A DIFFERENT STEP

Photo: Prabir Das

Hasan Shams Ahmed is a CIMA Course Leader and Lecturer for the Financial Pillar at LCBS Dhaka. Right after high school, Ahmed opted for something unconventional -- not signing up for an undergraduate degree.

"I started CIMA right after my A Levels and from the beginning I found that it ensured my personal warehouse of knowledge," says Ahmed. "As I progressed I experienced a holistic set of skills from a very practical perspective and with that badge I was able to enter a job in a leading UK retailer as well as perform to a standard that was lauded by many and climb the ladder to success very rapidly."

Candidates who choose to pursue an academic career as well as CIMA will benefit tremendously by having the best of both worlds, adds Hasan. "The academic side will deepen their knowledge while CIMA will orient them strongly with the practical world of business and effective decision-making."

Hasan speaks of how change is one of the major elements of CIMA, in a good way of course. "Change is a part of the natural process of evolution and CIMA integrates this as part of membership," he says.

"Continuous Professional Development or CPD involving areas of training from human capital management to technical skills such as big data manipulation are what we all have to keep abreast of on a regular basis. Just because we are done with giving exams does not mean that our learning stops at any one point."