Professional Training

MergimShala realised his ambitions to become a certified chartered accountant by completing his ACCA for School Leavers Programme with LSBF. He says he chose LSBF because of our inclusive careers service and gold accreditation status from ACCA themselves.

Mergim speaks highly about the delivery method of the course, saying that the teaching is exceptional, with great intellectual lecturers. LSBF exceeded his expectations, Mergim calls his lecturers ‘really something special, enthusiastic and very aware of the accounting job market.’ He adds that he especially enjoyed his lecture experience, rating the teaching a 9/10.

Mergim is now employed by one of the ‘Big 4’ accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Senior Associate, Big Four firm

Maruf’s career progression has been impressive since he finished his ACCA qualification alongside a BSc in Applied Acccountancy at LSBF. His leadership and management skills proved him to be a global-class professional, leading him into a Senior Associate position at one of the Big Four audit firms. Working in London, he sees the city as the perfect location for accountancy professionals.

“London is the financial hub of the world and there are a lot of opportunities here if you understand the finance market. Having an ACCA qualification gives you diverse opportunities whether you want to be an accountant in a firm or you want to be a consultant.”

“The most important skill for professionals in accounting is to understand the figures and how we can build on them. Accountancy gives you logic on how you make sense of the numbers. So it is very helpful to have the ACCA qualification in your pocket. ”

Maruf finished his ACCA papers with top marks and went into professional life with the strong desire for success. In his own words LSBF ACCA tutors played a big part in his success.

“The great thing about LSBF is that the tutors are very experienced, they have industry knowledge as well as theoretical knowledge. I have studied with the best tutors at LSBF. If it wasn't for them I probably would have had difficulties in passing my exams and achieving the high results I have now achieved.”

What is your main career goal?

“I want to progress in my current firm and reach a higher level to be able to manage the biggest clients on my own.”

LSBF student Asmat Ullah is not someone who shies away from hard work easily; in fact, it’s quite the opposite, as in addition to his demanding MBA schedule, he is also the newly-elected President of the LSBF Student Association.

With experience as a senior sales executive, as well as an accountant for a British firm, Asmat’s ultimate career goal is to run his own global corporation, which to some people may seem quite daunting. However, he is confident in making this dream a reality thanks to the broad range of skills he’s learned from LSBF’s award-winning teachers.

“I’ve been to several high-profile ACCA tuition providers and I can honestly say that LSBF has the best ACCA tutors. They really go that extra mile to ensure you do well, especially during the exam revision period where it’s easy to contact them outside of the classroom. Their approach to teaching students, in terms of knowing what they need and how each individual learns, is amazing.

“To add to this I had access to the InterActive platform and the luxury of being able to watch live HD quality video lectures, which really helped with my exam preparation. On many occasions I managed to attain a distinction due to being able to play the videos over and over again whenever and wherever I liked. ACCA is a tough programme to study, but because of the facilities and support I had from LSBF, it really made it an easy and enjoyable experience.”

What is the student life like at LSBF?

“At LSBF I have taken great pleasure in being in an environment with students from over 150 countries! Getting to learn about new cultures is a great experience, as it provides you with a more globalised perspective to business.”

ACCA student Folakemi Odusanya, who aspires to one day run her own business, is a true embodiment of what hard work is all about! After previously studying Accounting, Folakemi decided to discontinue and, instead, pursue fulltime work. However, she soon recognised the true benefits of becoming an ACCA member via the revolutionary online platform, InterActive.

“My friend is a student at LSBF and invited me to watch one of Martin Jones’ lectures online and I was so impressed. I just thought, wow! It was the perfect solution for people who are not young, have a family and are working fulltime. I then registered for some revision lectures and went on to study P2.

As if studying for ACCA wasn’t hard enough, Folakemi currently works in the Group Finance team at Capita PLC.

“My job is very demanding, as I manage six people from here [in the UK], another 6 people in India and 486 bank accounts every month. However, I was able to fit ACCA at LSBF around my schedule and I managed to get a good score on P2. I couldn’t believe it! I was so glad, so happy; I was calling everybody to tell them.”

How do the skills you learned at LSBF play a part in your current job role?

“Studying at LSBF and going back to work made me think about my job a lot more and question why I was doing certain things. Once you enter a professional environment and put everything into context, you can really begin to appreciate what you’ve learnt in your studies. Everything I’ve learnt at LSBF helps me to manage my team and ensure I carry out my work effectively.”

I’m so glad I chose LSBF. It has the best online lectures and really good tutors. I would recommend the school to everyone!

Founder, TwitInvest

Rafael approaches life and his studies with the belief that he can do whatever he sets his mind to. Considering his track record, it’s hard to argue otherwise. As well as studying hard for his ACCA exams and a bachelor’s degree in Applied Accounting, he has established his start-up business, ‘TwitInvest’. This new challenge has allowed Rafael to show just how talented and insightful he is.

‘TwitInvest’ is a social network that focuses on bringing together Brazilian students and professionals who work, or are interested in, financial markets. Rafael has been investing in the Brazilian stock and future markets (BMF and BOVESPA) since the crash of 2008.

He created ‘TwitInvest’ after he had found it difficult to find the right information or a medium to discuss with other investors. He is currently working on an important partnership with one of Brazil's biggest stocks and futures brokerage firms, ‘Um Investimentos’. This will allow his company to sell financial products to members and even foreigners willing to invest in Brazil. Rafael also hopes to give back to the community by making ‘TwitInvest’ something that supports environmentally aware companies.

He is working on three new projects at the moment – a company directory called ‘Lista Empresas’; a jobs board called ‘Lista Empregos’; and a social network that works as a database of ideas, ‘Por um Brasil Melhor’.

As someone who’s passionate about entrepreneurship and business ventures, Rafael sees the development of his start-up as a learning curve, which will help him to develop his career even further.

“The businesses are still quite young, there are always new challenges but, I'm learning from all of them. The biggest lesson I've learned so far is to be confident about, and believe in my ideas and share them with people who share that vision and who could potentially help me drive the project further.”