How I chose my dream career: Irfan Jhaveri

“Education is not the preparation for life, but it is life itself.” This was the motto of my school– Lilavati Bai Podar Senior Secondary School– where I spent the formative years of my life right from pre-primary up to class 12th. I still consider those years to be the best years of my life till now during which I was relatively carefree and would really not give a lot of thought to the consequences of any action. My school education was straightforward- I was an average student throughout my school and really went unnoticed, where the average class size was 55 students per class. In class 8^th, I took up Economics and Commerce as subjects instead of the traditional Science, as I thought my interests lied in them and these would promise me a good career ahead. This choice continued in class 12^th, where I took up the ISC curriculum with the Commerce stream and an optional subject of Maths. It was in these 2 years that I really understood where my interests laid – they were in Accounting, and therefore, I had decided that after my class 12th exams, I would take up Chartered Accountancy as my career.

In the summer of 2013, I was awaiting my results for class 12^th exams while simultaneously preparing for the Common Proficiency Test which takes place in June every year. I had attended a coaching class near my house which helped me brush up my concepts. The test was quite easy and people hyped about the difficulty level of this test for no reason. It can be easily cleared with dedicated studies and preparation. I eventually went on to clear my class 12^th ISC with a very good percentage and also my CPT exam. I took admission in HR College of Commerce and Economics for pursuing Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) programme, which I pursued simultaneously along with studying for IPCC exam, which is the 2^nd level of Chartered Accountancy. My college was very understanding of the fact that I was pursuing CA, and gave me leniency in attendance and other matters. All this greatly enabled me to clear the 2^nd level of CA in the first attempt, and I was really excited at the turn of events. I thought this was an achievement for me as it takes a lot of efforts, no social life and conviction in your goal to study day and night for the exam.

After I completed my IPCC exam, I started applying to several places for my articleship. I was quite keen on taking up an audit profile and that was offered to me by a firm operating out of New Marine Lines. The firm was at walking distance from my college and I had to reach there by 11:00 AM every day. Every intern‘s first job in a CA firm is the dreaded vouching which is absolutely mechanical and laborious, but in the larger scheme of things, you  eventually realize that even vouching plays a very important role. I then eventually progressed onto bigger and better things. I learnt how to conduct a statutory audit in totality right from the opening balances to the preparation of the overall audit report. I learnt the importance of punctuality, deadlines, target setting, teamwork and cooperation. Interacting with the client is a skill in itself as it is a very big task to take out data from the client, and then solving all your audit queries.

While all this was going on, I did not lose focus on my college life and regularly participated in college fests and events where I represented the college. The friends that I made here are very close to me and I am still in touch with them. It is very important in life to be having good relations- personal and professional- as it is these people who help you in your bad times. After I completed my graduation, I enrolled in a law programme at KC Law College as it not just complemented my base studies very well, but also because knowing law can be of great help  in cases that require tackling tax litigations in the High Court and Supreme Court.

I think what has worked for me is my dogged pursuit of the things I wanted to do and a “Never say no” attitude. I think this is what is going to help me in the future as well.

About the Author:

My name is Irfan Jhaveri and I am pursuing CA. I have completed B Com from HR College of Commerce and Economics.