Academics or Corporate World?

Dear Jarus,
I came across your website a couple of weeks ago and after going
through the weblog, I observed that you are not just a genius, you are a
bona fide Geek. I imagine a country named Nigeria blessed with young talents like you and your group.
I’m 24 years old, I graduated from University of Ibadan with First Class
honours in the department of Agricultural Economics. I’m a member of
ICAN and I am currently doing my NYSC.
Since I started ICAN during my undergraduate days, I developed interest
in Accounting and Finance stuffs which made the ICAN exams fun for me. My main problem now is choice.
After my ICAN final exam result was released, what came to mind was to
start CFA but I later discovered that I was given scholarship for Msc
program in any discipline of my choice in UI due to my finishing with a First Class.
What comes to my mind is to do Msc in any business related field but
UI is not really a business school (our  business school under
construction) and the only option is Msc in Economics, which I don’t
think I’m qualified for due to these reasons:
1, I don’t have economics in my O’level result which may be required
for the Msc program.
2, I don’t think it is a business related field I really need.

I once thought of doing Msc (Agric econs) and Phd(Agric econs) after NYSC
in the early years during my undergraduate program but that seems
impossible looking at the population of postgraduate students presently in the
department and I am not ready to follow the crowd.

Also, I don’t know the relevance of Agric Econs in the financial world. My plan is to complete the major educational qualifications I need before 30yrs and I have no working experience presently.
I will be happy if you can treat my cases extensively.

Thank you.

Mayowa

*****************************************

Dear Mayowa,

Let me share with you what my team think:

OLANIYI OGUNBAYO, ACA, ACCA, ACS, FRM, CFA

I think the first thing you need to decide is your career objective/goal. Do you want to be a finance professional (e.g. Accountant, investment professional, etc)? Or do you want to be a lecturer?

If you want to be a finance professional, going for an M.Sc in UI may not be the best next step for you. I will advise you seek employment and pursue professional qualifications specific to your area of interest within Finance.

But if you intend to become a lecturer, accepting the M.Sc offer from UI may be your next best move; it will lead to your PhD which is essentially required for people in academics. By the way, I don’t think you need to have Economics in your O’ level to qualify for M.Sc Economics. In addition, if you took all the macro and micro economics courses in your first degree, I believe the B.Sc Agric Economics should qualify you for the M.Sc Economics.

Basic life principle: identify your main goal and pursue the best and fastest way possible to achieve the goal.

OBAFEMI BAMIDELE, Msc (Edinburgh), ACA, ACCA, ACS, CFA

This is an interesting case and I think you have a bright future ahead of you. You only need to tow the correct line. Personally, I think you should hit the corporate world, gain experience and decide whether you want to have Msc abroad,  executive MBA etc after gaining work experience for some years. I don’t particularly subscribe to getting postgraduate qualifications without some industry experience as the candidate will be priced almost the same way as a fresh graduate even after the MSc.

With a first class, ACA and age on your side, you should realise you have maximum potential and you should not be hoodwinked into making sub-optimal decision.

However, you didn’t tell us whether you want to be an academic. If that is the case, you can go ahead with his Msc in Economics; I don’t think you O’level will matter. You must have taken some economics courses during your Bsc programme and that will suffice.

That said, I still frown at lecturers not having industry experience – it is one of the reasons why we churn out unemployable graduates. Academia and industry should work hand-in-hand.

NAJEEM EWESESAN, MBA, ACA, ACCA

It is nice to know that you already have ICAN after your First Class in your undergraduate studies. The next line is to make up your mind on your career destination: academics or financial world? My advice is if you are convinced that it’s Finance you really want to go into, start CFA as already thought by you and get engaged in any financial institution, bank, stockbroking firm, etc. However, if you still want to complete your academic programmes before age 30 as planned, you may be combining this with the CFA which may not be enjoyable. If there is part-time session of the academic programmes, you may consider it. My reason for this is, I wouldn’t want you to drop your academic pursuit totally for business because I am almost sure you would need it later. In summary, start your CFA now and seek employment in any financial institution and consider part-time programme for the academic activities.

 

THE JARUS VERDICT

There you have it, Mayowa.  You’ve done yourself some good making First Class in Agricultural Economics and having ICAN certificate under your belt at 24 already. What you have on hands is enough to get you a decent job already, provided you are able to prove yourself when the opportunities surface.

Make your choice – do you want to go into academics or corporate world? You can actually do both, corporate world first and lecturing later, as Obafemi mentioned. We have different backgrounds and different factors affect our choices, so I may not be able to give a hard and fast verdict. Truth is, with what you have you will get a decent job that will earn you decent living. It matters little what course you had the first degree in, Agric Econs or not, your ICAN covers basic entry into financial world, you will be trained wherever you are employed. Plus laying your hands on other Finance qualifications while working brightens you up. One of my colleagues in the Finance department of my company read Agricultural Science, but with ICAN and ACCA, he is now a Finance person. And wait for this: the Chief Finance Officer of my former company, Oando Plc, did Mechanical Engineering, not just for first degree but furthering to Master’s level in Engineering. Yet, he is a Finance guru now.

Your academics can still go along with your work. I’m currently doing my MBA, yet I am working 8-5 in Lagos. Najeem wrote ACCA and did his MBA too while working. Obafemi worked briefly, left for UK for his Msc full time for one year, and returned back. So, working and furthering your education can still go pari passu. I have a friend that recently resigned from a bank (he has ICAN too) for a lecturing job in a polytechnic. Except you want to fully go into academics without industry experience, I wont advise you don’t search for job now. But if your aim is full lecturing from the outset, then go take that Msc Econs  offer in UI now, and follow it up with PhD. But if you plan to work in corporate/finance world, now is the best time to join. I believe you should be able to pick the best path for you from all the options we have highlighted. In the final analysis, it still boils down to you.

For other treated career related cases: Ask The Eggheads

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