ACCA - The Road to a Promising Career!

Students in the process of completing their school finals are usually placed in a predicament in choosing their favoured paths of education. Their primary instincts may clash with their wisdom as it may not match the current requirements of career advancement in a depreciating world economy. The surge towards science and engineering has peaked and sources reveal that the economies of advanced nations are consolidating on their resources dampening the aspirations of energetic youth from within and overseas. The slowdown in the world economy has also put some brakes on research, technology, and manufacturing forcing the youth of today to look for careers other than science, engineering and technology. One of the few constant fields that have withstood this slowdown and maybe also have created new vistas and opportunities are the Finance, Accounts and Marketing sectors which normally surge during a period of depression. Whilst marketing and advertising show healthy growth they tend to stagnate after a certain period but accounting and financial management prove to be the bedrock of such periods. The F & A sector keeps a constant growth path as they stand as sentinels and guardians in keeping the economy secure and poise it for better growth prospects.

In South Asia (read India) there has been a marked trend in students opting for a career in Accounting and Finance rather than that of technology and science for better prospects. In India, studies have shown that the investment made by students in opting for a qualification in Finance & Accounting reaps better benefits vis-à-vis the costlier option of taking up an engineering degree. This largely has to do with the opportunity available to them in the former sector which starkly contrasts the competitive and lacklustre requirements of the latter. This to a certain extent maybe also true in growing and established economies as in the globalised market of today what affects Peter must certainly affect Paul.

The student now faces a dilemma! He or she has to decide whether they want to be an Accountant or a Financial Head. The easy access to becoming an Accountant by just a mere college degree would get them placed but in the long run, it does not provide a career path to higher levels in the field of Corporate Finance. To achieve this, they need to qualify to become a Chartered Accountant a Company Secretary or a Cost Accountant. The obvious choice would be to aspire to be a Chartered Accountant as that provides immense opportunities within and outside. The question now faced by the youth is how to qualify within the best and efficient paths available to him. This is where he would start looking at a global perspective and one source that they would jump at is ACCA. It is widely known that an ACCA qualified professional is in high demand in over 180 countries as they have been in charge of Financial accounting for decades.