Certified Public Accountants (CPA) is like Mitumba clothes- everyone has it.In fact, 9 out of 10 accountants are in possession of this course. The fact that even academic dwarfs can manage to pursue CPA dilutes it to an extent of almost rendering it useless.
In villages, towns and even schools students are encouraged to pursue CPA…and they obey their clueless advisors. Four or five years later, they are out here without formal or informal employment. These are the same people you see around wearing torn, cheap suites moving from one office to the other in search of employment…these are the same people in streets with placards begging for employment.
It is estimated that over 500,000 Kenyans possess CPA qualification, where almost half this number are jobless. One wonders, why CPA when graduates with the same lack jobs!!!?
A year ago, I wrote a similar article and it generated a lot of reactions…but those who took my advice are now smiling all the way to the bank.
You see, jobs are scarce, the number of employers is reducing at an alarming rate as economy shrinks… as the future of graduates seemingly become blurred. For one to stand out, he must focus on something rare in his profession, which is not CPA.
Since I am not for CPA, here are the courses I suggest for you.
- Chartered Financial analyst
- Certified Fraud Examiner
- ACCA
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Certification
There is an important chart which employers don’t provide but we shall make it public today. This chart ranks these courses in terms of employment rate, and here it goes:
PROFESSIONAL COURSE | EMPLOYMENT RATE (%) |
CFA | 97 |
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Certification | 78 |
ACC | 65 |
CFA | 60 |
CPA | 25 |
The chart simply shows that the value of CPA is 0.25, which means you can as well secure employment without this program.
Many graduates avoid CFA because it’s tough. But this is the only professional certification which can guarantee 100% employment chances. It’s interesting to note that the likes of James Mworia pursued CFA and never tarmacked even a single day, today he is the best paid CEO in Kenya with a monthly pay of over Ksh15 million.