In our latest alumni spotlight, we caught up with Juned Miah, a BSc Accounting and Management, 2021, graduate from the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London. Juned is now flourishing in his career as a Finance Graduate Analyst at BNP Paribas, one of the world’s largest investment banks.
I chose to study BSc Accounting and Management at Queen Mary because I knew I wanted to become an Accountant, but this degree also gave me exposure to business management. So, I was learning a general overview of key business areas which aided me in my career and will further help me in the future as I make my way up towards leadership roles or if I later decide to pursue a different career path.
I currently work for a global investment bank called BNP Paribas as a Finance Graduate Analyst. This is a 2-year programme, I’ve just completed 1 year in Tax. I’m currently doing 6 months in Local Regulatory Reporting and after that I will be doing 6 months in Performance Management (Management Accounting).
Tax covered various areas. This entailed VAT (indirect tax). Direct taxes such as corporation tax, bank levy and senior accounting officer. Prime brokerage / operational taxes involving FATCA (Foreign account tax compliance act) and QI (Qualified intermediary). Employment tax on Appendix 5, PSA (Pay as you earn settlement agreement) and tax treaties. Also, policies and controls such as tax control plans, tax policy and tax governance frameworks.
I’m currently in local regulatory reporting which entails financial reporting for the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and the Finance Conduct Authority.
My degree provided me with a solid foundation in accounting principles, which I was able to apply shortly after my final exam in my role as a Finance Graduate for a military defence contractor.
The role was heavily focused on cost accounting, monthly budgets reviews with cost centre managers (department directors). From the knowledge I gained from my degree I was able to hit the ground running and got promoted to an Assistant Management Accountant.
In my current company, BNP Paribas the tax module I studied helped build a foundation of knowledge in entering the world of tax. The modules international corporate reporting and international finance reporting has helped me understand how to display financial performance better for the Bank of England, PRA and FCA.
In addition to the modules, I attended a lot of career events and took part in the mentoring scheme that the university had offered. This helped me build my professional network, where I learnt how to be better prepared for interviews and gain general knowledge on the industries.
If you’re not sure what career path you want to take but do enjoy working with numbers or finance, then this degree is for you. You’ll learn core elements of accounting (plus technical elements too), but you’ll also get a general overview of business management which helped me with a lot with interviews because you can expand on these topics and state how you can apply this knowledge in the workplace to drive productivity and efficiency.
The books the lecturers recommend tend to be quite useful and please make use of the office hours the lecturers offer. Their time is precious, but they make time available just for you so don’t let it go to waste. If you’re not sure about anything regarding the content, then go to them and they can give you a 1-1 short session to guide you.
Take every opportunity out there! Sign up to be a Course Representative, Student Ambassador, join societies, embed yourself with the university and just enjoy yourself. You’ll never get this time back and trust me it goes by so fast so do what you can to make the most of it. Have fun but also prioritise your studies!
Sometimes studying gets stressful just like anything else in life you just need to ride the wave. There will be good moments but there will also be difficult moments, and you need to remind yourself that there will be light at the end of the tunnel so be patient and never give up.