BRINGING BACK SOME STORIES
I've been doing so many skincare reviews lately I've totally left out on the "My Stories" side of my blog. It's been a while since I last talked about my studies / profession and I've received quite a few emails from you guys on this. So let's talk about why I went for CFAB-ICAEW instead of CAT-ACCA (from now onwards I will just use ICAEW and ACCA) because this is by far the most asked question haha.
UNDERSTANDING THE FLOW
I've talked about each Level of ICAEW in detail here in this older post in 2017. You can click on that link to learn about how are the study schedule like in Sunway TES and what papers are in which level. It will help you in understanding what I am about to share better.
I HEARD IT IS MORE PRESTIGIOUS
Since my dad's era, ICAEW has been renowned for the prestige it gives to its members. It was reasonable back then because those who wanted to become an ACA back then could only get the title if they studied in the UK. Fast forward to 2018, ICAEW is now available in Malaysia and many other countries. But that kind of prestige has not diminished because now when I tell people in my firm that I'm an ICAEW student, they will still give me the "Oh you're doing ICAEW!" look.
WHY IS THAT SO?
I would say it links to the toughness in actually attaining the qualification. ICAEW has this rule where you have to pass each paper in four attempts (only applicable to Certificate and Professional Level papers, you get unlimited attempts when you reach Advanced Level) whereas ACCA doesn't. This sets the two papers apart because once you fail four times in ICAEW, you are basically kissing the ICAEW qualification goodbye forever.
THE PAPERS TOO
In terms of exam syllabus, ICAEW focuses more on the practical knowledge. Instead of throwing out straightforward questions that require you to memorise tonnes of theories that you may never use in the next 20 years of your working life, it tests you on your ability to bring all related topics together and use it on a daily life situation. It's hard to explain this one in detail without showing you an exam question. But this is why I like ICAEW so much.
Erm.. I.. erm.. hi! LOL!
WHAT DO I MEAN: PRACTICAL 1
When I was doing the Professional Level, my favourite paper was Business Strategy (we also call it BS LOL because if you are good at BS-ing you can easily score this one HAHA). There was a lot of theories we had to go through and understand but it was never meant for us to just remember them and have them penned down on the day of exam. During the exam, they will give us a story of a business and present us with a few issues hidden in the two-page story. From there we have to identify and propose solutions based on what we have learnt and apply those theories practically.
WHAT DO I MEAN: PRACTICAL 2
This is exactly what I need and am actually doing in my working life. As an auditor, part of our job includes the need to write analytical reviews and prepare issue lists to highlight to clients the issues we found in the course of our audit. What I learnt in BS allows me to do those better than my peers and show a better understanding when it comes to complicated matters because BS has shaped me to think critically.
IT'S A PACKAGE
As a CFAB student, it is compulsory for you to do a three-month internship during the course of your studies. These three months is essentially the best time for you to choose the company you want to work in in the future during your training contract. Okay I understand it is a little confusing here, internship and training contract? What are they? Let me break them into two paragraphs and explain separately.
INTERNSHIP: THE BORING PART
This only last for three months and happens either right after the Certificate Level or in the middle of the Professional Level. You go in as an intern and be prepared to get a lot of scutwork. That includes photostatting, stapler-removing, cellophane-tapping files, delivering documents and so on. Everything there is menial and boring and you really won't get to learn much unless the job you're in is really shorthanded. The benefit? You get to go home on time and no OT is required LOL.
INTERNSHIP: THE INTERESTING PART
However, if you do manage to help out on the core activities (tax - help with tax computation ; audit - help with the sections i.e. auditing the accounts), you will learn a tonne. Those knowledge will give you an advantage when you go back for the rest of your Professional Level papers and help you impress your future employers when you start looking for a permanent job. But you may have to OT a lot, good thing is, intern can claim OT money instead of just hours, so you get to earn extra LOL.
Note:
We are always advised by our lecturer to choose where we want to do our internship carefully and perform well while you are in it because it may affect where you want to work in during your training contract. To me, it is more of an experience-gaining opportunity. But I did feel that it is much easier to land a permanent job in the firm where I did my internship.
TRAINING CONTRACT: OMG CAN I?
Also known as Practical Working Experience (PWE), this is going to last for at least three years and happens only after you have completed your Professional Level. As an ICAEW student, this is the point where our life is considered the toughest for most people. Because we have to study and work at the same time which can be a little tiring. Truth is, if you have completed the Certificate and Professional Levels, you don't have to worry that much.
TRAINING CONTRACT: YES YOU CAN
When it comes the time for you to start attending classes for Advanced Level, you would have been working for at least a year. The one-year study hiatus is a requirement by ICAEW. Also, the classes are scheduled on weekdays. Most firms have firm-approved absence for this so that we don't have to go to work on the days where we have classes. Essentially, if you plan your work ahead and communicate to your bosses beforehand, you can focus on just studying without having to worry about work.
TRAINING CONTRACT: THE PAY?
Okay now this is the cruel part. Because we haven't gotten any qualifications and most of us who went through the CFAB pathway wouldn't have a degree, our pay is significantly lower than those who joined as an ACCA grad or undergrad. It could be slightly unfair since your workload definitely are almost the same as (or even more than) them. But there's nothing we can do about it. They do have a degree in their hand where have spent a few years + tens / hundreds of thousands to complete.
Note:
As a full-time / permanent worker, you usually won't be able to claim any OT money because Malaysian law states that only manual workers / those with income lower than RM2,000 are entitled to OT money. For those above RM2,000, they are subject to the companies' own human resource (HR) policies. For my firm, we get to claim OT hours where we can use to apply for leaves in the future.
I LIKE THIS, WHY?
The main reason I was drawn into ICAEW was because of the internship and the training contract. It basically guarantees me a job because Sunway TES has good relationships with all those big accounting firms in Malaysia that makes it easier for its students to enter. HAHA I am not advertising for Sunway TES here and in no way I am connected to Sunway TES or ICAEW. I just thought if there's an easier way to land a job, why not go ahead for it?
COVERED EVERYTHING?
I think I've covered the most important part of this whole "why ICAEW and not ACCA?" topic. If I've missed out something which you'd like to know, you can always email me or contact me using the contact form on the right if you're using a computer/tablet or at the bottom if you're using your phone. I hope I've answered some of your queries and sorted out your worries and confusion over the internship and the training contract!
Thank you for reading, see you in the next post!
I post new contents on skincare every Tuesday and Friday. Follow me on Bloglovin' so you won't miss it when my next review is up!
All of the above is based on my personal experience and understanding of ICAEW. If you want to know more you can always contact ICAEW or Sunway TES (a quick googling will lead you to their contact information). Read my disclaimer here.
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