Uni or other career advancing studies in Berlin - suggestions please

[John Bull 0]

English speaking accountant working in Industry - middle management - wants to take next step up career-ladder by advancing his studies.  German level is B1 and I am already advancing that.

 

Anyone have links to what's on offer in Berlin, having regard to Berlin and costs ?

[engelchen 13,039]

What qualifications do you already have? What do you want to do in the future?

[cb6dba 7,317]

I'm not sure a group of ex-pat non accountants would be bale to give you any links to accountant career ladder climbing courses.

Sorry, but I wouldn't expect anyone (at least not many) here to be able to suggest any multi-level in memory process integration database applications for me..

 

As for how expensive berlin is, depends what you are after, where you want to live, how big it has to be and how close to public transport you wan to live.

You will need to provide a bit more info to get useful info back.

 

Berlin is expensive, how expensive will depend on where you live now (compared to some places it's cheap even), what your idea of expensive is and which part of the city you wan to live in.
 For example, a three room flat in Prenzlaureberg is going to cost more of an arm and a leg than down in Addlershof..

My advice with Berlin would be to find an area that fits with you and see what you can find online (immoscout is a good start).

For courses, check the various uni websites for contact numbers and call them up.

 

What professional qualifications do already have? We have the odd accountant on here who my be able to judge where you stand on the ladder etc and what you may need to go further.

 

 

[engelchen 13,039]

4 minutes ago, cb6dba said:

I'm not sure a group of ex-pat non accountants would be bale to give you any links to accountant career ladder climbing courses.

 

Speak for yourself. 

 

I'm not an accountant, but I studied here and am familiar with many academic as well as professional courses offered in the city. However, weak German skills drastically reduces the number of potential options in Berlin. 

[cb6dba 7,317]

2 minutes ago, engelchen said:

 

Speak for yourself. 

 

I'm not an accountant, but I studied here and am familiar with many academic as well as professional courses offered in the city. However, weak German skills drastically reduces the number of potential options in Berlin. 

I did say 'at least not many' 

 

(Ok, in a different example, but in the same vain so to speak).

 

 

Also should ask how long the OP has been in Germany and if they have citizenship etc. All will have a bearing on entitlement etc (unless thy are just gong to pay for the course themselves). 

[LukeSkywalker 7,538]

A German accountant will have a qualification like Bilanzbuchhalter and know HGB, which is German local GAAP. This is more complicated than IFRS in my opinion. I'm a SAP consultant in Finance myself. I just need to be able to speak on their level :).

[John Bull 0]

Hi All, am living here in Berlin already and in a specialised area - corporate taxation.  I have UK ACCA accounting and CTA tax qualifications as well as an international tax qualification.  But I don't have a degree. Most people in the UK complete a degree first before commencing accountancy or tax studies - so I am unsure about doing a degree. 

 

But I am interested in hearing opinions ...

[engelchen 13,039]

35 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Hi All, am living here in Berlin already and in a specialised area - corporate taxation.  I have UK ACCA accounting and CTA tax qualifications as well as an international tax qualification. 

 

The perfect complement would be the German Steuerberater exam, but your German is no where near good enough for that. I'm not even sure whether you'd meet the eligibility requirements either.

 

35 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

But I don't have a degree. Most people in the UK complete a degree first before commencing accountancy or tax studies - so I am unsure about doing a degree. 

 

But I am interested in hearing opinions ...

 

Your German is not good enough for any of the German qualifications and you don't have a degree. 

 

The only potentially useful qualification I can think of in English would be the CFA.

[John Bull 0]

CFA would involve a career-change?  Unsure if I want to commit to a 4 year program.  My tax qualifications are equivalent to Steuerberater thanks to EU passporting. The German qualification would not be useful at senior levels either.

 

Aren't there English language courses (e.g MBAs) in Berlin?

[engelchen 13,039]

 

 

On 07/01/2021, 11:24:36, John Bull said:

But I don't have a degree.

 

 

21 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Aren't there English language courses (e.g MBAs) in Berlin?

 

1. How are you planning on applying for an MBA without having a degree?

 

2. Most of the courses taught in English are not worth the cost. The main exceptions would be certain programnes at HWR and ESMT, however, even some of their programmes are geared to the job market outside of Germany. 

[John Bull 0]

Thanks for replying Engelchen.  And my education continues .. I'd forgotten you need a degree for an MBA.  My Accounting qualification is regarded as an Oxford (Brookes?) Honours degree and assumed this, with my years of experience would allow me in.

[engelchen 13,039]

18 minutes ago, John Bull said:

I'd forgotten you need a degree for an MBA.  My Accounting qualification is regarded as an Oxford (Brookes?) Honours degree and assumed this, with my years of experience would allow me in.

 

I doubt that a good programme would let you into an MBA without a degree and a degree mill diploma will not do much to help your career. Check out the HWR and ESMT websites to see if you can find a suitable course, however, it is probably not worth quitting your job to attend university (as an accountant you should be able to easily calculate the opportunity cost). 

 

Another option would be to look for a niche market where you can use the skills you have. @swimmer supposedly was able to find many freelance contracts with her British qualifications despite not speaking much German.