Salam I want to ask for your advice regarding taking CPA / CMA I am a fresh graduate looking for an answer ultimately, I want to work at budgeting and FP&A but I think working at audit will benefit me IDK what to choose
Audit can be a good starting point from which you can go into a range of careers including FP&A. Very rarely have I seen people switch from another career to audit.
As Salam O Alaikum I'm currently an ACCA qualified professional and feeling uncertain about whether to pursue a path in audit focusing on assurance or to venture into the advisory side. My main concern is if I start in audit now and later decide to transition to a financial analyst role after two years, would that be feasible? Would companies value my experience in audit when considering me for a financial analyst position? I'm really struggling with this decision and would appreciate some clarity on the matter.
Wa alaykum as salam yes that’s feasible audit provides many exit opportunities financial analyst, accountant, internal audit, asset management are all examples of areas you can go into from audit
Not the most knowledgeable on FRM but risk is a growing area - it used to be bundled underneath internal audit or assurance but risk has seen a lot of growth so can be good opportunities. I’d just reach out to people who have studied FRM on LinkedIn and ask if it’s needed or helped them progress in their career.
Salam, I just wanted to ask; if you move away from audit, would you expect your salary to drop or increase because you don't really have much experience in that service line?
Wa alaykum as salam I'd say comparable at most maybe a 2-3k drop but anything more than that would be silly - you'll realise a lot of the core skills required to succeed don't revolve around having technical knowledge.
salaam brother i asked you a question before and you replied very quickly so huge thanks jazakAllah. i had another question regarding exit opportunities from audit. i’m starting my aca audit graduate role at grant thornton in autumn, what are your thoughts on job opportunities in the middle east once i’m fully chartered. i’m looking to save for a house but it seems very unrealistic in the uk , so i’d like to speed up the process via working in the middle east . do you think, 1. it’s easy to find opportunities (outside of just audit) in middle east , internal or external 2. it’s worth making this move financially and for career sorry for very long question i’m just very excited to start my accountancy journey. at the end of the day rizq is up to Allah and he is the best of planners
Wa alaykum as Salam so if you want to work in the Middle East I’d say work for an international firm so you can get a transfer to the Middle East. Then once you’re there it should be easier to move around in roles - you may have to start in audit as it’s easier to move across then but then you can move to internal audit.
