OCAQ - To be or not to be the ideal CA candidate

To be or not to be the ideal CA candidate

During your years at university, you may wonder whether you've made the right career choice. Don't worry, this is a perfectly normal reaction that is shared by many other students.

You may ask yourself whether you are a good candidate for the CA designation, whether you correspond to the profile employers are looking for. Of course, the CA profession does call for clearly defined skills at specific levels.

Personal attributes:

To help you determine whether you have the personal qualities and skills to succeed in this career, you will find below a list of the qualities the profession is looking for. You can ask yourself whether you have these attributes.

Integrity
Leadership
Ability to communicate effectively
Curiosity
Initiative
Dynamism
Ability to adapt to change
Sense of social responsibility
Open-mindedness
Creativity

Once you have answered this question, you can then ask yourself what professional qualifications you need to develop or use and, especially, in what context.

Professional skills

Communication
CAs must be able to communicate effectively with a variety of players, whether they be their clients, their colleagues or their boss. To make themselves clearly understood, CAs must be able to write clearly, concisely and logically and to present their viewpoints skilfully. Naturally, they must also be able to listen effectively and attentively to others so that they can meet their expectations.

Intellectual abilities
The ability to analyze and synthesize information is a basic skill that CAs must possess in order to solve problems and make decisions. This in turn means that, among other things, they must be able to:

research, read, interpret and critically analyze the information presented;
identify, define and rank problems and solve them in unfamiliar situations;
propose realistic solutions;
deal with the various aspects of a situation individually without losing sight of the overall picture;
exercise professional judgment at each step of the decision-making process.

Professional attitude

In general, being professional means being ethical and willing to continually upgrade your knowledge and skills.

CAs must work efficiently, in compliance with professional rules of conduct, despite conflicting imperatives, unexpected needs and demanding deadlines. They must also demonstrate a high degree of professional scepticism and discernment and exercise their judgment to analyze the ethical issues they identify.

Interpersonal relations

Throughout their careers, CAs will be called upon to work with people from various disciplines such as lawyers, engineers and actuaries.

In their interpersonal relations, they should demonstrate a willingness to collaborate and provide a certain measure of leadership. At work, they should be able to organize and delegate tasks, motivate their staff, and resolve conflicts.

Lastly, CAs should be open to the world and to different cultures.

Obviously, this profile is only a general picture that will tend to change as market needs evolve. It does, however, provide a realistic portrait.

If you think you match this profile, you are on the right track. However, if you still have a few doubts about the above-mentioned skills, remember that it takes time and experience to fit into any profession. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day…

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