Jobaaj Stories
In this edition of Jobaaj stories, we bring you the story of Avik Mittal, CPA Australia, and a qualified Chartered Accountant from India.
A typical story of a middle-class guy soaring to the heights of success purely on the basis of his determination and hard work! (Yup, a deluxe package of inspiration)
Inspiration is often derived from struggle and the ensuing success, and so in those terms, this story is going to be rife with inspirational cheese!
So let's get started!
Avik Mittal's Search for Inspiration
Avik's story starts from the town of Shahpur situated in Uttar Pradesh where he was born. He did his initial schooling from Shahpur and then moved on to Muzzaffarnagar to complete his secondary school education.
Although he started as a bright student, the simultaneous change of environment and city jeopardized much of his academic profile.
That, apart from the pressure on him to own up his family business made him choose the stream of commerce instead of science which he coveted.
But turns out that worked well, for ultimately commerce led him to pursue his true passion which he later found out to be Chartered Accountancy.
After finishing up with 12th, he took up admission to Delhi University and enrolled in Bcom Hons. The thought of pursuing CA had still not crossed his mind.
Avik's Journey Towards a Life of Accountancy
It was while graduating from DU that he started his CA preparation as well. The inspiration was given to him by one of his friends and so he put all his efforts into this goal.
His parents were a bit skeptical considering his past academic records but he kept going on.
And finally, the day came when Avik Mittal lived up to his words and cleared the CA intermediate in this first attempt (chills right!!)
Around this time he was also working on an internship with ASA & Associates LLP so he was juggling both the internship and his preparation for the CA final.
Though he was not able to clear his CA final exam on the first attempt, the resulting remorse made him work twice as hard. He burned the midnight oil and studied for more than 16 hours in those days to finally be able to crack his CA final exam at the second attempt in May 2017. (Seems to be straight from a kickass anime show)
Entering The Corporate World
His experience in his internship with the CA firm gave him much valuable insight and experience. He also got several job offers from the clients that he served in his internship.
After completing his CA, he wanted to move on to work at an MNC, and he got abundant offers for that too, but he sustained his work at the CA firm because of the fact that he wanted to work at a managerial position if he were to change firms.
His work with the firm was impeccable and he dealt with many international clients as well.
One such client was the France-based company Criteo (listed on NASDAQ so you can understand that it was a pretty big deal). He was working on a special project concerned with Criteo which he executed very efficiently and resourcefully. He was thus offered the job of Finance Manager, India from the MNC which he dutifully accepted.
His aspiration of working in an MNC was thus fulfilled. But he was ready for more.
Getting Ready for CPA Australia
If it is the first time you have heard about CPA Australia, it's because most people tend to go for CPA US. But CPA Australia is a coveted course for its own reasons.
After completing CA, Avik went on to pursue LLB and CS alongside working with Criteo (Yup! He was a different breed). But he wanted to add some international qualification to his portfolio and so he began to do his research.
After comparing various CA, CPA as well as CFA courses of various countries, he finally decided to go for CPA Australia.
A very important factor behind his decision to go for CPA Australia was the fact that there is an MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) between ICPA Australia and ICAI, a CA qualified from the ICAI needs only to qualify through one major exam called “Global Strategy and Leadership” with a minimum score of 60% along with some online training and exams. CPA Australia is also very much globally recognized, less expensive, and is qualifiable from India.
As he was pursuing CPA Australia, he also got the opportunity of taking over the finance function of Criteo Australia which helped him further understand the Australian working environment and its laws in a practical manner.
Thus, he was successfully able to conclude his goal of an international qualification and it benefitted him greatly in his professional run.
You would think that all these academic and professional qualifications would make a guy reluctant to want to study anymore, but not in this case.
A fun fact to note here is that Avik has also completed LLB ( The audacity of being so powerful!).
Currently, Avik Mittal is pursuing an MBA from NMIMS University and is also at the final level of his CS qualification. He is also currently learning the French Language and has already completed the beginners level in it.
In Avik's own words, “I will definitely go for more learning opportunities in the future for my motto is 'keep updating yourself'”
Words of Conclusion From The Man Himself
Here are some words of inspiration from Avik Mittal to aspiring accountants,
“Work on yourself and decide where you want to see yourself in the next 10 years. Appreciate taking risks and doing something different.
Today, young professionals either choose to be an entrepreneur as part of their career goal or become a part of the industry. However in both scenarios, if you are a qualified CA then having an additional qualification like MBA or CPA etc would be a great add-on. It will help you to grow much faster in the career you have chosen.
Moreover, it is a competitive world so we have to keep updating ourselves not only on the latest developments in the world of finance & audit but also in Technology. Because not being able to adapt to new technologies, could be another reason for falling behind the competition.
In the end, remember about the learning curve. There will be pitfalls along any career path, so we have to overcome them without the fear of falling behind.”
This story about Avik Mittal is brought to you by Jobaaj Stories in association with Jobaaj.com
If you are an Accounting enthusiast, then you better not leave before checking our article, Famous Indians who are actually CAs.
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