Newly Qualified in Tax

Our experts offer free impartial advice
to newly qualified tax professionals

Your hard work and determination have paid off in becoming qualified in tax, opening up a wealth of opportunities for you.

Our dedicated consultants in practice and in-house have the edge in advising tomorrow's tax leaders:

Over 60 years' combined tax recruitment experience and
26 years' in the tax profession itself
Meet our consultants
Over 30% of professionals we place recommend a friend
Explore what professionals like you say about Pure
A focus on you and your interests
Our methodology
Favourable relationships with the world’s most successful firms and companies
See what our clients say
We place more tax professionals than anyone else.

What next?

Historically, many newly qualified tax professionals change employer. Reasons for moving at this point will vary, but the most common reason stems from the desire of candidates working in a professional firm to move in-house.

Before making the move at the newly qualified level, you will need to choose the position carefully to make sure the team is large enough for you to progress in, the team has high visibility within the wider business to make the work more progressive and interesting and that you keep good relationships in the practice market to allow you to come back should you not enjoy the in-house environment or if the market turns and your role becomes redundant.

Below, our consultants discuss what you need to consider in progressing your career.

Practice versus In-house

Choosing whether to stay in professional services or move in-house for the first time can be tricky. In-house roles are highly sought-after as the end goal for many tax professionals. No time-sheets, better working hours and higher financial reward make for an attractive proposition. Whether or not it is the right move for you depends mainly on three things: your specialism and level of experience and your preference on the type of environment you work in.

Specialism and level
There are many opportunities at all levels to move in-house if you specialise in Corporate Taxes, Transfer Pricing or VAT. When it comes to more niche areas such as Employment Taxes, Expatriate Taxes, Executive Remuneration and Partnership Taxation, then opportunities are scarce with very high competition for them. Here you are most likely to make the move in-house at the Manager level when your experience can prepare you for the opportunity as the roles tend to be either stand-alone or part of small teams.

Environment
Industry opportunities are not right for everyone. It can be great experience as you will be better informed on the sort of challenges you can face in-house when it comes to internal politics, more red tape in the decision making process and a less client facing environment. But it is these challenges that can be a little frustrating to deal with. If you are patient and can rise to them and help drive changes then the challenge pays off. However, if you enjoy the professional client facing and business development aspects of tax practice then this could be a better fit. Find a firm that will allow you to broaden your technical experience into a variety of areas within your specialism. And remember that each firm and each team within it is unique (e.g. each Big 4 firm is very different from the other), so be careful not to generalise and close off your options as a result.

Why move in-house?

There are various reasons tax professionals consider a move into commerce and industry. The most common reasons include:

The opportunity to witness how your work directly impacts on your organisation.

Increased depth in the work you are exposed to – Although working in a firm allows you to experience different companies and sometimes industries, it is likely that you will not see a project through from beginning to conclusion. Working in-house will allow you to see projects from start to finish.

To assume a higher level of visibility across the business – A common complaint from candidates working in larger professional firms is that they feel like a small cog in a big wheel. In-house teams are likely to be significantly smaller and you are likely to hold relationships with all other members of the tax department, including the Head of Tax.

The desire to develop commercial acumen – A move into industry will eventually allow you to participate in making business decisions that are not solely tax-related.

The prospect of no time sheets, a stronger work life balance and an increase in financial reward.

A chance to move away from tax – It is easier for a qualified (ACA or CTA) corporate tax professional to move into a broader finance focused role if they are already operating within that business as organisations are likely to attempt to recruit internally before making an external hire.

What are you worth?

Depending on academic record, tax qualification, geographic location, industry and your desired specialisation, your remuneration will be affected. It is important to state that at this stage in your career, non-monetary benefits such as responsibility, promotion prospects and a company’s/industry’s potential, should not be discounted in order to achieve the biggest jump in salary.

Complete our tax salary survey to receive a benchmark relevant to you.