Well That Depends!

Choosing insolvency as a career can be for a variety of reasons!  After all we aren't all the same.  We all have different levels of ambition and that will dictate which areas of the profession we want to become involved with and how far we would like to take our careers.   

Fundamentally, if you want a career in insolvency you must have a desire to help people in difficult situations.  Whether their problems are of their own making or of someone else's, if you feel that you want to make a bad situation better, then insolvency could be for you. 

It's A Job!

If you want a steady job that provides a comfortable income, varied situations whilst valuing some routine in your life then that's fine, but you are likely to limit how far you can go.

Whilst that approach suits many of us, some of the information on this website might not be quite as relevant as for someone who has the ambitions to become an insolvency practitioner and make insolvency a lifetime career, but you can still pick up some very useful tips.

It's a Career, a Profession, an Opportunity to Develop Skills 

If you are someone who wants to develop your skill set way beyond areas that just get you through exams then you will find a career in insolvency could be the answer!

We look at the type of people who are best suited to the profession in the "Who?" section

Business Skills

You will be helping many aspects of your business skills if you choose to include corporate insolvency as part of your career

  • Helping businesses means that you quickly find out how a business works!
  • You will be involved in a variety of businesses from manufacturing, to construction, to service sectors.  They all work differently and you will be expected to latch onto the key elements very quickly
  • You will learn the inter-relationship that different parts of a business have on each other and the outside world
  • Dealing with staff, creditors, debtors, purchasers, directors
  • You'll become proficient at communicating with, presenting to and addressing a range of different people 
  • You may even have to trade businesses and sell businesses
  • If you can analyse a business you will be able to interpret what has been going on and what needs to be addressed

  • You will be managing an individual case and a number of cases and also helping to manage aspects of the insolvency firm as well!
  • Insolvency cases can't really be seen as repeat business and insolvency practitioners have to go out and win their next job, otherwise they will go out of business.  You may well get an opportunity to do your bit to developing the insolvency practice!  
  • The time spent on jobs needs controlling and billing and you will find that you will have a part in ensuring that time is spent effectively and profitably.

Developing Financial Skills

There are is a fair amount of number crunching in the insolvency world but don't be misled into thinking that insolvency is fundamentally an accounting function.  It isn't!

The further up the tree that you go the more that you will see that being able to view the big commercial picture is often far more important!  Numbers can be made to work but if the business is lacking in certain areas then it may not be viable. 

Developing Legal Skills

You may be surprised to learn just how much of insolvency is actually about legal issues.  Employment contracts, lease agreements, finance agreements, sale of business, reservation of title, environmental law, company law and insolvency law are just a few examples of the knowledge that you will have to have if you are to progress.
Investigating what the directors or a debtor has been up to and bringing claims and actions are all part of the job. 
 

Problem Solving

You can expect to be confronted with different issues every day and you will be have to apply some very basic principals to a variety of situations, adapting and developing them to enable you to advise your client. 
 

Relieving Pressure

Yes you can expect to be taking on pressures that had fallen on directors  but which are now yours to cope with.  Your experience will enable you to tackle any problem and to cope with pressure. 

Developing You

Most of all a career in insolvency will develop you as a person!  There are so many areas that you will make you a stronger and better person. You will have to be able to get on with people, develop people and lead people.

You may be a natural in some areas and in others, you may be surprised at what you can achieve when you are thrown into unfamiliar situations.  Character building, it certainly is! 

But Don't Worry!

You won't be expected to take on every aspect that it takes to become an insolvency practitioner on day one!  Indeed, you can choose how far you want to stretch yourself and determine how far and fast you want to progress you career.   You will pick up some aspects quickly whilst others take a little longer.  The technical aspect of insolvency is very important but it is far from being all the job.

Satisfaction!!

Most of all, you will get a large amount of satisfaction from giving a business or individual who has been struggling with debt a far better outcome than could have been the case.  Taking the pressure off them and using your professional skills to salvage something from what could have been a total disaster!  That's why we do it.......oh and it pays a salary of course! 

Have We Put You Off Yet? 

"All this may seem a little daunting and possibly off-putting.  Don't let the issues we have raised dampen your enthusiasm.  We try to cover as many aspects as we can in relatively few words!

Whatever role you take within insolvency, you are bound to strengthen your skills in a number of areas.  You may well pick up skills in each of the areas that we have highlighted.  Whether you pick them all up is in your hands as well as the hands of your chosen employer.  If you only want to become involved in certain aspects then that's fine. Know your own limitations! And even if you want to achieve everything, if you don't choose the right employer then you may be prevented from achieving your ambitions."

"Whatever your role and no matter how far you choose to take it, you can always expect to develop new skills within the insolvency profession!"