I graduated in hospitality and tourism years ago but l didn’t find a job until recently. I tried to broaden my qualifications by studying a diploma in Business studies, and now I am an ACCA finalist. My question is, can this be integrated or do l have to use each qualification separately?

So to summarise, you have a degree in tourism and hospitality, a diploma in Business Studies and are almost a fully qualified member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. And you have some work experience.
This makes you a very interesting prospect for a company. You are a graduate, understand how business works, and have a firm grasp of financial matters.

This makes for a very rounded person, who as an accountant would clearly understand the role of everyone else in the company, and how to affect what happens in other departments. This is quite unusual for an accountant, many of whom work in isolation from those of us who have to deal with the harsh realities of business life.

And a tourism or hospitality company would be able to use your experience of their industry, supported by your strong financial and business acumen.

So I believe your qualifications are complementary and can be used together in many ways. They support and strengthen each other to make a very strong person who would be useful in many companies.

You may need some more work experience but should be able to find a company where you can get that.

You need to decide how you want to use your qualifications , and whether you want to work in finance, or move into general management , and whether that would be in the tourism and hospitality industries. What do you really love doing?

Have a look at my career development section on the site. Note your strengths and weaknesses, think about what a perfect day would look like to you.

Developing Your Career Lessons

Maybe target a large company in the tourism and hospitality industries, which you admire and would love to work with. Plan to build a career there, working your way up the organisation.

But make this into a huge strength on your CV, and make a point about your complementary skills in your career objective in your CV.