Inter-Waste Financial Manager Willem Naude hopes to complete the ACCA qualification by the end of the year. “I started the qualification at the beginning of the year. My goal is to complete the qualification by the end of this year. I wrote two subjects in June and will write the final three in December. I hope to pass them all,” Naude explains.

Extremely modest, he omits mentioning that he obtained the highest marks in South Africa for the June 2009 examination session, when he wrote Paper P1: Professional Accountant earlier this year. During the first semester Naude attended lectures through ACCA’s Gold Status Approved Learning Partner, Forbes Lever Baker (FLB) Educational Institute for Accountancy and Management.

Anglo American EMEA Shared Services, Global Shared Services: Business Analyst, Marianna Cidaris, obtained the highest marks in South Africa for Paper P6: Advanced Taxation, when she wrote her exam earlier this year. Marianna hopes to write the final two papers for the ACCA Qualification in December.

BCom Accounting Honours graduate, Marianna decided to complete the ACCA qualification after travelling overseas: “When I went to Europe, newspaper advertisements indicated that employers were either looking for candidates with a CFA, CA or an ACCA qualification. I decided that it was a good idea to go the ACCA route”.

By Yashivan Govender

“To compete you need to be able to reinvent and adapt yourself, have goals and never forget about your dreams”.

As I am being patched through to his office by his personal assistant, I skim through the CV of Ben Frey and without even thinking twice I start to prepare myself for an interview that possibly isn’t going to go further than the day in a life of a typical accountant, I line up my interview template and ready myself for what seems to being a pretty standard encounter.

He addresses my call as slick and as calm as any lawyer would and answers my questions as innovatively as a world class businessman. Was I really on the phone with a Chartered Accountant (CASA) and Registered Auditor (RA), I am not sure…As Ben speaks I start to jot down his words into my notebook and at the same time I page again through his CV, his age upon my double take…is thirty.

Age: Old - only just closer to 40 than 50

Where on the planet are you currently located: Auckland, New Zealand

So what exactly is your job and how did you go about to achieve that career path:

I run a global software business from New Zealand. (FirstStep.me notes: Michael's company is called WhereScape and builds data warehouses!)
I studied commerce and computer science at Auckland University. My first role was in user support, but I soon figured out that the company viewed my role as a cost - and that if I wanted to get ahead I should move to a company where computer skills were seen as an asset.  After a bit of travelling I went to work for a hardware vendor as a systems engineer, which basically meant being the technical guy that helped the sales guy make sales.  It didn't take long to figure out that the sales guy called the shots, worked less and got paid more, so eventually I moved into sales. (FirstStep.me notes: A man with a plan)

Age: 34

Where on the planet are you currently located: Johannesburg, South Africa

So what exactly is your job and how did you go about to achieve that career path:

Heard from a friend that CAs earn lots of money and can do anything, so quite blindly registered…..
Was quite horrified at the extent of effort that was required but persevered!
I now work as a professional manager in the Standards Department of the IRBA.

What’s a typical working day for you:

There is no typical day! Generally the work relates to setting auditing standards and assisting auditors. Many meetings, a lot of writing e.g. reports, letters, emails. A lot of research into standards set by overseas bodies. Constant interaction with people who are specialists in their field.

All jobs have challenges, what would you say are some of yours:

Huge workload, meetings are sometimes time consuming, but everyone’s opinion needs to be heard!

Where do you see yourself in five years time:

No idea – each day is different, I take each day as it comes. (FirstStep.me says: Nice!)

"One must always be challenged or challenge yourself to keep things interesting." 

Age: 34

Where on the planet are you currently located: San Francisco, USA

So what exactly is your job and how did you go about to achieve that career path, (talk about where you studied and what motivated you to choose this career):
My current role is Senior Manager, Strategic Partnering at Nokia, where I help distill,  define, and execute key strategic partnerships across Nokia service lines.  These Nokia services lines consist of Nokia Maps, Nokia Messaging and selected media partnerships for our devices or mobile online store.

Now the path that I took to get to this current point in my life is a strange yet compelling one. Firstly since the age of twelve and living in New Zealand I have always wanted to become a graphic designer. I had the ability to draw, compose and envision things in a graphical way, which is something I loved doing. I guess it’s always important to follow and do what makes you happy whenever you can.

Age: 32

Current Occupation:
Food Engineer; M.Sc. / Sales Manager

So what is exactly is it that you do:
I am the sales manager for Pakistan and Sri Lanka markets in an international Flavour and Fragrance producing company named Givaudan Suisse SA. I am responsible to grow and maintain the existing business in these countries.

Flavours (like strawberry, orange, mint, ketchup, cheese) are used almost in all industrial food products including confectionery, dairy, beverages, savory chips and culinary.  I am in touch with mostly the R&D and Purchasing departments of international and local food producer companies, in order to promote our flavours by initiating projects which are handed through our several facilities worldwide.

2008 Interview of the Year! 

Age: 34

Current Occupation: Senior Consultant: EC Harris International Dubai and passionate musician / writer.

So what is exactly is it that you do: Manage the budget & construction of Tiger Woods Golf Course which is open to due 2010, if you have a spare $25 million US you should snap up one of the villas for sale! (FirstStep.co.za says: we know a few people, we will give them a shout!). My passion is writing and producing music, I’m currently working on my second album under the production name Universal Dust. I recently co-wrote, produced and directed a music video for the new album with my Australian visual production team, Method of Design [formally Square Frame Studios] which was a ton of fun. The first one produced by MOD was nominated as the top 100 films in the St.Kilda Film Festival in Melbourne, which was a pleasant surprise. MOD is focusing on post production, animation and photography through multiple industry sectors.