Invisible Capital: CMA Compound your Career Growth Series-5

Last time I have covered about the practicing profession needs to be taken ahead. I found many appreciable comments and I also found the readers particularly the new comers in the profession of Cost Accounting are looking ahead for the same https://taxguru.in/chartered-accountant/invisible-capital-cost-accounting-sme-segment-part-4.html . Well today I will discuss about certain areas where the working cost accountants who have joined the fraternity would require in order climbing the corporate ladder.

I have found that new comers into the profession are mostly shaking and feel like worms snail on the ground as they have limited exposure to the field and also they have a feeling that they are only New Comers. Time has come to change and change should be reflected within your body language. This is one of the biggest wrong mindset they develop once they qualify. The biggest mistake they blindly follow the seniors and behave like slaves of them. I might have hurt your emotions but what I felt form the body language I have told you the same. You must accept that your days of being a CMA student are over and now you need to fit into the shoes of the corporate life irrespective of practice or service. You need to move ahead of your own domain of knowledge of cost accounting and learn wide range of subjects which will help you grow and build your career fast. I will be discussing few areas where you will just needs to abide consistency and you will find compounding affect on your career within a short span of time. Well the speed of doing depends on you which will set the pace of growth. Your are the one who can make dramatic changes in your future life and Institute. What you need is a recipe to build your self confidence in your career and professional life while as a CMA.

I have heard and you too that often seniors ask to think big and dream big. Well do that you need to read books so that your mind gets foods for the same and then you become day dreamer. Untill you need the road map how you will reach the destination is big question of thought.

Knowledge is not limited and has no barrier. Pick up books of marketing and start reading them. Yes suddenly I jumped into marketing since that is the key area where we all lack ourselves and we feel like snails. Hence pick up marketing books which you find easy in reading and understanding. Take a copy and make note form the ones in your own language. This will help you to understand how the business is being marketed. How the world of marketing moves and how strategies are being developed to market the same. The more you read on the subject you deve.lop your thoughts and foods for the same. This increases your knowledge level and also gives you words to speak. Read books rather than getting sermons form the seniors as they have their own vision based on which they will impose their thoughts within you.

Now these words to speak are the most important aspect as when you have to be present among few learned and experienced friends, community or social gathering. These words and thought would help you to create a mark and would spate you from the mass. Remember your college days are over and hence you will hardly find some one in the subject topic lines you learnt while doing your CMA course. Read books on case studies of business where you acquire global knowledge of running business, success stories of business, cost management etc.

In between I forgot to mention that many of my young friends are weak in English. Well get into a British council English speaking courses and learn from there as these institutes have well trained programme for the teaching of the same. Avoid local speaking classes as they might deprive you from the same level which is required in the profession world. This is one of the biggest area which will make you feel shaking and nervous in getting in to the higher cycle of your career. Don’t feel that you are incapable time teaches many things and helped us to adjust many thing. In similar ways get up spend your earnings on quality improvement.   This is the key area of investments which is required for an early cost accounting career. The one who does investments in education never finds decline in his professional career. Hence save your earnings and invest regularly. Now reading books and doing English course were the preliminary areas which you need to grow. The more books you read on variety of subjects-remember there are many subjects which are of less relevance to your profession or job in the intial days but later on you will find that these subjects are helping you to climb the career of your corporate ladder. Hence read as much as you can–make note of the same and discuss the same in social websites. Change the topics of your friends circle, this will help you to grow your knowledge and also this improves the quality among your circles.

Join rotary clubs and other business clubs where you grow your corporate groups and friends circles. The biggest advantage is that you get to learn many things at one stroke. Exchange visiting cards and be an observer in the initial days. Don’t open your mouth to prove that you are smart. This will land you to loose many relationships beforehand. Learn and observe as you are new to this culture hence just learn. Once you are a regular visitor and people start liking your presence then plays your cards slowly. The biggest advantage of being a late starter is that you get time to learn from reading books and others body languages, presentation skills etc. Join every social gathering business segments so that you can learn. Remember that knowledge is free and is abundant. The one who takes the gut to drink the whole cup is the winner. Create small groups of friends and get into different business membership groups. Move in groups so that you don’t feel shaky. This will also boost your long term relationships with your friends who might be colleges tomorrow.

Now one of the biggest requirements of the decades is that while in your corporate life or in your practicing you need knowledge about excels and other type of applications. Forget the one you learnt in the Institutes since it is just basics.   You need to learn excel modeling of financial valuations, advanced excel as these are the tools which will be required for your every day’s life. Again I am repeating move ahead from your requirement levels and stretch your selves above of the same. The more you learn the more value and premium job offerings you start getting. Seniors would be able to provide some small break through but the big ones and scaling the career growth will come from investments in education. There are many reputed organization where these trainings are provided. Ask your seniors to guide you regarding the place where such excel modeling is being taught.

All these will add core values to your career when put together. Only attaining meeting of the members meet at Institute would not be of much help. I have heard that members compliant that the institute don’t provide much support for the growth of the profession. Well I don’t want to get into the debate but remember that over the next 10 years you will be replacing the one who is sitting on the Dias of today hence stand and grow up, improvise yourself and get yourself ready for the future. Just look back 5 years back to your life and the current time-what you find is a stark contracts and do remember the next 5 years would be more changed. Hence prepare for the next 5 years. A special Thanks to AMIT APTE for his valuable inputs.

Indraneel Sen Gupta

Global Macro Economic Researcher and Business Strategist

Master of Economics, MBA in International Management, ICWAI (Final)

[email protected]