For degree students majoring in finance what can we do after graduated?

For corporate finance / IB etc... i feel its hard and im not capable/smart/strong enough to compete in this field.
For bank, just realize mostly what they want is sales sales and sales. Any other choices?

In this case, maybe i need go to accounting field and study ACCA to enhance my competitiveness.

So the problem is I need to restart all over again with only few exemption paper in ACCA yet still slower than those who study account degree + 4 ACCA papers / ACCA. Yes i can definitely study part time while working. But if study part time ACCA then i only can go small/medium companies for 2-3 years instead of PLC/bigger company to focus my working experiences cause i scare that i cant cope it as PLC/big company has more workloads and stress. Should I just go for PLC/big company to gain experiences and working skills or study again in small/medium companies since qualifications is quite important nowadays unless you are very smart/ capable/ strong.

I have sorted out a few paths but no idea which to choose and am I think correctly :-

1. ACCA part time in small/medium audit firm >> PLC/big company after got acca qualification and relevant working experiences >> go back small/medium accounting department as finance/account manager
**Is audit experiences useful to jump to finance manager and other jobs ie treasury, tax etc...or we need to climb the ladder like opt 2 and 3..or we need to start from account exec to become finance/account manager **

2. Go to PLC/big company and climb slowly from exec >> senior >> assist manager >> manager
** To study ACCA I need to sacrifice extra $$, time and effort since i need restart everything again. I'm not young anymore so maybe ACCA is not a good choice**

3. Just go find another role ie treasury, credit controller, bank etc that maybe no that hunger for ACCA qualifications and high supply then climb slowly.
** not very clear about what are the career pathway for other jobs. ie: is it high demand? what I need to do to achieve it etc...**


Just a ordinary person so not really have a super fantastic dream. Just want a job with more secure, work life balance (work harder for future is okay, but work until midnight/no life at all for money is a no no) and try best to reach manager level in current stage.

Please advise and thanks.

you can do CFA what, ACCA for people who wants to focus in accounting

doing audit you only need to work hard, not work smart hence it guarantees a certain level of experience that you can carry with you

Just feel CFA (harder to pass than ACCA) yet finance industry is very tough, competitive and lesser demand. But I not sure about it as I only can get limited information from jobstreet/ rumors etc...

Im not that smart enough so maybe I can work hard and dont mind to take longer time

Not aiming for super high pay and big achievement as everyone have own limit (student with straight As and 3.0++ CGPA. Neither too smart nor too stupid).

So if cant fight with genius in high competitive market, go to less competitive market and slowly climb to top

Imagine using shotgun to fight with AK46 in battlefield I'm not that hunger for achievement - Work life balance

i think you are worrying too much

if the job industry is not competitive, it means the job itself is regular, repetitive. So if you are not wanting to improve yourself you may face the problem where you may face the risk of being eliminated

but i can point a rather straightforward road - u go to audit, u get bonded for 4 years for your ACCA, by the time 4 years passed you are already at least a AM, you jump out to commercial, u take a small manager role whereby your salary can be close to 8k in KL, then life just goes on as you climb the corporate ladder

You can actually build a career in the SSC/BPO industry.

In malaysia we have quite a few MNC SSCs which pays above average, decent benefits, regional exposure. You get to deal with many people across different levels. Some even sponsor ACCA/CPA/CIMA so you can even sign up and study part time. The top tier ones like Shell, BAT, BASF, BHP, BP actually have good culture and work life balance.

i'm an accounting grad. I often regretted not doing well enough in degree to get a place in Big4. but i guess it was a blessing in disguise, i have moved among a few SSCs and with the same number of years, i'm having a base pay equaling a Big4 AM/Manager. and i'm not even a manager yet. Plus i barely worked a quarter of the actual hours of an auditor (good work life balance)

Depending on your drive and capabilities, the SSC and BPO industry is actually not too bad for you to build a finance career. Of course perks and career development is very different in Big4/banking, but nevertheless, your opportunities and development is in your own hands, you might even end up in a regional role/ move to a different country not too far down the road.

Good luck.

if it's SSC... instead of ACCA / CFA... i would advise you to learn as much language and get the required certification, i.e. Japanese JLT N3 (at least) and etc

Im willing to improve myself but based on my limited informations, go to accounting field is more secure with career growth.

Everyone around me only familiar with accounting field even google, jobstreet etc all is full of account account and account. Its even hard to find jobs that not related to account *faint*

Thats also the reason im posting here, to seek for other career pathways for a finance student. maybe there is another way.....

So this require to liase with people instead of paper work?

My language is not good (in speaking) and im not a sociable person so im better in facing computer as its my strength. (im a fast learner and always can finish my tasks earlier than everyone)

nope cause in shared service center (SSC) line currently..
the language is required to do the job...
for example in the case you are doing the japanese AR / AP / GL / any finance function... you are able to read/write/speak

sorry to say but i do not think accounting field is the future...
i would advise you to take up IT or engineering instead.. =P

or u can consider taking up CFA and enter investment field ur salary is more than double any normal finance graduate

This post has been edited by moniqee: May 19 2019, 02:43 PM

I have offer to work as AR / credit control and both have similar job descriptions (collect debts etc..). Is this belongs to one of SSC line and do this kind of role useful in my career growth? what can i do after that if I started with this position?

Dont ask what u can do, ask what u want to do.

So what do u want to do?

what is your position and what positions are offered in SSC/BPO industry? how to go in SSC/BPO industry?

Im still new and no idea what is available for a finance student. I just wish to get a job that have high demand in market and career growth so I wont being stuck during my 30's.

If you want high demand in market:
It depends when and where you see yourself. For when, it depends on working experience and you can search for jobs right now for those with 10, 15, 20 or 25 years working experience and see the skills/ requirements needed. Then, you assess how to get there at that time.
For where, it depends which industry or job nature you want to end up with. If you want to join CF, find out what CF job requires and work to obtain those skills.

If you want career growth:
For your job, keep asking for new projects and work and ask for promotion if you deliver. No one will give you if you keep quiet or fail in deliverables. It’s a simple world, you want something, ask for it. Then do it.

Don’t want to be stuck during 30’s:
No one can block where you are going, you can always change jobs/ dept. You can even stop working and do further studies/ training.

Currently I'm a management accountant for a large MNC. I have done many functions and roles over the years.

Among the roles are : Inventory accounting, Supply Chain Finance, Accounts receivable, credit management, Period end Closing, Statutory reporting, financial/management reporting.

Other roles that are normally in finance SSC goes according to the functions, for example a large company like Shell, cant have one accountant to manage one entity due to its sheer size, so the finance function is split into many different departments/functions, e.g. Tax, reporting, intercompany accounting, Accounts receivable, accounts payable, fixed asset accounting, and the list goes on according to the needs of the organization.

Just google any of the big MNCs that i mentioned and high likely they have a Shared Service Centre (SSC) in malaysia and all you have to do is apply for vacancies via Jobstreet or the company website.

Here's an example of vacancies for Shell SSC

This post has been edited by juvaan: May 27 2019, 08:19 PM

Thanks for your explaining.

I'm wondering that if you keep moving to different departments, how you jump to senior/ intermediate position if you dun have the relevant experiences and skills? Is it necessary to pick a specific role and slowly climb the career ladder? Or just start applying any position that related to account and finance in Shared Service Centre (SSC) after that you will be able to transfer to another role for senior/ intermediate position?

Besides, only big companies will have finance SSC so Im afraid that its hard to change to other companies/roles after certain level. Can I go back to commercial to apply for ie finance manager after few years experience in finance SSC? Because I feel like account department in commercial is highly demanded in market.

Do I need to further my study in SSC ie ACCA?

most SSCs encourage their staff to try out new roles after a certain number of years. It depends on your performance as well, typically every 2-4 years staff will rotate, or you may even apply for a higher grade role (which is what i have done on each occasion and i have been successful, in other words, each role i change i get a promotion). for me, my average time spent per role is around 1 year. Some people even stay 5-10 years in one role. it all depends on your comfort zone and performance, as well as learning curve. Energetic youngsters are often fast learners who get bored easily, hence they move up quite fast, whereas family people prefer stable routine roles, hence they prefer to stay put.

Also, certain departments would have much more higher grade roles. For example, reporting and analysis line is usually much higher grade than processing departments such as AP/AR. So you can start in AP/AR/Fixed assets for example, and apply to higher grade roles in Reporting/Analysis

If you ask me, SSC is the future of all MNCs. Eventually people will adopt the SSC structure as it is more efficient and skillset is much more specialised, enabling employees to find a focused and structured career growth, as you know how wide the world of finance is. Employers will also be able to source easily from specialized and niche talent pool. SSC concept is the "commercial" of the future in context of a large company. The Finance manager roles are also much more abundant in MNCs/SSCs, why do you want to leave to a smaller co as an FM? All depends on your capability. I have many friends who are FMs in their own functions after years of career in SSCs.

The only difference i would say is the accounting system or platform each company uses.

ACCA/CPA/CIMA/ICAEW - if you have the capability and resources (and better still if your company decides to sponsor you), why not? it will add value to your profile and it will differentiate you from you competition especially when applying for a promotion.

This post has been edited by juvaan: May 29 2019, 12:50 PM

I tried to search for SSC in jobstreet recently after u explaining and its really quite hard to go in company like Shell. So I have to try to go smaller company (sdn bhd) that stated SSC or its better to apply any account and finance role in listed company?

Besides there are around 800++ applicants applying AP AR for big listed company so its quite hard to go in also. How long I need to wait and is it mean i need to lower my expected salary? Is it will be easier if I apply other role ie credit collection / finance operation / cash management etc first only internal transfer to other department after that.

Im major in finance so I still need to take 8 papers instead of 4 while working so I'm afraid that i cant handle it. But prof cert looks important.

It's completely up to you. Keep trying and applying. Most of the time you will not get the role that you want, feel free to try other roles, and slowly move to more complex roles.

I started my ssc career in accounts receivable. 1 year there and i moved on to something more complex like inventory accounting and eventually reporting and business partnering.

My advice for jobstreet is to apply as soon as the role is advertised or pay for priority application. Large MNCs most likely will have their own career portal, its tedious, but take the time and effort to set up your profile and apply each time a position is advertised. Most of the time MNCs dont really ask for your expected salary as they have their own benchmarking policies and most of the time you will not be offered a role if your current salary is already near or within the role's salary bracket. i have worked in 3 MNCs so far, they have given me good and decent offers without talking much about my expected salary.

Try out other MNCs such as those in FMCG line, they have business partnership finance role as well, might be something that suits you and not over boring. Marketing, sales, supply chain, etc, all have their own business partnership finance role.

I have received interview from astro as AR and credit controller from tropicana and sunway.
I have rejected credit control executive position as i feel this job have lesser career prospects but i not sure whether im correct.
For astro I think its hard to enter as there are 800++ applicants but i will still go for interview next week.
For MNC, I have applied and they called me but its only a small company and not so famous in malaysia. Big company still no news as at to date.

Still continue trying and throwing resume...any advice?

I think now i will just apply any position related to account and finance in any listed /big companies. **running out of time**
Can advice any roles that related to finance and account that have future in this line?

At the end of the day u gotta make yourself competitive. Make it so compelling that the company gotta hire you. Talents are hard to come by and HR appreciates talented candidates.

i personally know a few friends in Astro's finance. very competitive environment but it will be very good for your CV, top astro execs have moved on to much bigger things locally and abroad. Heard the benefits are really good and plenty of fun activities.

Good luck!

CFA is memang harder as compared to ACCA. But if you have the right attitude, you can finish it too.

The bolded part is the correct attitude. Simply put:

CFA level 1: to filter those who are not committed.
CFA level 2: to filter those who think they are smart.

Thank you for your advice and being patience to provide guidance for a fresh graduated who is lost and full of uncertainties in life.
I have decided to join SSC as I feel that this is an interesting platform for me to gain my exposure after deep consideration and doing some researches.
There are still a lot of things I have to learn and experience but I believe that my career path and mindset will be clearer and clearer as long as I keep exploring.

Thank you again for being the beacon that light up my road ahead!

Hello OP! I came across your thread, and I think I can relate to what you said a lot as I am pretty much in a similar situation e.g. Banking & Finance major not keen to do sales and is considering the accounting path. So how are you doing atm? Since this is posted in 2019 I assume you must be doing better right now . Anyway, I would just like to hear more from you and perhaps we can have a bit of a chat Thanks OP!