Nadeem is a Chartered Accountant who qualified whilst working at PwC. In this interview we explore not only his tips on how to succeed in the Big4 but also his time at university. A common theme he shares is one of self-reflection and having an honest conversation with yourself about where you strengths and weaknesses lie. Lets dive straight into how and what gave Nadeem his first interest in becoming a chartered accountant.
1) How did you actually know you wanted to work in accounting?
To begin with, my dad was also a chartered accountant so from an early age I was able to have some unique insight into the role. But I also realised that my father and I have very different personalities. I’m also blessed that my mother worked as a business analyst and she also shared her experiences with me. Ultimately, I looked at my strengths and asked myself, “What am I good at? What do I enjoy?” I think I’m very process driven and efficient. It was actually a career in operations where I thought I’d end up.
My first work experience indeed did come in operations where I shadowed the operations director at Islamic Relief. They had a scheme where I was able to become operations director for a day and sit in their roles. I enjoyed the experience a lot and it then became a case of finding people in similar roles, looking at what they have and figuring out what I was missing and how to achieve those skills.
My research led me to the understanding that the majority of people in those roles had accounting backgrounds and specifically Big4 experiences. This was the start of my motivation for working at the Big4.
2) You said the personalities between your dad and you were quite different, so why did you think you could succeed as an accountant?
I would say I’m probably a natural auditor! No matter what personality type you have, work will always be hard. For myself it was a case of getting your head down but also realising that in any job there’s bits which one enjoys and bits that one doesn’t.
But it’s about when you find parts of a role you enjoy, you grab these opportunities with both hands and you mould the role to suit your individual strengths. I’d say with audit there’s two elements; the technical element and the managerial element. Picking one of those, I prefer the management element a lot more. Succeeding in any job is about understanding yourself and playing to your strengths. Also when you realise a gap in the knowledge, it is about seeking to try to fill that gap.
In terms of how hard accounting is – it’s really about how hard you’re willing to graft and to push. It all comes down to that. For me, it was about getting that qualification and grinding through the three years and I’m not going to lie, it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Studying for the ACA whilst working is super difficult, but it’s about looking long term and remembering why you started it.
3) Taking a step back from work, during university you were part of the ISoc. For incoming university students – what is ISoc?
The Islamic society (ISoc) was genuinely a huge part of my life. ISoc is basically a place where Muslims can feel at home, especially when they’re away from home. At university there’s a lot of big changes and it’s a place where hopefully you can be yourself, find like-minded people and attend events which are halal.
An important part of ISoc is it’s also a place where you can make friends that you will keep throughout your life. I was actually fortunate enough to be involved in a college ISoc before I went to university so I was familiar with the set-up.
I would say to any person who’s interested in joining ISoc as a member or on the committee, ISoc teaches you so many skills that will help you in your professional life. Managing and leading a team, public speaking, fundraising, organising events, conflict resolution are all invaluable skills.
Of course what I did during my time at ISoc was not only for the CV but rather because I’m passionate about it and because I want to help different communities. I realised that these experiences have actually helped me become such a well-rounded individual. For example, I’ve never attended any public speaking workshops but I got to lead and talk at events with more than 300 people.
4) You were also the president of your university’s ISoc. What does the ISoc president do?
As president, you’re in charge of the committee and it’s a 24/7 role. You set the vision and goals and work with the committee to implement them in events and experiences for students.
Fresher’s week is probably the most important week for the ISoc’s committee. A lot of Muslims are coming to university with many away from home for the first time.
Generally speaking there’s two groups of students. It’s either, “I’m away from my parents and I want to better myself and I want to keep myself strong-minded and be conscious of the dangers of going to university in this country (being exposed to alcohol and the environment)”. Those students are aware of that reality and they want to protect themselves from it. The second group are individuals who come to university and think “right, mum and dad aren’t here. I want to enjoy myself and have the time of my life and leave my old self behind”.
I want to make clear there is no judgement if a Muslim decides to go and enjoy themselves at a club, nor anyone to stop or question them. But this is why I think Fresher’s week is so crucial. Students who might actually have been interested in clubbing but don’t pursue it – see ISoc and meet brothers and sisters and rather make friends there. This is why its important for ISoc to be active and inclusive. That’s why my vision was really to bring people together, and focus on creating that aspect of community and unity
5) Following the same theme, how has it been working as a Muslim?
On that front I’ve not faced any issues with me being a Muslim or me portraying myself as openly Muslim.
We love that Nadeem is passionate about explaining what life as a Muslim is like and here is an article he wrote for his workplace to assist in explaining Ramadan to everyone!
I think it’s great when people openly portray themselves as Muslim but you have to back that up in every way. Now, for example, if you’re someone who’s a confident Muslim, but you’re logging in at 10am instead of 9am your manager (like anyone) will be subconsciously thinking all Muslims are like this.
That’s not us. We’e better than that. We should hold ourselves to a very high regard and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be the hardest working.
6) What are some of your standout tips to apply to the Big 4?
The Big4 is an extremely competitive environment. Looking at some recent stats, there were 2,000 graduate offers out of 70,000 applicants, which gives a 2.8% acceptance rate. But one thing I would say is don’t ever let that put you off applying.
My main tips are: you have to put your best foot forward, know your strengths and what you’re good at and play to them. Generally speaking with the Big4, there are two elements to the application process. One is the technical side and the other is the personal element.
When applying I already knew I was very strong on the interview side and I knew that if I got to the interview stage I’d have a good chance of getting an offer. During my internship applications however I remember I didn’t practice the technical side since “I’m doing a maths degree, how hard can a numerical test really be?” …… and I got four rejections on the first stage.
I was shocked at first but it did teach me a valuable lesson in terms of always being prepared. Following the rejections I bought a package called Assessment Day, which basically gives you numerical, verbal reasoning and situation of judgement practice questions. The next summer I worked on the questions everyday to improve that side of me.
I want to also mention that it’s crucial to know yourself and what your employer is looking for when going into an interview. Often in an interview, you’ll be asked for stories about yourself with a popular one being; “tell me about time you failed and how you overcame that failure?” A lot of the time when the candidates first hear this question, they think “I’ve never failed” and respond as such. It’s absolutely fine to make mistakes, but how did you learn from them? And you’ll only know that from knowing yourself.
Lastly, most students haven’t put themselves out there during university and they’re what I call a vanilla candidate, You go uni and just get your degree.
But you haven’t actually done anything. You haven’t got any interests or hobbies. It’s important that you’re able to draw on experiences, hobbies and extra-curricular activities from your time at uni. For example, I was a swimmer when I was younger which involved a lot of discipline to succeed at it. All of these activities carry invaluable experiences and impress your interviewers.
7) Having worked for a couple of years now, what are some of the differences in reading about accounting and doing it?
I’d say some unknown aspects are simple things like the firm’s software. Each accountancy firm such as KPMG, Deloitte, Grant Thornton or BDO are all using different softwares and processes which you have to be able to learn to do your day job. Because of some firms taking different approaches to be competitive you often get to use emerging technology. I’ve myself used tools that can directly read PDFs and this is one of the benefits of working in a firm where there is a high level of investment in their software.
The firm’s culture will also differ between places. Some places allow flexi working, some have generous expense policies whilst others let you work remote. Those subtle things do definitely change how you are on a day to day basis.
Your clients also differ between firms. Some of my friends have been auditing really small firms for which there’s pros and cons e.g. on a small firm you end up seeing the whole process and the different components of the audit. So understanding the type of clients you’ll work with also shapes how and what you learn about accounting.
It’s important to remember that accountancy is a very highly regulated profession. As a member of the ICAEW, which is the governing body, you have to make sure that you don’t do anything that would bring the profession into disrepute.
8) How can accountants expect their role to change over the first 5 years?
In the first year, it’s about finding one’s feet and understanding the processes. Whilst the second year is spent coaching and making sure that those junior to you are comfortable. If they don’t understand a piece of work your job is to explain things to them. It’s your job to also integrate them into the team and into the firm’s culture. As your progress you’ll become responsible for overseeing the work and providing feedback of more junior staff.
When you get promoted to manager you get involved in managerial projects such as budgeting. Overall across the Big4 firms, the progression is quite structured and so the responsibilities and requirements are known in advance of how to succeed.
It’s important to remember that accountancy is a very highly regulated profession. As a member of the ICAEW, which is the governing body, you have to make sure that you don’t do anything that would bring the profession into disrepute.
You’ll be doing countless number of ethical and integrity trainings on a periodic basis. Making sure your work is not just accurate but true and fair is a big part of the daily job. This behaviour is expected from day 1.
9)You’ve know got your Chartered Accountant qualification. What’s next in your career?
So essentially move my career up in operations. I see myself in the next 10-15 years being at an operations director or a CFO level, Insha’Allah. But along that journey I’m sure I’ll find different opportunities, ones which I’m not expecting. So I know I have to be open to accepting different career paths which could cause my plans to change!
10) Final Four
LinkedIn Profile
