Focus Editorial Team: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Ahmed Abid Shafi: You already know my name. I'm almost 20 and am a big sports enthusiast. I regularly play squash and am a bit of a tennis fanatic though I never played tennis due to lack of facilities. I did my 0 Levels from the Hampton School and my A Levels from the Avicenna School. I registered for ACCA in November 2006 and will be sitting my Fundamentals Level, Skills Module papers in December this year. I am also hoping to start sitting my Actuarial Examinations from June next year.

Focus: What made you choose accountancy as a career option for yourself?

Ahmed: I was always very good at accounting during both my 0 and A Levels. When ever we were assigned any homework which had to be completed in five days, I would do it in two days purely out of interest. You can say that it was an inner voice that told me to pursue accounting.

Focus: Of all the qualifications available, why did you choose ACCA?

Ahmed: Actually I did have a few choices when I was starting out. But I had known about ACCA for quite some time through Mr. Fazal Qureshi at CAMS. What I liked about ACCA was the ability to work and study at the same time. More importantly I could choose the kind of work I could undertake while pursuing my studies. I didn't want to be limited to working in an audit firm. That's not to say that I'm scared of long hours. In fact I am a workaholic you may say. But I felt ACCA was the right kind of a qualification as my first steps towards becoming a self-made millionaire.

Focus: Tell us about your current job role and why is it that you chose banking to start your career with?

Ahmed: I have now been with Banklslami for one year. I started as an internee on a two month assignment. During this I was offered a three year contract by Banklslami. I started in the Consumer Credit department's Credit Administration section for our Auto Ijarah (car financing scheme) which looks at post approval processes. As part of this I had to prepare car amortization and apportionment reports for all cars that had been financed by our bank. I was also dealing with recoveries from defaulting customers. At that time I was responsible for a credit portfolio worth PKR. 800 million.

My current role is still with the Consumer Credit department. However now I am a Credit Analyst for the Pre-Approval section for our home financing, called Muskun as part of which I am responsible for sanctioning home financing.

I've always wanted to be a banker because it provides exposure to the entire economic and business landscape. We have so many different types of customers come to us with different ideas and circumstances. It is always very interesting to analyze whatever information is available and then make a decision which works in the best interests of both parties. Banks therefore always ofter a very interesting learning environment. Plus-the remuneration in banks is also a bit of an attraction.

But my dream remains to work for an international development organization like the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank.