Dundee+ACCA or Birmingham+CIMA?

Good Day Jarus team,

Thank you for the wonderful job you are doing, may Allah bless you all. My name is Yusuf, a graduate of accounting from ATBU Bauchi with 2.1 and many scholarships and awards like BGS, NLNG, Total, Petrobras, FGN, etc. I am presently doing my NYSC with the hope of getting a job at my alma mater as Graduate Assistant and an opportunity to go for my Msc, but my problem is the way my friends who are lecturers complain about the job. I’m thinking of starting the lecturing job before something big comes.

Please I need your professional advice on whether to go for MSc Accountancy at University Of Dundee, UK with 9 exemptions (F1-F9) in ACCA or Msc Accounting and Finance at Birmingham City University with exemption in management and strategic level of CIMA. I know ICAN will come to your mind, I was not able to write ICAN because I’m somehow busy. I have family and age is not by my side. I already registered and paid my exemption but as things stand I don’t think I can pass ICAN in Nigeria.

Thanks.

Yusuf

____________

Dear Yusuf,

NAJEEM EWESESAN, ACA,ACCA

What I can see is that you are concerned about the University, probably with the accompanying exemptions. If that is the case, I suggest you check world Universities ranking over a period of 3 years and decide which is better. Concerning your resolve to lecture in the University, I advise that you pursue that vigorously and don’t ever be discouraged by comments credited to your friends. You should pursue it and remain focused on that. I can assure you that you won’t regret taking that route. It may be difficult at the beginning which is common to most jobs across the industries. All you need is dedication and being focused. If you are unable to write ICAN because you know you can’t pass because of other commitments, why not set it aside for now and pursue the MSc. which is a major requirement for lecturing. However, the reasons of marrige and being a father do not make it impossible for you to pass ICAN, its only your dedication and readiness that you need after financial readiness. I wish you the best of luck.

THE JARUS VERDICT

Although I am more inclined to you picking up a job in the private sector or a good public sector entity (e.g CBN, NNPC), I reason with Najeem that all of us cannot be in this 9-5 private sectors jobs. We need good hands in our universities as well. I therefore agree with him that you should ignore the seeming short run inadequate reward and pursue your lecturing passion, moreso as that appears readily available to you.

On the Dundee vs Birmingham part, since you are coming back to Nigeria, I think ACCA sells more in NIgeria, so Dundee/ACCA combination takes the nod for me. With exemption in 9 subjects, you have just 4 to write to qualify as an ACCA accountant.

All the best.

Jarus

For other treated career related cases: Ask The Eggheads

For CV matters: CV Review

For more discussions on education and careers, join our forum, HOTPROFORUM

CV Review

Interview Preparation

Career Guide

Career School

Career Networking

Professional Networking

For more articles on careers, subscribe free to JarusHub

[subscribe2]