Changing careers
Aleem Rattani shares how he went from working at a firm to being a recruitment consultant
Aleem Rattani CPA, CA is no stranger to change. Originally from East Africa, he moved to Australia before eventually coming to Canada in 2012. A year later, he earned his Canadian designation through a Reciprocal Membership Agreement.
“Having the CPA letters behind your name gives you credibility.” That doesn’t mean it was all breezy, however. “The biggest transition was the weather and learning to drive in snow and ice,” recalls Aleem. “I was pretty nervous on the roads for the first couple of years because Australia doesn’t have any snow or ice.”
Aleem began his career working at firms. However, after meeting up with a friend with a similar background who worked in recruitment—an Australian CPA who also got their Canadian designation through reciprocity—Aleem decided to give recruitment a try. Thanks to his CPA designation, that transition was easy.
Now, three years later, he’s a Senior Recruitment Consultant and Account Manager at Recruitment Partners Inc. “It’s an exciting career. You get to talk to people all day long, which I enjoy, and you sort of get to leverage your education and experience because I’m basically placing accountants,” says Aleem. “I focus solely on placing CPA-level skillsets, so in terms of that transition, I’m talking to CPAs all day long.”
The skills and knowledge Aleem gained through the CPA program have benefited his career change in other ways too. “The CPA designation is not just about accounting,” he says. “It helps give you a broad, sweeping understanding of business in general, which helps you talk to any manager or any professional in a different discipline.”
For any CPA looking to change careers, Aleem has some tips. “Look at the market right now and try to get a sense around what the overall trends are,” he says. “Try to choose a career where there’s basically some longevity to it, both in terms of industry and in terms of the role itself.”
He also says it’s worth looking at and following trends beyond your local geography because the CPA designation is a worldwide-recognized accreditation.