Ajibola Jinadu FCA,FCCA,FMVA®Ajibola Jinadu FCA,FCCA,FMVA®

My first promotion

If you have gone through my profile, you know that I started my career at Deloitte.

Despite being Chartered, I had to start as an Associate due to my lack of audit or real work experience.

For those who don’t know the career progression is broadly

Associate>Senior>Manager>Partner

Towards the end of my first year, a few Seniors left the firm and there was this massive gap that needed to be filled.

But in a weird twist, The Office Managing Partner calmly called Uche Ekelaka and I into his office and told us that we were going to fill the gap. He had seen the potential, and he took a gamble that we would grab the opportunity.

The catch was that, officially, we were still Associates.

For context, we had just been told that we were to move to a level where the responsibilities (read: stress) were going to be tripled but the pay was going to be the same.

An Audit Senior has to be the hardest job in the world of accounting.

We got to work. Long days, back-to-back jobs, hotel stays, dead social life, leading fellow associates who joined the firm long before I did, ACCA exams, car problems and life happening in between yet delivering big on big engagements.

By the next appraisal period, the promotion was a formality.

I had been a Senior before being a Senior.

Three key lessons:
1. Be grateful for the opportunities that come your way no matter how disgusting, dirty or hard they might appear. Many people don't get those opportunities at all.
2. Make the most of the opportunities. There is always something to gain no matter how badly it turns out.
3. Show your potential at every chance you get. People are inclined to give you opportunities if you build and show your capacity and capability.

Happy ending
In a few short years, Uche and I were off to US to continue doing the Lord’s work. Uche is now a Senior Manager at Deloitte UK while I am here writing this post.

Ajione:
Congratulations name sake