Career Advice In Singapore

Jolene Lee, a management accountant, is reading herself for global exposure.

Do not tell management accountant Miss Jolene Lee that she holds a boring job. She will probably retort that you "do no have a very informed view of what accounting is."

Especially since management accountants can be creative - so to speak- with accounting.

Her role is "more interesting" than that of a financial accountant because it gives a "lot of flexibility", said the 29 year old who is with the Finance department of Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of British Barclays Bank.

"We are not constrained by regulations [in that] we still work with the same numbers that the financial accountants do, but we can jig it around in a way that adds value to management."

Financial accountants, on the other hand, are constrained by a fixed reporting structure- in particular, those set out by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) - when they submit financial statements to the regulatory body.

Miss Lee, who graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy from the Nanyang Technological University in 1998, has been with Barclays Capital since 2006. She works with internal clients who include the heads of the bank's different divisions.

Her job is to ensure that their financial performance is in line with their expectations, highlight any accounting anomalies, and manage their risks so that they will not run over budget.




For example,one of Miss Lee's clients is the bank's IT department, for whom she works out a financial plan to roll out the IT architecture, ensuring that the front office is adequately supported.

Such numeral fine-tuning sits well with the analytical and logical thinker.

"If numbers frighten you, or give you a headache, accountancy is definitely not for you," she quipped.

Also:" If you have aspirations to be an effective officer, you need to know your numbers. You cannot expect to be a manager if you don't understand your company's financial performance or be able to read your financial statements.

What drives her is client satisfaction.

"When i have helped my clients manage their business,that's where i get my job satisfaction. Also, it is the knowledge that i have added value to their business rather than just crunching numbers for the sake of it."

Accountancy, according to Miss Lee, is also a ticket to travel the world. " If you look at overseas opportunities, they are plentiful."

She is upbeat about prospects.

"From accountancy, I can be a CFO or COO. A good manager needs to know his numbers - (that) a grounding (in) accountancy can provide."

And given the worldwide shortage of accountants, there is no shortage of job opportunities whether in Singapore or Australia or United States.

ALready , Miss Lee, who also holds a Master of International Business from the University of Melbourne, has set her sights on Britain.

She is preparing for that move by doing the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Professional Qualification - an accounting course with a business focus. Miss Lee hopes to complete the two- year course by the end of 2008.

"I want to travel and gain international exposure."