Welcome
From the President
Weighing up your future career path is something all AAT students naturally do as they progress through their qualifications.
For many, thoughts naturally turn to the opportunities presented by setting up your own practice and becoming your own boss. It's a very individual thing, and for many, a career in full time employment suits them best.
However, if you've got a slightly buccaneering spirit and you're slightly entrepreneurial, there will come a time – as, indeed, it came to me and the licensed members in this issue's career navigator – when you will want to run your own business.
The way I did it is probably not a bad way to do it. I trained and qualified with somebody bigger, and then you can move into the space that you want to, because you're bound to experience things you hadn't anticipated at the beginning of the run.
The important thing to understand is your own mind. Running my own firm suited me, but it won't suit everybody because it's a very different mindset and a different life. You've got to be okay working on your own if you're working from home, as well as good with people when you're meeting clients, for instance. It's about mindset and personality and understanding what makes you tick.
Michael Steed MAAT, AAT President
Calum Fuller, Editor
Editor's letter
Edwin Samu's story is one that illustrates the pathway AAT provides perfectly. Through his qualifications with AAT, he has been able to leave behind conflict and embark on a thriving career in finance, running his own practice.
While most won't have stories quite as dramatic as his, it demonstrates where an AAT qualification can take you. If you need more, we hear from several other licensed members in this issue's career navigator about their experiences running their own firm.
For those of you not quite at that stage, Carlene Pearson's perseverance with her exams will no doubt provide some inspiration and reassurance that it is all worth the hard work.
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