attire working on her laptop
The skills most in demand by accountancy recruiters
  • Article
  • 03 Oct 2024
Average CFO salaries in London demand £246k-plus and accountancy employers encourage staff to explore generative AI tools as demand for accountants proficient in digital transformation, automation and AI ramps up.
michalis
Member profile: Michael Hadjipantela MEP
  • Article
  • 04 Sep 2024
A former Minister of Health for the Republic of Cyprus during the pandemic, the newly elected MEP and ICAEW member tells us how his accountancy background inspired his career in politics and his views on the future of the profession.
two men manager employee colleagues smiling looking at a laptop on a desk in an open office
How to shine in your first 3 months
  • Article
  • 30 Aug 2024
Starting out as an accounting trainee can be both exciting and daunting. Our top 10 tips will help you lay a strong foundation as you begin your career.
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ICAEW accountant stars in Team GB Olympic rugby
  • Article
  • 14 Aug 2024
Heather Cowell, Team GB rugby sevens forward and ICAEW Chartered Accountant, explains how playing hard and working smart paved the way for her success both on and off the field.
Free CPD: ISA 315
  • Article
  • 11 Jul 2024
What changed in the revised ISA 315 professional standard and how have auditors found applying the revised standard in practice? This article provides free continuing professional development (CPD) verifiable reading and webinars on the topic.
ICAEW’s tax content can help with CPD requirements
  • Article
  • 25 Jun 2024
The summer could be a good time to complete some continuing professional development (CPD) hours and ICAEW’s Tax Faculty can help you do it.
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Government extends deadline for AI skills grants
  • Article
  • 04 Jun 2024
Accountancy firms now have until 18 August to apply for grants under the pilot of the government’s new AI Upskilling Fund, after the government extended the deadline by 11 weeks.
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Reports

Exclusive SR72 The aspiring CFO
  • Report
  • 2021
  • PDF (1,950kb)
A practical, realistic, hands-on and immense learning opportunity of all you need to know to become the CFO
Exclusive Special Report 68: Commercial Insight
  • Report
  • 2020
  • PDF (1,761kb)
This special report explores how to be more commercial to add value and generate profit for your firm.
Special report - Managing people
  • Report
  • 2019
Managing people is one of the most important skills needed to successfully navigate your way to the top of the corporate ladder. This report provides practical tips and advice on topics such as team management, dealing with difficult people and the effect of technology on recruitment.
Exclusive Special report 60: Communication skills
  • Report
  • 2018
  • PDF (2,459kb)
This report seeks to assist with some of the more pertinent reporting needs for busy finance executives at all levels.
Exclusive Special Report 58: Courageous Leadership
  • Report
  • 2017
  • PDF (1,654kb)
Courage is one of the skills that great leaders are deemed to need and perhaps the most important. This report covers the key areas that leaders might want to focus on.
Exclusive Special Report 56: Soft skills that FDs need
  • Report
  • 2017
  • PDF (5,953kb)
A special report looking at the soft skills that FDs need to succeed
Exclusive Special Report 52: People and skills
  • Report
  • 2016
  • PDF (4,295kb)
This quarterly report deals with recruiting and retaining the right staff with good practical tips and advice from a variety of specialists.
Exclusive Special report 43: 21 years - a celebration
  • Report
  • 2013
  • PDF (1,092kb)
This quarter's special report is a 21 anniversary special, reproducing some of the best articles that we've published since our inauguration in 1992.
More reports

Webinars

CASS 5 audits 2024
  • Webinar
  • 17 Oct 2024
This webinar from the Financial Services Faculty will provide helpful insights and hot topics specifically focused on CASS 5 insurance intermediary firms.
Exclusive Transforming doubt into achievement: a personal journey
  • Webinar
  • 11 Jul 2024
Susana Serrano-Davey draws upon her personal life experiences, challenges, and triumphs to inspire and motivate you to overcome doubts and achieve your goals.
73 episode
So you want to be a leader?
  • Podcast
  • 17 Apr 2024
In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss how accountants can build the skills needed to take on leadership and executive roles during their careers.
Exclusive Cultivating resilience and overcoming challenges
  • Webinar
  • 17 Apr 2024
Unlock your resilience and thrive in the face of adversity. Boost EQ and AQ for career success and growth!
Exclusive Hints and tips for a career in internal audit
  • Webinar
  • 11 Mar 2024
Join our panel of experts at this webinar as they explore the highs and lows of their professional journey.
Exclusive Using social media and LinkedIn effectively for business purposes
  • Webinar
  • 21 Nov 2023
Insights, tips and practical advice on how to use social media and LinkedIn to get what you want.
Exclusive Empowering success: inspirational Black women breaking barriers
  • Webinar
  • 26 Oct 2023
This empowering and educational summit, brought to you by the ICAEW Diversity & Inclusion Community, aims to inspire the next generation of Black women to pursue successful careers in business & finance, while also addressing crucial topics such as diversity, equity, and financial literacy.
Exclusive Reinventing your career over 40
  • Webinar
  • 18 Oct 2023
This webinar from the Women in Finance Community will inspire and empower you to take charge of your career.
More webinars

Support from caba

Career confidence with caba

caba is the charity for Chartered Accountants, supporting past and present ICAEW members, ACA students and their close families from across the globe through everyday situations to exceptional life-changing circumstances. ICAEW members are entitled to free, confidential support from caba, including professional career support.

Find out more
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eBooks

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Exclusive What color is your parachute? 2018 : a practical manual for job-hunters and career-changers.
  • eBook
  • 2018
  • Richard Nelson Bolles
  • Ten Speed press
The world's most popular job-search book gives guidance with up-to-the-minute information and advice for today's job-hunters and career-changers.
Exclusive Reach the top in finance: the ambitious accountant's guide to career success
  • eBook
  • 2017
  • Sally Percy
  • Bloomsbury
A career development guide for finance professionals who want to know how they can succeed as trusted advisors, business partners, senior leaders and innovators, regardless of whether they work in industry, not-for-profit or public practice.
Exclusive MicroDomination: how to leverage social media and content marketing to build a mini-business empire around your personal brand
  • eBook
  • 2013
  • Trevor Young
  • John Wiley and Sons
Social media marketing for entrepreneurs.
Exclusive Great answers to tough CV problems: CV secrets from a top career coach
  • eBook
  • 2011
  • Jenny Rogers
  • Kogan Page
Detailed guide to constructing effective CVS.
Exclusive Effective people management
  • eBook
  • 2011
  • Pat Wellington
  • Kogan Page
A short guide to team management and leadership.
Exclusive Get the job you want, even when no one's hiring: take charge of your career, find a job you love, and earn what you deserve
  • eBook
  • 2009
  • Ford R. Myers
  • John Wiley and Sons
Guide to job seeking in a difficult economy.
Exclusive First-time manager's guide to performance appraisals, The
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Diane Arthur
  • Amacom
Guide to performance appraisals from a US perspective.
Exclusive It's not a glass ceiling, it's a sticky floor: free yourself from the hidden behaviours sabotaging your career success
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Rebecca Shambaugh
  • McGraw-Hill
Professional advancement for women in the workplace.
Terms of use

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

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Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive Diversity and the evaluation of talent in the accounting profession: The enigma of merit
  • Article
  • 01 Mar 2024
  • Fiona Anderson-Gough, Carla Edgley, Keith Robson, Nina Sharma
While accounting firms are facing recruitment and retention problems, regulatory bodies are calling for efforts to improve diversity to be more effective, especially at senior levels. In this paper, the authors discuss 'merit' in processes of performance evaluation and career progression. Based on interviews in Big 4, mid-tier and small professional services firms in the UK, the authors explore how the working environment and culture in firms can potentially inhibit moves to improving diversity.
Exclusive Women in accounting: Practical tips for leadership advancement
  • Article
  • 01 Jan 2024
  • Christine A.Funkhouser, Gergana Lipidakova
Advice on how women in the accounting profession can promote their personal brand and leadership persona. Topics include prioritizing education, advocating for oneself and increasing your visibility within your organization.
Exclusive Investment and career insights from women in asset management
  • Article
  • 01 Nov 2023
  • Erin Allen, Samantha Cleyn, Shannon Lewis, Bonnie Li, Asma Panjwani
Five women from BMO's Global Asset Management team provide insights from their paths into a career in asset management. Although they come from different career backgrounds, they have a mutual love of the pace, excitement and learning opportunities the industry offers. Here they share their top tips for success in asset management.
Exclusive Innovative processes in finance and accounting
  • Article
  • 01 Oct 2023
  • Vineet Jain
Adopting innovative technologies can lead to streamlined processes, real-time insights, and increased focus on strategic planning, says Vineet Jain CA. The article looks at innovation in the record-to-report (R2R), accounts payable and procure-to-pay processes and the potential for automated tools to assist with these tasks. Finally, important challenges associated with AI and other innovative technologies and skill sets which forward-thinking finance and accounting professionals should develop are covered.
Exclusive Defining your personal brand
  • Article
  • 01 Jun 2023
  • Donald W.Caudill, Philip J.Slater
Creating a personal brand that reflects your abilities, values, and ethics is no longer a nice-to-have for accounting and finance professionals. It’s essential, say the authors. Otherwise you could be missing out on opportunities for speaking engagements, press, and enhancing your career and personal life.
Exclusive Build your personal brand
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Jill Avery, Rachel Greenwald
Advice on how to communicate your value to the world, giving you the guidance you need to create a personal brand that you can comfortably live with. The approach involves seven steps: 1. Define your purpose, 2. Audit your personal brand equity, 3. Construct your personal narrative, 4. Embody your brand, 5. Communicate your brand story, 6. Socialize your brand, 7. Re-evaluate and adjust your brand.
Exclusive A new leadership model for the future of business and work
  • Article
  • 01 Mar 2023
  • Mostafa Sayyadi, Michael J.Provitera
The authors view transformational leadership as the most strategic resource for competitive advantage. They describe a model they call the 'Magic Spark Model', for developing future transformational leaders in companies. It offers a new way of leadership succession planning, involving practical case studies that allow leadership trainees to solve real-world problems.
Exclusive Becoming a trusted business partner
  • Article
  • 01 Nov 2022
  • Rebecca G.Fay, Kenneth Herbst, Josh Lobs, Norma R.Montague
The article discusses ways accountants can build their career in management accounting. Advice is given for developing the skills of a successful salesperson, as you will potentially need to influence and persuade both internal and external stakeholders in a variety of different situations. Four types of relationships that commonly exist in business partnerships are explained - Technical professional; Business friend; Dispensable business partner; Trusted business partner.
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Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a range of articles, books and reports on career development. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

ICAEW Coaching and Mentoring

Coaching and Mentoring Programmes

ICAEW mentors and coaches offer finance professionals at all stages in their careers with practical and personal guidance, support, knowledge and access to business leaders with specialist expertise or industry experience.
Mentoring and coaching
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Related topics

We also maintain separate web pages on these topics:
Diverse office workers
Career breaks and returning to work
Personal, professional, and technical support to help you plan a career break or return to work.
Female executive
CVs and interview skills
If you're looking for a new job, or need to brush up your interview skills, we have a range of books, articles and guides to help you succeed.
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Flexible and home working
Find information and legislation on flexible working.
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Managing your portfolio career
Resources providing practical support and guidance for anyone in an independent role, from those making the first step to those who have established portfolio careers.
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Career paths
Explore possible career paths for you, including audit roles, corporate finance, portfolio careers, starting a practice and volunteering.
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The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.

Everything business

Find out about the key benefits available for members in business and the support from ICAEW. We are proud of our some 60,000 members working in and running business all over the world.
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Winding road
Information

Some of the content on this web page was provided by the Chartered Accountants’ Trust for Education and Research, a registered charity, which owns the library and operates it for ICAEW.