Whenever prospective CIMA students come to me for advice they usually take me down one of two paths. The ‘make or buy’ decision – which Anna kindly wrote about just a few days ago in less cryptic language (there was no coordination, honest) – and what Porter might refer to as the ‘generic strategy’ quandary.

For those you (ok, all of you) that didn’t really follow my clumsy metaphor – the CIMA syllabus isn’t exactly a goldmine of comedic material – I’m talking about whether to apply for a fabled graduate scheme or whether to get a “normal job”. Am I the only one who thinks a “graduate scheme” sounds awfully Machiavellian? Anyway, I digress.

Clearly I’m not Aaron Porter and can’t speak for students as a whole, but in my limited experience it seems the first three steps on the yellow brick career path are: get your A-levels, go to University, and get onto a Graduate Scheme. And if you aren’t lucky enough to find yourself on one then that’s somehow not as good – but the truth is there’s a limited supply and an unrelenting demand, hence all the hoops you have to jump through to get on one. We can’t all be acrobats!

Not that I’m trying to paint CIMA as a black and white alternative, if you’re on a graduate program you’ll almost certainly be whizzed through your accountancy qualification scaletrix style with a whole track laid out before you and the finish line in plain sight.

But there is another path, as far as I know anyone can choose to study CIMA – there are no entry requirements. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 16-year-old in a council estate or a 45-year-old in Bangalore. There are no ‘first class’ accountants out there, you either passed your exams or you didn’t.

Another aspect of the professional qualification that’s really good is the requirement for 3 years relevant work experience before you can officially become an accountant. The balance between practical experience and theoretical knowledge is very important and is something that traditional degree courses lack – I did a placement year as part of my degree and I’d strongly advocate doing the same to anyone who is currently studying or about to consider that option.

So to anybody out there who’s struggling to get onto a graduate scheme for finance having just walked out of University, or to those of you who are in your final year with no job on the horizon, I’d say to you that there are other options out there and CIMA isn’t a half bad one at all. Even if that’s not on the graduate scheme you’d first imagined.

But then I’ve just resigned from a graduate scheme to go and take up a part qualified position with P&G, so I would say that!