Accounting Apprentice - Meet Ryan Murtagh

13 March 2019

Having successfully completed his A-Levels in Economics, History and English Literature in 2018, Ryan joined the Daly Park office in Lurgan in September 2018 on the Higher Level Apprenticeship (HLA) in Accounting and Finance.  Now, 7 months into his Daly Park Accounting Apprenticeship, we asked him how he is getting on.

“The HLA Accounting Programme stood out to me for 2 main reasons:

• The ability to ‘earn and learn’ is a huge advantage over the traditional university route. With no student debt and a healthy bank account made the HLA the best option financially.
• Academically the HLA Programme makes sense if you know accountancy is what you want to do. ATI is a great qualification to have on its own and is a quicker route towards Chartered Accountancy.”

Working at Daly Park has proved to be a very positive experience for Ryan.  “My workload is varied and challenging.  Daly Park makes for a great learning environment - the directors, managers and more senior staff members are always very approachable and willing to help if I need it. I get exposure to a wide range of clients and jobs which further helps my studies - for most of the year I had been far ahead of what I was studying in class due to what I had been exposed to in work.”

Accounting Technicians Ireland and Chartered Accountants Ireland launched the Higher Level Apprenticeship in 2014 in conjunction with Southern Regional College (SRC).  As part of his two year apprenticeship, Ryan works four days a week at Daly Park’s Lurgan office and goes to SRC one day a week.  According to Ryan, “The college is great, offering many resources to assist with my studies and the teachers are also helpful and approachable. Accounting Technicians Ireland also offers excellent study resources and easily accessible past papers to work through. Working full time and then studying in the evenings and on weekends means efficient time management is essential. There are several staff members in my office that have been through the ATI course before me who are now studying for their chartered exams and they have given me great advice on both my course, and my upcoming exams. SRC also has a good college/workplace mentor system which is great for communication between the college and the workplace.”

Despite the challenges, Ryan recommends the Apprenticeship route: “I can confidently say that if you know that accountancy or business is the route you want to take in your career path, then I would recommend the HLA Accounting course. You will have a distinct advantage over graduates when combining the ATI qualification with the invaluable work experience you will gain from Daly Park whether you want to remain as an Accounting Technician, move into a different business role or progress on to chartered accountancy. In my opinion, it really is the best option right now for those seeking a career in accountancy.”

To contact Ryan https://www.dalypark.com/our-team/Students/Ryan-Murtagh