Career Advice !

[Armstrong]

Hey guys, Armstrong here ! I'm in a bit of a conundrum so please help me out. First I think some background is in order : I'm currently doing ACCA (I should be, hopefully, done by December this year).

Now the way I see it I've got two options in front of me :

1) I either continue on with the Chartered Accountancy path and go for ICAP's CA (Pakistan's CA) or obtain exemptions for the ICAEW (I'm exempted from 13 of 15 papers) and then go for the mandatory 3 year work-experience with an audit firm; I've got an offer from Grant Thornton Pakistan on the table right now ! If I pursue this stream I can try for other audit firms in June of next year as well !

2) Or instead I go for the CFA charter after the ACCA and try to make a career out of investment related finance ! Actually I'd much rather prefer this over accounting, audit etc. and I'd love to end up as a buy-side analyst at some Mutual Fund in a few years time but the problem with this stream is that I dunno if the job scope for CFAs is all that great in Pakistan right now because for obvious reasons Pakistan isn't entirely an investment friendly country right now ! And the people I've talked to haven't given me a definitive answer on 'a CFA's job prospects either' so I'm seriously confused !

So guys do I risk it and go for the CFA route or should I instead play it safe and stick with Chartered Accountancy !

P.S I prefer finance and that too investment finance considerably more than audit, accounting, tax etc. !

P.P.S I'd prefer not leaving the country or my city - Lahore, Pakistan !

So any suggestions...recommendations ? Any thoughts...anything please do share ! Because I'm seriously confused right now - Should I play it safe or risk it for something I like a lot more ?

I'd appreciate a response !

Regards,

Armstrong

 

[Jade]

Anyway, I don't get the risk element here. CFA is a selfstudy program. I have seen scores of people having both.

My advise would be to complete your CA program, and then do the CFA.

 

[Armstrong]

Anyway, I don't get the risk element here. CFA is a selfstudy program. I have seen scores of people having both.

My advise would be to complete your CA program, and then do the CFA.

Mate, the risk element entails that would a career in investment related finance be advisable in Pakistan's job market ? CA on the other hand has sure shot job prospects and depending upon where you did your articles from, it can pay pretty nicely !

On your advice : First off - Thank You ! But I've talked to a couple of people of combining CFA with CA and some have said that its not really an advisable approach to take because employers tend to appreciate a bit of a focused approach i.e a bachelors in accounting and finance and then onwards to a CFA program instead of a jumble of a couple of acronyms and work experience ! Plus if I were to go for the CFA route I wouldn't be going for the 3 year articleship with an audit firm I'd instead try to work for some of our local 'Mutual Funds' or 'Insurance Companies' or 'a Brokerage House' so that kind of experience may differentiate one from the other in a definitive way and may not actually carry through from one to the other !

But do you really think that working for Grant Thornton for 3 years after I've completed ACCA and then going for the ICAEW half way through before trying for the CFA charter along the way wouldn't give an impression to any would-be employer of a guy who doesn't know what he wants ?

 

[Jade]

Mate, the risk element entails that would a career in investment related finance be advisable in Pakistan's job market ? CA on the other hand has sure shot job prospects and depending upon where you did your articles from, it can pay pretty nicely !

On your advice : First off - Thank You ! But I've talked to a couple of people of combining CFA with CA and some have said that its not really an advisable approach to take because employers tend to appreciate a bit of a focused approach i.e a bachelors in accounting and finance and then onwards to a CFA program instead of a jumble of a couple of acronyms and work experience ! Plus if I were to go for the CFA route I wouldn't be going for the 3 year articleship with an audit firm I'd instead try to work for some of our local 'Mutual Funds' or 'Insurance Companies' or 'a Brokerage House' so that kind of experience may differentiate one from the other in a definitive way and may not actually carry through from one to the other !

But do you really think that working for Grant Thornton for 3 years after I've completed ACCA and then going for the ICAEW half way through before trying for the CFA charter along the way wouldn't give an impression to any would-be employer of a guy who doesn't know what he wants ?

The days of CAs doing only auditing working are gone. CAs are doing as much investment related works as any MBA or CFAs are doing. Even the CA curriculum has evolved into a holistic one and not any more an audit focused. Today, you can find CAs working in investment banks such as Goldman Sacs and also in audit firms such as KPMG. I know one of my friends who is a CA working for even a private equity firm. And, at least to me CA and CFA are a deadly combination, and better than any MBA, except may be from the top 10 Business Schools.

However, if I were to choose one between CA and CFA, I would go for CA.

 

[Armstrong]

Thanks Jade yaaar ! I appreciate it deeply !

 

[rockstarIN]

Why did you do ACCA if you wanna do Pakistani CA?

 

[Armstrong]

Why did you do ACCA if you wanna do Pakistani CA?

I asked one of the named partners of Grant Thornton Pakistan and he recommended going for ACCA so that if I ever wanted to decide to jump ship I could - a little like now ! Pakistan's CA on the other hand is a pretty tough nut to crack and it takes well over 5-7 years to complete it which means that you're stuck with it for better or for worse !

P.S I'm weighing my options - CA (or ICAEW) or CFA ! Or as Jade said - Both would be a good combo too !

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

I wish I could help, but I don't know what you are talking about bro. Just ask people who you trust.

 

[somebozo]

ACCA and CA are definitely in demand!

 

[T90TankGuy]

would love to help out but this is not my field . all i can say is get advice from as many people (ones you trust) and then make your decisions weighing all the pros and cons.

 

[Armstrong]

ACCA and CA are definitely in demand!

would love to help out but this is not my field . all i can say is get advice from as many people (ones you trust) and then make your decisions weighing all the pros and cons.

Thanks, I appreciate it !

 

[kobiraaz]

Sorry bro, As a medical student i know very little about this.... :-(

 

[lem34]

I am sorry mate not much I can advise you on here but Jade sounds knowledgeable on this topic. maybe pm and get more advise from him

 

[Mosamania]

I am in the medical field so I have zero knowledge of your situation. All I can tell you is think this through and consult with the people you trust.

 

[Armstrong]

Sorry bro, As a medical student i know very little about this.... :-(

I am sorry mate not much I can advise you on here but Jade sounds knowledgeable on this topic. maybe pm and get more advise from him

I am in the medical field so I have zero knowledge of your situation. All I can tell you is think this through and consult with the people you trust.

Thanks I appreciate you guys taking out the time to go through the thread ! Yeah I'm asking around as many people as I can and I thought PDF would be a good place to try as well ! But thanks again !