For a better emplyment

When I got admitted in North South University, BBA degree used to rule the job market. Almost all companies looked for the candidates with BBA degree. But Before I could complete my BBA, job market started to shift toward MBA degree. By the time I completed my graduation, job market totally moved to MBA holders. Now companies look for candidates with MBA holders. They want MBA holders even in the lower posts where graduation is not required.

In other countries MBA is treated as a professional degree like Chartered Accountant (CA), Chartered Management Accountants (CMA) or other degrees. In those countries, number of MBA holders are very few. But in Bangladesh MBA is not a professional degree anymore. It have become an academic course as there are plenty of people with MBA degree.  Because there are lots of MBA holder in the market, BBA holders are falling behind in the job market. Therefore almost all graduates thinks of getting a MBA degree.

Till yesterday, I used to think what new qualification companies might want in their job candidates as there are lots of MBA holders. Today morning I got my answer when I saw a circular. It’s for DBA from IBA. IBA is the first institution in Bangladesh to introduce DBA. DBA means Doctor of Business Administration. It is treated as Ph.D in business sector or business study. I know soon other top universities and then other universities will start offering DBA. And lots of people will run after DBA degree in order to differentiate in job market.

Then I started to think, how long people will study to get a good job? People in our country kept studying and getting new degrees with a dream to get a good job which will give them attractive salary and attractive position. But as this type people increase every day, options increases for the employers too. They want highly qualified candidates for low positions which might not need any qualification at all. As DBA have been introduced in Bangladesh, people will start running after this degree and soon companies will make it a requirement for entry-level jobs.

I was thinking how to avoid dependence on degrees to make a livelihood. The answer I came up with was to avoid the tendency of getting a job. There will always be some new degrees. And people will run after those degrees to differentiate in the job market and get a good job. But if we don’t have any tendency to run after job, we wouldn’t have to take the hassle to achieve those higher degrees. Instead of running after jobs, people should start small businesses. They should become a small entrepreneur. If people don’t want to lead posh lifestyle, small business might be enough to make livelihood and maintain an average lifestyle. The amount of time and money people spends for getting degrees, a person might had a successful business  if those are spent for small business. If people trend to start small business, this country will have lots of small entrepreneurs and who knows, they might become giant entrepreneurs someday.

Year-end calculation of life!

So another year is gone. 2012 is joining in the page a history. It came with a buzz of dooms day. Mostly people will remember 2012 as a possible year of doomsday. Apart from that 2012 was a historic year for the world. US election, Financial crisis of Greece, London Olympics, Crisis in Gaza and many other important events. For my country, Bangladesh, 2012 memorable too. Many major events took place during the year but unfortunately very few of them are good for the country. But today I’m not writing anything about my country or about the world. Today I will write about my self and was 2012 for me. As an accountant, we have to prepare financial statements at the end of an accounting period. Tonight I set down for the year-end calculation of life.

2012 was a year of expectation, achievement and failure to me. I had so many expectations and targets for 2012. I was able to meet some of them and failed to do others. Through out the year, I experienced many things for the first time. Some of them are memorable for life time and others are ok. But now let me begin the year-end calculation of my life.

Expectations:

1) I was in a turning point of my life when 2012 started. I just finished my internship and was waiting for the grade. I was in so confused about what to do next. I had so many options in my hand. I needed to think very carefully and choose a path. People around me gave different types of advises. I analyzed them very carefully but still had many good alternatives. I was expecting to overcome this situation and choose the right path.

2) When I entered in undergrad program, my target was to achieve CGPA at least 3.50 out of 4.00. When I was waiting for intern grade, I calculated and found that my CGPA will be stuck at 3.49. I was expecting to get an “A” so that it could push my CGPA to 3.50

3) My friend circle always try to organize an annual trip. I was expecting to have another tour in 2012. I never been to Cox’s Bazar and saint martin’s island before 2012. Though these are very common place for tour, I never had the chance to go there. I was hopping to go this time around. Although I had another reason to go there and that was to meet with my girlfriend.

4) I got admitted in ICMAB on December 2011. I was so serious with it. I started to study hard and prepare for the exams. I was expecting to appear in April 2012 exam.

5) When I finished my internship, I was offered a job at that organization. I refused their offer with a plan to study CA. To be a CA was my childhood dream. During November & December of 2011, I applied in different CA firm to join in. However, I did not get any response. I was Expecting that I could start my CA study by 2012.

6) I was expecting to get enrolled in ICAB as quickly as possible so that I can attend in June 2013 exam (it takes almost 18 months).

7) I was expecting to finish reading all the books of CA 1st level (Knowledge level of professional stage) and then start reading 2nd level books.

these were the expectations I started 2012 with. My plan was to fulfill all those expectations by 2012. Now lets come to the my achievements in 2012.

Achievements:

During 2012 I had following achievements.

1) During 2012 I completed my graduation from North South University. I scored my expected CGPA. Though I achieved it not the way I planned. But still I scored CGPA 3.5 out of 4.00. It took me 13 semesters to complete my BBA. Though I planned to finish it by 11 semester. I could actually finish it by 11 semester. But later I changed my plan. Anyway, that’s another story.

2) We had the tour I mentioned in expectation part. Me and my friends went for a week-long tour. Our route was Dhaka–Chittagong-Bandorban-Cox’s Bazar-Saint Martin’s island-Cherea dip-Cox’s bazar-Chittagong-Dhaka. It was a wonderful journey. We had so much fun. And yes, I meet with my girl friend. I won’t never forget that day.

3) I overcame with my confusion and determined to pursue my childhood dream; to be a CA.

4) On April 2012, I joined in A. Qasem & Co. Chartereed Accountants. It is one of the renowned CA firm and the first CA firm in Bangladesh. I got ICAB registration on June and will appear in May-June 2013 exam.

5) I passed one of two subject exam I appeared in ICMAB. Now I’m done with 500 marks of 2100 marks to get ACMA degree.

6) I start auditing. By the end of 2012, I have audited 7 organizations. I went out of Dhaka couple of times for auditing purpose.

7) I finished reading more than half of the books of CA level 1.

I also had few small achievements during 2012. Now let me jump to the failure section.

Failure

Though I achieved many things, I had few failure during 2012. Fortunately the numbers of failure is not that high.

1) I was not able to push my CGPA with intern grade. I had to get back to university for another course. I took taxation course to replace the working capital management course. This increased my CGPA to 3.50. Although my number of credit hours increased.

2) I got several promising and lucrative job offer but I refused them all. Even though I had the opportunity, I did not accept any job offer. Though I am not considering this one as my failure. Instead I should treat it as my strength to stay determined.

3) I failed to finish reading all the books of CA level 1. Still continuing my reading process.

4) I appeared in August 2012 exam of ICMAB. I attended two exams. I passed in one and failed in another. The subject I failed in was Intermediate financial accounting, the subject I like and the subject I thought I was good at.

Loss

During the year I lost my eldest aunt (paternal side). She used to love me so much. I too cared for her. I pray to Allah to bless her soul and put her to Jannah. Another loss of the year  is my friends. I lost communication with most of my friends. After joining in a CA firm, I restrained myself from friends so that I can focus on my ICAB & ICMAB studies. Also I became too busy with auditing. I sincerely hope that my friends don’t forget me. I will get back to them as soon as I finish my articular period or I become a chartered accountant. Till then, I hope they all will be well.

Performance analysis:

During our audit, we do lots of performance analysis. I think I should do a bit of analysis on my performance, expectations, achievements and failure. Despite of failures, the whole year was great for me. I am still following the path I have chosen. I’m still perusing the strategies I prepared for my life. 2012 was ultimately a great year for me. after 2003-5, I got another great year. It is the year when I took the control of the path of my life. I stayed still in the turning points of my life.

2012 was good for me. I hope 2013 will be good too. I hope 2013 will be good for us, our country and for the world. I pray to Allah for our bright future.

Now we are in new year’s eve. Only few moments left before we enter in 2013.  I’m hopping you all are prepared to accept 2013 and let go 2012. Thanks for reading the blog and I’m wishing you Happy new year!!!

 

Professional Acknowledgement

I have completed 16 years of academic education in November 2011 as I finished my undergrad from North South University (NSU). With this 16 years of schooling I have earned a good academic qualification. But my Student status did not changed. Now I am a student of both Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) & Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB), two recognized accounting body of Bangladesh. After achieving good academic qualification, now I aiming to achieve professional qualification. In our current job market setting, no one can prosper unless one has some professional qualification. By professional degree I did not mean professional experience. Experience is one thing and qualification is another. While achieving the qualification you will become experienced.  Anyway, as a process of achieving professional qualification, I am aiming to achieve two respected professional degree , CA & CMA, simultaneously.

One might say that it is difficult to achieve these two degrees simultaneously. Of-course it is difficult but it is not impossible. I am mainly focusing on CA and trying to complete CMA as both covers interrelated topics.

I appeared in any professional exam for the first time in August 2012 exam of CMA. I appeared in two exams (IFA & IT) of CMA Level 1. Earlier I have been exempted from appearing in all four exams of Foundation level. By the way, CMA have 5 levels including foundation level. Each level covers 4 subjects. After completing all the curses, a student have to undergo in internship. Including internship, CMA is an exam of 2100 marks. Anyway, I had quite an experience while appearing in the exams. They are different from academic exams. My exams were good even though I was not satisfied with IFA exam.

The result of August 2012 exam was published yesterday. I have passed in IT but failed in IFA. I  also noticed that only 3 student passed the IFA exam. I really felt bad as i failed in accounting for the first time. I have studied Accounting for last 9 years and yet I could not pass the exam. Later I did some calculation. I found out that I have already completed 500 marks out of 2100. B receiving exemption, I have completed 400 marks of foundation level and as I passed in one subject i passed another 100 marks. In total I  have completed 500 marks which is 24% of the total requirement of CMA degree. This cheered me up a bit. Moreover i felt good when I thought that I have been acknowledged by a professional body that I am good at IT.

Now I am preparing for December 2012 exam. I am planning to appear in remaining 3 exams level 1. Also I am preparing for the May-June 2012 exam of CA. Pray for me.

 

When life gets busy

January 2012 to March 2012. Life was good during this 3 months. No office No work. Just go to university & ICMA for classes. That was nothing as it was only twice in a week. I could sleep whenever I wanted. I could wake up as much late as I wanted to be. Life was best.

But all good time has an end. For me it was March 31. On April 1st, one of my aunt ( paternal side) died. However, in the same date I got called twice. Once for an interview at trust bank and another was to join in A. Qasem & co which is a chartered accountant firm and affiliated with PwC. It was my deam to be an Chartered Accountant. So I joined in. And that is why my life got busy.

No, I am not telling that my life got busy because I joined in CA firm. There were several other things. You might know that I was attending an extra semester and North South University (NSU). As the semester was close to the end, pressure for studying was increasing. My result of first two mid term did not meet my expectation. Therefore I was studying hard for the final exam. Also I had to think about the quiz and the assignment for the course I was attending.

By now you might know that me & my friend Reaz run a joint-initiative under the name SPSS Assistant (Visit: http://www.facebook.com/spss.assistant). Till march we had no client. However we faced the pick time during the semester, I was getting lots of calls from people asking for assistance and suggestion about SPSS. We took several request and working on them. At a certain point we crossed our limit. However we were still getting calls for assistance. This time people started pushing and requesting emotionally. So we had no other choice but to take some more requests. Till now we are working on them.

Our clients were putting us on tight schedule. We could hardly manage but yet we completed what we were requested for. We had to work till late night and start again in the morning untill it was time to go office.

I mentioned earlier that I joined in A. Qasem & Co. Chartered Accountants firm. It is a full time job. I have to be present from 9:30 in the morning to till 5:00 in the afternoon. By the time I reach home, it is already post evening. last few days of the month I had start working on SPSS assistant’s project when I got back at home. I had very few time for chitchat or for facebooking. I missing my usual life.

Today I am done with my final exam at north south university. Also I don’t have  pressure to work for spss assistant. Just tonight I got time for myself. Tonight I will sleep well. But from tomorrow life will be busy again. Although I won’t have work much for spss assistant during the days left in this month, I will remain busy. I will get back in my study. I have to make up for the lost days. I have to work for fulfilling my dream.

As life goes on!!!

It has been a while since I wrote something. I may have played lazy but that is not entirely my fault. I got busy with my life and a busy man needs his rest. I know my resting period was too long. But what can I do? I am a lazy man after all. 😛

Talking about life, I returned to university for one more semester. Although I was supposed to finish my Bachelor on December, I extended it up to April. I have taken a single course in this semester and the course is about taxation. There are some reasons for extending this semester which will I tell later. Apart from the university, I am also got admitted in CMA under ICMAB. Thus life became busy.

After I finished my intern, I took some time for myself. Moreover I needed some time to complete my intern report and submit it. It took 2 weeks to submit my report. After the submission, I asked myself what to do next. More I asked, more I got confused.

I was offered a job where I did my intern. But I refused the for several reason. I will share the reasons in another blog. But one of the reasons was to join in a Chartered Accountant firm as I wanted to be an CA. I submitted my CV to some CA firms earlier. So I was waiting for their call.  Then I found one of my friend got admitted in CMA. Although I knew about it but I never considered it as an option. I did research on CA & CMA. Then I found that syllabus of both professional degrees are almost same and somewhat similar to my courses in my bachelor.  So at the end of December, I too got admitted in CMA.

While doing research on those degrees, I found that both degree contains a course on Taxation. In my bachelor I was also offered the course. However I didn’t took it. So I decided to do the course in order to understand the basics of taxation hoping that it will come in handy in future. Then I extended one more semester of my bachelor just for this taxation course. There was another reason and that was to push my CGPA little higher so that I can touch 3.50 in scale of 4.00.

After my class started at North South University, I discovered two more plus point for extending one semester. First, I got the opportunity to use the big library of my university to study CMA materials. Second, I could promote SPSS Assistant to other fellow students who are doing intern in this semester or will do in next. SPSS Assistant is a join initiative of my friend Reaz Haq and mine. Through SPSS Assistant we offer professional help in SPSS Analysis and interpretation of intern report, marketing research or any other kind of statistical research.

I got too confused after my intern. But I overcome all the confusions and took a strong decision. No matter how confused we are or how troubled we are,  We will overcome everything with time. And as long as we are alive, our life will go on…..