I'm an engineering student (undergraduate) and currently in the 2nd year of my studying. (electrical and elecrtonic) While going to the uni. I'm also doing cima.Now i have completed P1, and may 2010 doing OM and FA.
I want a career invoving engineering as well as management.(mainly management ) So I'm curious about this PER. and need help desperately. As I can get a good engineering job after my graduation with a nice salary, i am confused about PER. and that would not give me the required experience, as my understanding. What happen if I dont submit my per after 4 years of completing top cima.??
I am doing cima to enhance my employee opportunities and to get a good salary in the future.. So please I need you ideas..
Under the 2010 syllabus the final stage exam, T4, comprises part A-work based experience (PER) and part B-case study exam.
http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/TOPCIMA2010.pdf
In answer to your question, you would not complete TOPCIMA until you had successfully completed the practical experience requirements.
Thanks p45 , but I still hava a question.
What happen if I did not submit per wihtin 4 years of completing top cima case study.??.
If I take more than 4 years to submit it is there an issue??(after completing part-B)
I couldn't find an answer to my question from anywhere..
Yes, there is a big issue - you have 4 years after completing T4 Part B in which to have the PER approved (was 5 years pre-2010). After that no membership:
http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Student%20docs/jan2010membershippresentation.pdf
Isuru, if your career plan is to be in engineering management and your CIMA learning is part of that, do you really need to be a "chartered management accountant"? You do now have the option to receive the "CIMA advanced diploma in management accounting" when you have completed the Management level examinations:
http://www.cimaglobal.com/Students/2010-professional-qualification/Manag...
So if you simply want to have a broad understanding of management accounting to inform your role as a general manager (and a certificate to show potential employers) that might be a more appropriate route for you.
I wouldn't normally advise any student to stop their learning short of full membership. But joining CIMA isn't the end of your journey - just for example, to maintain your membership you'll need to keep up with appropriate CPD - so if your chosen career-path means you struggle to simply complete your RPE, and you don't see yourself ever in financial roles, maybe you could usefully apply what you've learned about cost-benefit analysis and talk to Chapter Street people about the advanced diploma?
Don't let me put you off, though!
Thank you very much for your comments.I always struggled to decide what exactly to do after this syllabus change.
I realy want to put my self in a strategic role of a business and I think your ideas are very helpfull. So do you think that would help me to go to my target?
Is there any other options that I can concider? I'm realy looking forward for your valuable ideas..Thank you very much again.
Well, just to confuse you, there's no better qualification than CIMA for someone who wants to understand how to strategically control a business!
I guess your career choices are to be an engineer with an accounting qualification or an accountant with an engineering qualification. How about some research: look around at industries that excite you, find the people in roles that attract you, and see what background and qualifications they have. Most professional magazines have people-profiles, and company reports or trade papers often have bio-pics of senior figures in the industry. And have you talked to your Uni career people and tutors to find out where their alumni are now?
If those people where you want to be are more engineers than managers, then that's the way to go. And vice versa.
But you also might want to consider that CIMA is an appropriate qualification for every industry sector and the whole of the public sphere; and many business processes like "lean thinking" are based on manufacturing and engineering principles. So majoring on either one of your options certainly doesn't preclude a successful career in the other. And if you use the RPE requirements as a basic "road map" for general business experience, you could plan your way towards CIMA membership through your vacation work.
One final word (and sorry this has been so long): be careful how you choose your first couple of post-uni permanent jobs. You're likely to find they'll be the ones recruiters and future employers will use to 'tag' who you are throughout your career; it's unfair and inefficient, but the job market is rarely kind to polymaths and many recruiters seem to much prefer to see what appears to them to be a logical career path. The direction you start in is the one most likely to take you further.
Whichever roads you choose, I trust they take you to fruitful and rewarding places.
Dear All,
Just to clarify, you need to submit your practical experience for assessment within four years of completing your final examination however, we don't expect everyone to have the necessary experience at this time to become a member.
If you submit your practical experience and it's deferred you currently have as long as necessary to meet the practical experience requirements and can make as many applications as necessary (at no extra cost).
Once you've become a CIMA member you are required to undertake relevant CPD however, it should be relevant to your role and future career aspirations - this may not be in finance.
Best wishes
Claire Morton
CIMAsphere moderator
This has been a very valuable discussion for me. Now I have a better understanding of my future career and what I have to do next to achieve my targets. Thank you Adrian for your valuable thoughts..
Thank you...
A simple solution is for you to find a grad scheme which will give you lots of different placements. When you apply talk to them and find out the flexibility in managing you own placements if you ahve 10 placements you might be able to wangle 6 in engineering and 4 in finance.
I'd advise you to go for an engineering placement as your first priority. There is a shortage of engineers and typically they will be demanding lower grades to be accepted. You'll probably find there are lots of oppotunities to get involved with commercial aspects of engineering projects including costings, cost/benefit analysis, planning etc... You could shoot to be the interface between finance and the engineers!!
Good luck
Brian
Whilst CIMA is a very good qualification, the MBA route might pay greater dividends in the future in terms of your career aspirations.
Certainly without the intent to be an accountant, the MBA would be the better route to go, as it will provide both the background and knowledge for management whilst giving you a broad thrust of accounting without all the techno jargon. It's also highly prized by employers providing the right school is chosen.
Yes, you would have to wait to a first degree and some schools may require that you have some management experience. It will probably cost more too, but if in a good engineering job, the firm will probably pay for it anyway.
Also, the 2010 CIMA qualification appears to be converging more towards an MBA than accounting, so maybe CIMA are thinking the same thing.
My personal opinion is that an engineer with an MBA would be more marketable within an engineering firm, than one with CIMA. Might be a biased opinion but it's certainly food for thought.
Best of luck
Does cima working with any uni. to provide an easy MBA route to cima members??
I've heard that ACCA is linked with an university to give an easy entry to a MBA.
Thank you very much for your valuable ideas so far..This has been a very fruitful discussion.
Hi Isuru,
You might like to browse the search results for MBA on CIMAsphere as there have many discussions around this topic already that you many find useful...
http://community.cimaglobal.com/search/site?filter0=MBA
Regards,
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