Chartered Accountant

It’s August now and only 2 months are left for the CA exams. There are many nervous people out there who are going to make their first attempt and frustrated people who are going to make their 2nd, 3rd … attempt. This article is an interview with Sherry Samuel Oommen on motivation, dealing with the exam and handling and converting failure into success.

A brief bio

Sherry Samuel Oomen is a 24-year-old working as an executive in Ernst & Young, Chennai. He worked for Arthur Andersen for two years and then joined Ernst & Young after the merger of the two companies. He is a chartered accountant.

In this article, Sherry Samuel Oomen intends to pen down his personal views on how to overcome failure and make winning great.

 

Against all odds

Jack Welch, the, retired chairman and executive officer of GE, in his book titled ‘Winning’, writes “I think winning is great. Not good - great. Because when companies win, people thrive and grow. There are more job opportunities". A statement, simple yet profound, carries with it a lot of substance!!

The rationale in the statement applies even in the context of doing something as “minuscule” in the larger context of life like completing the Chartered Accountancy course

.

Looking back to the latter years of the last millennium, destiny had me in a spot of bother, that being of choosing a career. The options I had were either to pursue law (since I enjoyed theatre and debating) or an MBA

or a course with boasts of having a "2 per cent" pass percentage, namely the Chartered Accountancy course. As luck would have it, I joined the course hoping to be amongst the "2 per cent" of those who passed and you guessed it right, I decided to pursue the CA course, totally unaware of what was in store for me.

I enrolled myself for the course like any other student only to find myself lost at the sight of the six textbooks of reasonable "weight" (as some of my teachers coined "pillow sized"). Having seen my cousins pursue medicine, I was amazed seeing the size of the textbooks when compared to the books that my cousins studied while pursuing medicine. Going by the size of the textbooks, I wondered, "Is the Chartered Accountancy course all that difficult?"

With the above thought, I opened the study material on "Information Technology" with profound reverence only to realise that the font size of the text perhaps deserved a magnifying glass. Thus began my tête-à-tête with the CA course.

I got myself enrolled for classes and started the course initially with a lot of enthusiasm, which suddenly seemed to die away as I failed to understand one important truth of the course: No one motivatees you better than yourself.

The clock started ticking, exams were nearing. It was now that I again realised that time and tide wait for none. I did my exams well (at least I thought so) and awaited with bated breath for the declaration of results. Boy, after exams, time flies even quicker!!!

Then came the D-Day, the day when I would know the result of my hard work. As luck would have it, I aggregated close to 70 per cent in Group 1 but lost out in Group 2 since I scored 37 in a paper that first caught my attention, namely, Information Technology. I was totally distraught. Personally, I felt the course was heartless... "Couldn't they give me three more marks and save me the pain of doing Group 2 again"? This was the first time that I ever tasted failure in studies. My journey through the CA course has been full of ups and downs.

Fear of failure

The feeling of having failed, especially after having put in a lot of effort, is to simply say, miserable. Close friends and relatives who were initially sympathetic of the effort I was putting in during my study holidays, starting doubting the late nights I had put in once results were declared. Unfortunately, however unfair this seems, the world fathoms one’s efforts by the results. This is life, dear friend, and one has to accept it.

Despite having secured a university rank in my Bachelore Degree, the "fear of failure" dawned on me like an overencompassing cloud. With candour I admit that even I succumbed to the fear. The "fear of failure" was turning out to be cancerous, virtually controlling my mind, body and soul. For the first time in my life, I was apprehensive... I feared failure like never before. Little did I realise that the course that I had opted for demanded that I be strong and courageous, ready to face the battle, for one can't fight a modern day war with bows and arrows!!

When failure strikes

Failure, like any emergency, could be unexpected (I assume that you guys study hard). I never planned to fail, but it happened. No great shakes... people do fail sometime or the other. What matters is not how you fall but how quickly you rise and walk. This to me is a true test of courage and attitude and I will definitely vouch for it.

One statement of Henry Ford that has helped me a lot, and I quote, "One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again".

The question that was before me now was, "How do I ‘intelligently’ begin again?”

As in the case of prosperous "tested" business houses that have withstood gruelling competition and tests of survival, the best way to address any kind of failure is to have a "mission" statement backed with "values" that are principle based directed towards achieving the mission.

Having a ‘mission’ statement

Thanks to failure, I had learnt the relevance of having a "mission". A "mission", to simply state, is a regimental way of defining a goal. The goal that I had was to secure a rank and I translated this into a mission statement, which read "Towards a rank". Every morning I would get up and view the placard in the room, which read "Towards a Rank". The "mission" statement slowly but surely got ingrained into my very being and served as a driving force for a better tomorrow.

Looking back, though I feel despondent that I never secured a rank while pursuing the CA course, I definitely had mitigated the probability of failure to abysmally low levels. In the larger context of life, I have realised that one has to keep fighting it out, for victory is lurking round the corner. For this simple reason, I exhort you to have a "mission" statement. As the Chinese saying goes, "The greatest of learning begins with the smallest of steps a step in the right direction". Your "mission" statement is the first step in the right direction.

Hearken; a "mission" statement is the way you perceive yourself to be. The duty of setting your "mission" statement is yours and hence cannot be delegated. Be optimistic, yet practical. For, remember, the sky is the limit, it’s yours... go get it!!

Values

The word "values" is quite often understood in the context of religiosity. To me, this applies even in the context of completing something as minor in the larger context of life like completing the CA course.

"Values" can be simply defined as the wherewithal of achieving one’s goal. In short, they are the how of the mission, the means to the end being WINNING.

The "how" aspect, would inter alia, cover aspects relating to the minimum number of hours of study per day, the books to be referred, the number of revisions, etc., which I leave to your judgment and the expertise of your teachers. Trust their knowledge and stick to it. I would recommend the "how" aspect to be documented on paper and scrupulously stated near your "mission" statement. It is mandatory to have a clear idea in terms of what you plan to achieve at the end of each day of studying, in addition, make it a point to revise and cross-check the progress achieved on a daily basis. This is something that I have practised, for which I have earned rich dividends.

The how aspect

To help you formulate the "how" aspect, I would like to share some of the mistakes that I had made while pursuing the CA course:

1 Failure to give the study material issued by the institute its due "reverence", being reading the material at least once coupled with a revision;
2. Failure to plan and execute the so-called "daily study plan", thus resulting in personal embarrassment (personally, I couldn't find a better way to embarrass myself!!!);
3. Failure to study the portion studied in class and the "daily study plan", systematically and meticulously on a regular basis. To me, revising the portions completed at the end of each day should translate from being a mere norm to a dictum. Revisions on a weekly basis, helps one hone one’s retention capabilities. It is no secret that the CA course demands that a student, in addition to studying, should remember what he studies. The best way to hone your retention faculties is to revise on an hourly basis, if not at least on a daily basis.
4. Failure to study the revision test papers issued by the Board of Studies for the previous two attempts and the suggested answers since November 2002.

5. Failure to write at least two model exams. In this regard, students/tutors have different notions on whether writing a model exam serves any purpose. To me, a model exam served as an indicator in measuring how well I was preparing for the final battle, being the final exam. Pal, think no further, waste no time, and for goodness’ sake, write these exams.

These are some of the fatal errors that I had committed while pursuing the CA course. I beseech thee fellow friends; please do not commit these errors (for these errors have been performed by a "professional", euphemistically!). In short, please do not "practice" these errors at home!

Fight it out mate; success is knocking at the door. It’s your duty to open the door and let her in. Trust me; the feeling of being called a "Chartered Accountant" is not merely good but great!!!