BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Being a student can be quite daunting, especially if you’re unsure about the path you’re on. It’s easy to simply follow a career path because of what others have observed about you and your abilities, or even walk away from a passion because of insecurities.
KPMG director and audit partner, Zimkita Mabindla has penned down words that help youg people who are in-between about their studies in finance.
“I get a lot of young people asking for career advice, specifically whether they should remain within the audit profession. My answer is a resounding “YES”. I gave a presentation to our 3rd years, two weeks ago. Our value proposition to you has never changed:
1) We invest heavily in your CA brand. Its safety is of paramount importance to us. We provide wrap-around safety for your hard-earned brand. We were there with you every step of the way. We know what on qualifying as a CA(SA), you’re capable of. We structure your work accordingly. We’ll not ask you to take on risky tasks and shame you when you don’t have the knowledge.
2) There’s safety in numbers, and in the network of fellow CAs. We offer you opportunities to build your relationship, and intellectual capital. We offer experts to give you continued support, and to nurture you in the safety of your firm. We continue walking your leadership journey with you. We’ve invested heavily. We know how hard you’ve worked. This ensures that there are limited opportunities to compromise the integrity of your brand, and you can consult widely, if those instances occur.
The times I faced, what seemed to me to be ethical dilemmas while outside the firm environment, I felt extremely isolated. Fortunately I’d stayed in the firm longer in my career than out, so I’d amassed relationship capital and networks with some of the experts. They came through for me. Hence I believe in the strength of building a network of experts.
3) We expose you to C-Suite executives early in your career path. We’re focused on developing “Confident leaders of sustainable organizations” and we expose you to successful leaders early on. When I ventured into “commerce”, I was surprised by the number of people I met who’d never met or presented to C-Suite executives, I’d done so since my early 20’s.
4) We train you to be thought leaders. We train you to give opinions and invaluable input to public policy, legislation, standards and best practice. We train you to inform strategies, facilitate implementation. We train you to have integrity to understand that you serve public interest daily, through doing your jobs and doing those excellently. We train you to be focused and resilient. We train you to be change makers and leaders and not just doers of tasks.
Before you make your decisions, I’m going to ask you to pause and reflect a little. Don’t make hasty decisions.
Above all for me though, audit firms have produced thousands of leaders for our country and the world. It’s our purpose. The core of our existence. Who’ll nurture the next generation of leaders if we don’t try? Who’ll ensure the sustainability of our profession?
I believe this with my whole heart – The profession is infinitely more important than any individuals or individual corporate brands. We have a track record of developing for our country and the world, a sustainable pipeline of magnificent leaders.”
Image: LinkedIn
