Nice one @Jordan Jerrison, great to have you posting 👊

I’ve heard good things about Kaplan for CIMA as well, but would be interesting to hear what others think! Anyone here done CIMA and have recommendations on training providers?

Hi Jordan,

I am doing level 4 of AAT and want to pursue CIMA after that too.

From my limited research, I think Kaplan seems great and are a real reputable company too. I think it's somewhere you can study knowing you'd get full support and access to lots of training material. For me I always look at things as "in 3-5 years time if I haven't achieved what I wanted (to become CIMA qualified, say), I want the only reason for that not working to be me".

What I mean by that, is I don't want to spend 3-5 years using a provider who perhaps weren't giving me the full support and materials, that I went with them because they were cheaper, I want to be with a fantastic company with a great reputation, high pass results, knowing that I have EVERYTHING in place for me to succeed. That alone motivates you throughout your studies and so if I don't succeed, it would be because 'I' didn't put the effort in, not because the support wasn't there or the materials weren't that great.

That's a bit of a ramble, but it's important to me to choose someone that's going to keep life easy and comfortable to study with, which makes you more motivated to carry on and determined to succeed.

Just my thoughts.

Andrew

Love this @Rohan Parry 👊 great to have you in here!

For me, I definitely feel like past papers are the best practice, as you get a feel for how the exam is going to be presented to you! Anyone else nearing finals or been through it already?

Welcome to Greigster @Uday Dipakkumar! Great to have you on board, love the mindset!

Plenty of good discussions starting up already, especially around finance and career paths. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts in the groups 👍

I wish someone told me I should be part qualified first before I have big commitments that include work and family of my own.

Wish someone had told me to stay at one job to get all the qualifications under my belt before changing. Feel like it's delayed my journey to become chartered massively!

Some really good points here @Bernard Mohlotsane @Damien Hill!

Sounds like a mix of timing + priorities plays a big part, whether that’s committing early or staying put to get everything under your belt. Interesting hearing both sides of it, anyone else had a similar experience or would’ve done something differently?

It’s honestly crazy how different everyone’s route into accounting is. I actually started through the back routes of going through AAT to become qualified! Curious too, to see how everyone else got into accounting or what hooked them in!

Did AAT levels 2&3 at college and then did accounting and finance at uni! Figured if I’m good at maths so better stick with something mathematical! Underestimated the admin side…

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