Who is Muhammed Ismail, what did we chat about?
Muhammed Ismail is a recently qualified CA(SA) who has started his own business, myCAhub. We chatted about a LOT of stuff, so I’ve separated our discussion into a few posts.
In this post, we chatted about his qualification journey, challenges that students face on this journey, some myths and stereotypes we’d like to see disappear, failure, opportunities… and a few other related things!
I’ve broken our chat down into little clips, so you can see what grabs your attention!
Muhammed Ismails' Qualification Journey
We focussed more on his studying, dealing with university and decreasing marks, finding focus and what he learnt from that.
Myth: You need TOP marks to be a CA
Lots of students ask me if they’ll be ok if they’re not getting AMAZING marks while they’re studying…
Are we a little 'narrow-minded'?
We do tend to be pretty obsessed about our studying and our qualification, and I totally understand that… however, we do need to consider whether we’re a little TOO focussed on just ONE thing…
You're more than your qualification
I’ve had loads of discussions with people who are terrified that they’ll be ‘nothing’ if they don’t qualify… and the quiet feeling that your qualification defines you…
Myth: You're NOT the only one struggling
We need to stop perpetuating the idea that this is easy, that everyone’s ok, that you should get stuff right ‘first time’… MOST accounting students are crying themselves to sleep!
The F word - FAILURE
Yup… we went there!
Relearning & Unlearning
The world requires you to be adaptable, and that means relearning stuff, and UNLEARNING stuff too!
Questioning & Opportunities
We’re not really taught to have a questioning mind as accountants… I want you to give some thought to this, and how it impacts opportunities.
Opportunities - MAKE 'em, don't TAKE 'em!
I needed to learn this for myself… I think a lot of others might as well 🙂
