Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

I am hoping to get some advice from forum members regarding my next career move. Given that there are many hiring managers on this forum, this is the best place to hear your thoughts and perspectives.

A brief background about myself: I am a chartered accountant student in the UK. I have completed the time-based training requirements, and all training documents have been fully signed off, but I still need to pass the exams to qualify. The earliest I could complete the exams is August 2020, which means if I pass the remaining exams, I will be fully qualified by August 2020.

The current issue is that last month I was informed that I was made redundant, and there are no finance roles at my level within the company to apply for. I was offered a non-finance role, but I decided to decline it because I want to develop my career in finance. Given that my company is cutting costs, even if I were to accept the non-finance role in the short term, the likelihood of an internal transfer to a core finance function later is very low. Therefore, I believe it is best to accept the redundancy and move on in this situation.

After deciding to leave the company, I am in a dilemma: should I complete the remaining three exams, remain unemployed, and then look for a position? Or should I find a job as soon as possible, because a 7-8 month gap on my resume will be disadvantageous when applying for jobs later?

I can financially support myself easily over the next few months, and my former employer has already paid for all my study support costs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.