Inspired by his late Nana, twenty-six-year-old Ian Mort decided to return to education in pursuit of a career in Finance. Having been out of education for some time the process was daunting but with hard work, commitment, and dedication his efforts paid off. Now with a first-class honours degree in Accounting he has secured a Graduate job at Skyscanner.
"I had many jobs before I entered college, from event stewarding to call centres and kitchen work. I was able to work part-time as room supervisor for a local vehicle recovery company working weekend and doing ad hoc shifts allowing me to attend college during the week.
My interest in accounting came from my Nana who was a credit controller. My main goals was to achieve a relevant HNC awards to try and start a career in a similar role."
‘There was friendly competitiveness within my class that helped drive several course participants from NC level throughout the three years at WCS this helped give a good initial drive. Accounting isn’t as subjective like other courses; financial accounting answers on balance sheet are either correct or incorrect; for me, that brought a bigger sense of satisfaction when I got answers right as it meant I had a clear understanding of what was put in front of me. Each year added different subjects that I found interesting, such as TAX, financial accounting, law and economics, that were taught by really patient and engaging lecturers. This created a clear sense of progression from year to year.
"The early classes focused more on financial accounting (statements and ledger entries), which I really embraced, but as the course progressed throughout the years, the focus changed to more theory-based knowledge.I wasn’t overly confident at writing when joining college; my spelling and sentence structure were very poor, and it was a steep learning curve for me to keep up on that aspect of the course, but this put me in good stead for my time in university."
Since Graduating, Ian has gone on to gain a first class Honours in Accounting at the University of the West of Scotland and secured a Graduate post at Skyscanner which seen him beat off over hundred other applicants.
Ian continued, “I’m on a 22-month graduate program that will see me rotate- around the core aspects of the company’s finance function, such as purchase ledger, sales ledger, audit, treasury etc."
‘Next year I’m starting my Chartered Accounting qualification with ICAS which will take me three years to complete. During this time, I hope to make a noticeable impact at Skycanner and be in a position where I can add real value towards the business."
Summing up his college experience Ian said,
“My time at college brought about a great foundational understanding of accounting that benefitted me throughout my further education at university over those that only had a university education, and I’ll always be thankful for having that foundation in the pursuit of furthering my qualifications and career”