本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛As a matter of fact for the majority of Chinese skilled immigrants, as I am one of them, your arguments understated the difficulties and overstated the benefits of becoming a CA. At the same time, you overstated the difficulties and understated the benefits of becoming an accountant other than CA, which includes both CGA & CMA.
I am not trying to discourage people to pursue the CA designation. But we should not narrow our choices and compare apples to oranges.
Let me use two examples to illustrate my point.
Person A immigrated to Canada with an Accounting related Bachelor Degree in China. The chance for A to be hired as a CA student is quite remote unless he/she had worked in one of the Big Four firms in China. Otherwise the better alternative for A is to go for the CGA or CMA.
Person B immigrated to Canada with a non-Accounting Bachelor Degree in China. In order to become an accountant, B has three options:
a) get another accounting related degree/diploma in Canada and go for the CA;
b) get another accounting related degree/diploma in Canada and go for the CGA & CMA; c) directly apply for as an entry level CGA student.
If B’s age is over 30 and already has a family (which probably is true for the majority of Chinese skilled immigrants), then the CA route might not be the best choice as he/she has to compete with the local graduates in their early 20s. Anyone who has work experience in a CA firm would understand it is extremely difficult to be a CA student with a young kid unless you have the full support of your spouse. By comparison, option b) and c) are better in this case.
My point is that we should not glorify the CA designation. CA is not for everyone. I don’t know how you reach the conclusion that average a person needs 7 years to complete the CGA program. Just to share my own experience, I graduated from a two year accounting program, fulfilled the experience requirement in less than 2 years and completed CGA study in less than 3 years. My earning is definitely not less than the same level of CAs once you take into consideration of their overtime and pressure. I know many Chinese CGA friends and none of them need more than 5 years to complete the CGA program.
To be honest, if a person has difficulty to get through the CGA program, what is his/her chance to get through the CA program?更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
I am not trying to discourage people to pursue the CA designation. But we should not narrow our choices and compare apples to oranges.
Let me use two examples to illustrate my point.
Person A immigrated to Canada with an Accounting related Bachelor Degree in China. The chance for A to be hired as a CA student is quite remote unless he/she had worked in one of the Big Four firms in China. Otherwise the better alternative for A is to go for the CGA or CMA.
Person B immigrated to Canada with a non-Accounting Bachelor Degree in China. In order to become an accountant, B has three options:
a) get another accounting related degree/diploma in Canada and go for the CA;
b) get another accounting related degree/diploma in Canada and go for the CGA & CMA; c) directly apply for as an entry level CGA student.
If B’s age is over 30 and already has a family (which probably is true for the majority of Chinese skilled immigrants), then the CA route might not be the best choice as he/she has to compete with the local graduates in their early 20s. Anyone who has work experience in a CA firm would understand it is extremely difficult to be a CA student with a young kid unless you have the full support of your spouse. By comparison, option b) and c) are better in this case.
My point is that we should not glorify the CA designation. CA is not for everyone. I don’t know how you reach the conclusion that average a person needs 7 years to complete the CGA program. Just to share my own experience, I graduated from a two year accounting program, fulfilled the experience requirement in less than 2 years and completed CGA study in less than 3 years. My earning is definitely not less than the same level of CAs once you take into consideration of their overtime and pressure. I know many Chinese CGA friends and none of them need more than 5 years to complete the CGA program.
To be honest, if a person has difficulty to get through the CGA program, what is his/her chance to get through the CA program?更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net