September 15, 2025 • 36 mins
Thinking about starting—or leveling up—a global finance career? In this episode of Count Me In, host Adam Larson sits down with Unnamalai (Unzi) Ramanathan and Charu Solanki, two dynamic finance professionals who’ve taken their careers across India, Dubai, Hong Kong, and the US. Unzi and Charu get real about why finance skills are more in demand than ever, what sets certifications like CMA and CSCA apart, and how these credentials have helped them stand out in a changing industry.
Listen in for practical advice on building financial expertise, developing strategic and analytical skills, and navigating the ups and downs of international career moves. The conversation is packed with honest stories about adapting to new cultures, constant learning, and networking—including how to find your niche in a crowded field. Whether you’re a student, a recent grad, or a finance pro thinking about your next step, this episode has plenty of actionable tips to help you chart your own path to global success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Adam Larson (00:21):
Welcome to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam Larsen,
and today I'm joined by twoinspiring guests, Charu Solanki
and Unzi Ramanathan, who havebuilt impressive international
careers in finance. In thisepisode, we'll explore why
finance professionals are onhigh demand across the globe and
how certifications like the CMAand CSCA can help set you apart
in a crowded field. Charu andUzi share their personal
(00:44):
journeys from starting out inIndia and Dubai to making their
marks in places like Hong Kongand The US. Along the way they
dive into practical insights onskills you need to thrive in the
industry from strategic decisionmaking and risk management to
the importance of the ability toadapt and continuous learning.
We'll also talk about how toleverage your network, why
(01:05):
staying ahead of technologymatters and how you can actively
stand out as a global financeleader. Whether you're just
starting out or looking toelevate your career, there's a
lot to learn from theirexperiences. So stay tuned for a
conversation full of advice,stories and actionable
takeaways. Well, Unzi and Charu,thank you so much for coming on
(01:28):
the podcast today. I'm veryexcited to have you on as we're
going to be talking about theskills needed to have a global
finance career and especiallythe importance of things like
the CMA and the CSCA in thatcareer.
And to start the conversationoff, I was thinking we could
talk about, you know, why arefinance professionals in high
demand globally and what kind offactors have you seen contribute
to that trend?
Unnamalai Ramanathan (01:48):
Finance profession is basically evolving
a lot. There's a lot ofbadmisses that we have to do.
There's a lot of informationthat goes into preparing our
financials. The laws, theregulations have been constantly
changing, and we have to keep upwith that. So that's the main
reason why it's very importantfor us to have a skill set that
(02:10):
keeps us almost in line withtechnology and keeps us up to
date.
Charu Solanki (02:17):
Just thinking about recent times, I think the
reason why finance professionalshave been in high demand and
always have been is because therecent boom in AI, I feel like
it doesn't cut through thefinance industry just yet. Like
there's a lot of rules andregulations and how AI can touch
the finance sector and becausewe deal with, you know, of us
(02:40):
deal with real money for realpeople. I feel like there's that
hesitance that people have interms of using AI. So there's
more need for, you know, sort ofa human skill set in that
regard. So I feel like we havean upper hand now in terms of,
you know, for example, in thetech industry, a lot of their
roles are being swapped with AI,but I think there's still a long
(03:03):
way for that to happen infinance and which I think sort
of keeps it interesting.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (03:09):
That's true. Basically, AI cannot do
your books of accounts for you.AI cannot accurately apply GAAP.
AI cannot take or approve bankpayments or set up bank payments
because it's all sensitiveinformation. Having such
sensitive information needs ahuman touch and not only a
(03:30):
normal human touch, but it alsoneeds like someone who's
experienced and who has theskill set to actually get to the
roots of all the causes.
Basically, if you have a problemin finance, you cannot have
anyone else solve it but afinance professional who's been
having that skill set. Thatskill set is very necessary. You
need to understand finance. Youneed to understand the root
(03:52):
cause for a lot of issues. Youto understand the whole strategy
of the company, understand thecash flow, the management of
cash flow, because all of thesethings are the most important in
our day to day of management ofbusiness.
Adam Larson (04:06):
So you guys are both you are you are both
certified management accountantsor CMAs. And Unzi, you are also
a CSCA, which is a certifiedStrategy and Competitive
Analysis certification. And howhave you seen these
certifications help you asyou've grown in your careers?
Think,
Charu Solanki (04:23):
Adam, in terms of the certification, I feel like
it does equip you with the rightlevel of skill set and knowledge
that you need in the accountingworld. I think it sort of
refreshes all the concepts andgives you a detailed
understanding of the variousconcepts that you might use day
to day. The certifications alsohave a good way of testing your
(04:46):
competency in a way that appliesto the real world. Is
theoretical, but the way I thinkthe curriculum and the exam is
structured, it sort of tries totest you and prepares you for
the real world. More than that,what I feel gives you an edge is
just having those certificationsover your colleagues, because it
(05:08):
does show to your management andto anyone who's hiring that
you've put in that extra effortto sort of deepen your
understanding or get that extraedge over your colleagues.
I feel like just having thosecertifications on your resume or
on your file sort of builds yourcase for someone who's more
proactive, someone who's moreinvolved with the industry. And
(05:31):
I think that's where you sort ofgain the extra edge with both
the CMA and the CSCAcertifications.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (05:41):
I'd like to add here that one great
biggest advantage of CMA is thatyou can do it when you're in
university. You don't have tocomplete your graduation to do
it. And I took advantage of thatbecause I wanted to take another
professional certification. Iwent through all the testing and
everything. I wasn't eligible.
And I decided, Okay, fine, I'meligible for CMA. I'll take that
(06:02):
as a stepping stone and I'llgive myself that extra time to
go through CMA. I did it when Iwas in my first, second year of
my college, so I was like verynew to this. So I did it in my
first, second year ofuniversity. So it was very
helpful for me because it helpedme in my studies.
It helped me graduate with a CMAcertification, though I've not
(06:24):
completed the work experience.But once I complete the work
experience, I'm good to go. AndI showed that as a stepping
stone for me to get a joboutside. It was recognized in
multiple countries. I got anoffer from Dubai and I was able
to take up a career in Dubai.
I moved to Big Four later, so Iwas able to take that CMA
(06:48):
certification that I've donealmost while I was in college.
And that has helped me toactually step up my career
little by little by little. So Icompleted my CMA in college. I
graduated. Two years later, Igot my CMA certification with
the experience.
And then I got promoted. I gotinto a Big four company. And
(07:12):
then while I was working in aBig Four company, it's just like
I always make fun of CSCA sayingthat it's like a booster seat.
You know, when a child grows up,it's a booster seat. So it was
like a booster seat for mebecause I was already in a
position in my career where Icould also help in strategical
decision making and try to bringthat to focus.
(07:33):
So that really helped me CSCA,having a certification, how to
look at things. That reallyhelped me as well in my career
growth.
Adam Larson (07:42):
Maybe we could talk a little bit about some of the
skills or competencies thatyou've gained and that you've
been able to apply that yougained through the different
certifications that you andyour.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (07:51):
Yeah. So basically, like the CMA itself
covers a lot of your financerelated certifications, ethics.
And ethics is at a very youngage when you're starting CMA,
know ethics, that's like yourbase. So you start off with
that. And then CSCA, how do youdo comparative analysis?
(08:11):
How do you do strategicaldecision making? People related
decisions? All of that comes inCSCA. So the merger of these two
is just like a perfect like,it's like a perfect meal. It has
all the spice and the salt andeverything.
It's perfect. So that's why itreally stands out. The skill
sets. Right now, CMA hasevolved. When I studied CMA,
(08:35):
it's like almost ten years ago.
Right now it's like it'sevolved. Like, you know, right
now we have technology in CMA.We have a lot of new
technologies that's beingcovered under the CMA syllabus,
which was like, as thetechnology is growing, the
syllabus keeps getting updated.It's not like you're just doing
the same level of courses everytime. Your course gets updated
(08:59):
regularly for improvements andthe market conditions, what is
in trend right now in themarket?
What are the skill sets that isactually required for finance
professionals? And I always tellthe same thing. If you don't
outskill yourself so I'll repeatthat again. I always tell the
same thing that if you don'tupscale yourself again and again
(09:23):
You would be out of I don't knowwhy I'm feeling why I'm feeling
so nervous. Okay.
I always tell this, if you don'tupscale yourself regularly,
technology will outsmart you.You need to upscale yourself.
That's very, very important. Forme, continuous learning has been
key. Every year I take up acertification, I take up a
(09:46):
course, I take up somethingbecause that keeps me relevant.
And like, if I see like from theyear I graduated till today,
every year I've done acertification, not just to add
something to my name, but togain the skill sets that's very
important in our day to daywork.
Charu Solanki (10:02):
Yeah, I'd like to add that I think the core skills
that you gain when you take upthese certifications are
analytics. I feel like that'sone skill within the world of
finance that you need to alwayshave under your belt.
Unfortunately, all of ourundergraduate programs don't
give you that first timeexperience on cost analytics or
(10:26):
any type of management analyticsthat can help you take more
strategic management decisions.So I feel like those skills are
very helpful. When I took up theCMA just in addition to my
undergrad and that sort ofhelped me gain an edge over my
colleagues.
When I joined my first role,which was as a cost accountant
(10:47):
for real estate business, soyou're dealing with a lot of
numbers, you're dealing with alot of details in real estate
and so the CMA sort of helped meput a structure to it because I
did know the different types ofanalytical tools and analytical
theories that I could apply tothose numbers. Just right out in
(11:09):
the beginning, which was notexpected. But I think that gave
me an edge. The other moreimportant skill that I feel all
finance professionals shouldhave and that these
certifications are good for isrisk management. They sort of
tell you or give you the righttools to analyse risk, which
(11:30):
might not be apparent in thenumbers or which might not be
apparent in the conversationsyou may have.
And I think it's up to us asfinance professionals to always
highlight the risk that yournumbers might be telling you and
analyse that and present it in away that management can make
more informed decisions knowingthe risks that lie within the
(11:54):
business. So I feel like thosetwo key skill sets, cost
analytics and risk analysis sortof help develop a nice base for
you to be able to take bettermanagement and strategic
decisions, which is what youeventually have to get to as you
grow in your career.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (12:12):
Yeah. And we have like regular CPA events
where you meet as a chapter. Imean, for a person who's in
their early 20s or like who'sjust finished CMA out of school,
just to do that and meet peoplewho have like fifty years of
experience and both of them cometogether, think together. That's
like, that's something that noschool can teach. Like, it's
(12:33):
very, very important.
I met a lot of connectionsthrough those chapters. I
volunteered as a board for thosechapters. Has been like, you
know, a key to makingconnections, basically.
Connections is the next AI. It'sbasically the next AI.
You need to have connections. Ithelps you to understand things
better. It helps you to grow inyour career. It helps you to
(12:57):
understand what's actually goingon in each everyone's business.
You just have a talk with them,keep in touch with your
connections.
And these regular CPE eventsputs you up for like, you know,
all the courses that youwouldn't have otherwise learned
if you had not attended thoseCPE events.
Adam Larson (13:13):
Yeah, it's important to make connections
with folks and especiallynetworking when you're early in
your career and even as you'reprogressing in your career,
making connections with peopleand growing in the different
skills and knowledge that youneed. You know, you both
mentioned the importance ofstrategic decision making and
things like analytics. How haveyou been able to, take those on
and grow in your career andadvance by utilizing these
(13:35):
different skills you've beenable to acquire?
Charu Solanki (13:38):
So, I think Adam, just leaning on from the last
response, certifications, Ithink they equip you in a way by
giving you the kind of exposure,the kind of practical exposure
that maybe an undergraduateprogram cannot. So I think in
terms of the skills that youmentioned, which is analytics
(14:00):
and leadership, I think thesecertifications sort of help you
in two ways. Number one is theway they test. I think it's a
very interesting program and theway they test for your knowledge
is very interesting with certainquestions. I think these
certifications sort of help yougather and apply these skill
sets in two ways.
(14:22):
I think number one is thetesting mechanism. I feel like I
have written a couple ofdifferent professional exams and
I feel like the way the CMAtests for your application of
what you've learned, it reallygives you that real life
experience. So I think we haveboth sort of the more objective
questions where you pick outmultiple choice and then you
(14:43):
have the more subjectivequestions where you sort of, you
you're put in a situation andyou respond to that situation as
if you were, you know, CMA. So Ifelt like that really helped
prepare me for the real worldbecause that's typically how,
you know, when you're put up ina presentation, you're given a
situation and you're like, finda solution for this. So I felt
(15:05):
like that gave me the rightskill set and the confidence to
come up with solutions usingthose tools.
And I think secondly, as Wamsiwas mentioning, the network that
you create as part of just beinga CMA and getting access to
other CMAs in differentindustries. And especially if
(15:26):
you're someone who puts aneffort to go to the CPE events
or just regular networkingevents or try to network with
CMAs in your region, It givesyou that industry experience and
that knowledge that can help youget access to information that
might not be available anywhereelse, right? Like what kind of
situations or problems are otherindustries facing? How are CMAs
(15:50):
solving those problems for thoseindustries? And sort of learning
through that, which I think gaveme an edge.
I was part of the CMA Bangalorechapter, part of the organizing
committee for a few years, whichgave me access to a big network
of CMAs in Bangalore. I thenmoved to Hong Kong and I
(16:10):
attended certain events for CMAin Hong Kong as well. And now
recently I moved to The US andI'm part of the US CMA chapter.
It's a good network that keepsyou connected, that keeps you
abreast the industry, which alsohas helped me in my growing role
(16:31):
within my career to sort ofapply those skill sets to my
role.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (16:38):
I'd like to add that, you know, as a
finance professional, theremultiple finance professionals
graduating out of college everyyear. You need to have a niche.
I always consider myself aspositioning myself. You know, I
need to position myself as adifferent person among all the
other people that are there. Itmakes you stand out, makes you
(16:59):
stand out in interviews, makesyou stand out in opportunities,
makes your resume stand out inanything that you're applying
them to.
That's my most important thing.And CMA gave me that niche, you
know, having completed CMA at ayoung age, having done the CSCA,
which is, as I said, my boostedseat and also like putting
(17:20):
together this whole resume,which makes, which almost
portrays the image that theperson has gone through, like
from basic management accountingto a strategic level person, and
the person's ready to take upchallenges. So that's the
picture that I want to paint outthere. And these skills not only
gives me the additionalopportunity based on like the
(17:41):
certifications, the names andthe niche that it places me in,
it's a unique placing criteria.Like, you know, it's a unique
selling point for me, like howwe have USP for products.
It's a USP for me as a person,as a finance professional,
because I want to make myselfstand out. And these
certifications help me standout. The biggest thing I could
(18:03):
say is I studied in India. Imoved to Dubai. I worked in
Dubai.
And then from Dubai, I moved toUS and I'm working in The US
right now, all within the samecompany. I got into a big four
company in Dubai and then I gottransferred to The US because my
skill sets are a global skillset. It's not like it's not
(18:25):
confined to a country. It's notconfined to a region. The skill
set is a global skill set.
And you learn both US GAAP aswell as the difference between
US GAAP and IFRS and CMA, whichis a very good niche because it
helps you to survive in MiddleEastern countries, it helps you
to survive in Europeancountries. You could you could
actually be anywhere because youhave this global skill set.
Adam Larson (18:47):
So, you both started your career in one place
and then moved to a fewdifferent countries as you've
gone. You know, Unzi, you hadthe opportunity to go within the
same company, Chero. I don'tknow if you've been able to go
or different companies, but howwas that how was that
experience, starting in onecountry, going to another
country, and then going toanother country, even in the
same company or differentcompanies? I can only imagine
(19:08):
what that was like, you know,from a cultural perspective of,
okay, now I'm in a new place. Imight be in the same
organization, but each eachoffice has their own office
politics, office culture.
And then beyond that, you're ina whole different country where
there's that country has theirown cultures and and things
going on. So I want you guys ifyou could talk a little bit
about that experience.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (19:27):
Yeah. Being an MNC, like, the culture
is very multicultural. So youlive and work with multicultural
people. Not everyone is from thesame region. There's so many
multicultural people.
You work with GDS offices. Youwork with service centers that
might be located in Philippines,might be located in India. You
work with a group of people andit's full army that you're
(19:50):
working with. So when you movefrom country to country, for me,
the biggest change was just atime zone. Like, you know,
before we were in India, youwould wake up at their time and
work to their time.
And now I have to wake up maybeten hours earlier to talk to the
Indian team. But like, we justfigured that out and like
working with global teams,basically like having to figure
(20:13):
out the time when to have yourmeetings and how to talk, what
is respectful, what is notrespectful. I think that comes
with a more multiculturalenvironment. Like you need to
understand what is respectful.In certain countries, something
might be considered verydisrespectful.
You need to be very aware ofthat. And that's how you need
you need to position yourself inevery environment that you're
working in.
Adam Larson (20:33):
It's almost like you have to immerse yourself in
that local culture to understandwhat you're going to be dealing
with and also just how to liveand just go from day to day.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (20:42):
Correct. You need to network with people
who are local there, who arefrom there, just like, you know,
your office colleagues. Andlike, you know, always tell
everyone, like, I moved to NewYork, and three questions that I
get asked the most is, theweather has been bad, how is
your weekend? What are you doingfor summer? And then go back to
another country.
They never talk about thesethree things. They talk about
(21:04):
what are you gonna have forlunch? Do you wanna grab lunch?
So it's kind of like everyculture, the questions, the
starting conversations aretotally different. Like, you
know, you need to keep up withthat.
In Dubai, you could walk veryslowly on the road. Nobody would
care because nobody's walking onthe road. And then in New York,
if I'm walking slowly,everyone's like, Are you taking
a stroll in Central Park? It'skind of like totally different,
(21:27):
different things.
Charu Solanki (21:28):
Your question, Adam, I've also been with the
same organization, moved to tworegions with them. So it's been
a similar experience as I say. Ifeel like the thing that stood
out the most for me, actuallythere are two things. One is
definitely the work culture. So,I started my career in India,
where you're working withdifferent regions globally and
(21:51):
your culture depends on theregion that you cover.
If you work more with TheAmericas, your culture is more
American. If you work withIndia, your work culture is more
European. But then I moved toHong Kong, which lives in its
own time zone of its own withinAsia, because it's so far away
from like The US or even EMEA,As that day was finishing up,
(22:14):
the rest of the regions came on.So while for most of our work
day it was just us trying tomanage the workload. And I felt
like in Asia people were reallymore systematic in their
approaches, they were moreoperational, you know, like they
would be told, this is what youneed to do from A to B, and this
(22:35):
is what you need to do from B toC, and this is how you reach
your goal.
That's what they would follow tothe T. Like there was very
little room for innovation orchanging something. If you
wanted to make a change, it wasso difficult, you'd have to
take, I don't know how manyapprovals and convince how many
people to make a change, whichwas very interesting for me
(22:58):
because in India that wasn't thecase in India, you talk to your
manager, you talk to a fewpeople, you can change the
process if that's moreefficient. So it was sort of a
big change for me. And then cutto The US, it's so much more
different.
Like in The US, you are thedecision maker, right? You can
decide what you want the processto be. You can change it
(23:20):
according to, what the businessneeds are, what the client needs
are. And it's so fast paced,you're not really waiting on a
lot of approvals to makeefficient changes. So I felt
like that was a key theme Inoticed through different
regions.
Just because you work in anAmerican company, how different
regions behave, how the mindsetof the work culture is. So I
(23:45):
think that was a good learningcurve for me. And the second
thing is the amount of admintasks that you have to do to be
able to set yourself up fullyfrom scratch in a new country.
For example, in The Americas, Iwas declined a credit card my
first few months because I didnot have credit history. I was
(24:05):
like, well I've been working foreight years, know, I earned a
decent salary, you know saying Ican't have credit card.
So it was a very differentexperience but Hong Kong was
totally different. In Hong Kongyou could you know, set yourself
up without having any trialcredit and money is very free
flowing. Whereas in TheAmericas, it's a lot more
(24:25):
restrictive to start if youdon't have credit history, which
was interesting to me.
Adam Larson (24:32):
What I found interesting with both both
answers was that you both haveto be you have to be very
adaptable wherever you are. AndI know it's a it's it's
different when you're in onecountry and you're just maybe
switching organizations. Youstill have to be adaptable, but
the adaptability kind of growsto personal life to, you know,
even to something as simple asgetting a credit card, how you
(24:53):
have to be adaptable, you know,where no matter where you're
going. And I'm wondering, youknow, if the skills you've
learned in some of thecertifications, you know, have
helped you be more adaptable andbe ready for these for any type
of situation that comes yourway.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (25:09):
That's very true. You have to be
adaptable. You have to beflexible. You have to be that
like, you know, that's the onlyway to go forward. So being
adaptable and flexible is givenand it's key.
And the certification from CMAas well as CSEA tells us how to
plan for change and changemanagement. I think that's very
(25:33):
important. Change management,right? Like, as they say, change
is the only thing that'sconstant. And like, for me, it's
like, you know, you uprootyourself and then reroute
yourself.
I actually literally had touproot myself from Dubai, where
I had like a set career. I hadlike a set everything, friend
(25:54):
circle. I had everything setthere. Come to a country where I
know no one and then start fromscratch. And hear the timelines,
the requirements from managers,everything is very different.
So though you work today, likeyour reviewing way of reviewing
work is very different. Likepeople would review your work
(26:14):
differently in Dubai. Peoplewould review your work
differently here. So youliterally have to uproot
yourself and reroute yourself.It's just like, it's a total
change that we have to gothrough.
But I think that change is, thekey point of that change is
change management. Like how youdo everything, how you keep
yourself organized, how you keepyourself grounded during this
(26:37):
change and how you set yourselfup for success and not for
failure because you have to likeplan everything out. You cannot
miss meeting new people becauseyou need to make friends and
improve your network in thiscountry because you've moved to
different countries. You stillneed to keep in touch with your
old colleagues. It's a lot ofthings to manage and juggle at
the same time.
Adam Larson (26:57):
Charu, we were just talking about adaptability and
how important that is whenyou're switching from country to
country. And I don't know if youhad anything to share around
like how important adaptabilitywas and how the things you've
been learning in your educationand certifications helped you be
more adaptable and prepare youfor that.
Charu Solanki (27:14):
You know, as we were talking about work cultures
and meeting different people,you need to adapt just in the
way like Anjali was saying, inthe way you network and the way
you work, you sort of have toadapt yourself to the new region
that you're in. But I think thekey benefit of picking up these
certifications, which are moreglobal manager, I think they
(27:36):
sort of mentally prepare you ina way that sort of helps you be
more adaptable, because ifyou're learning about global
roles already, it sort ofmentally prepares you that if
I'm in this part of the world,the rules are going to apply
differently. If I'm in this partof the world, the rules may
apply a bit differently. Andthen you sort of learn to add
(28:01):
the culture bit to it. But Ithink taking a global
certifications definitely giveyou that exposure in your
current seat as a student.
And so it helps you prepare forwhat's to come by giving you a
flavor of the world is not justthe industry you see around
yourself, but it's much biggerthan what you study in your
(28:25):
books in your undergraduate. Andso it helps to just mentally
prepare you to take things as itcomes. It mentally prepares you
for the fact that roles canchange, but how you apply those
roles, given your basics,remains consistent. So, what you
learn in terms of analytics, interms of risk appetite, in terms
(28:47):
of making strategic decisions,that core remains the same. But
how you apply that in differentscenarios and different regions
with different people canchange.
Know, now I've worked in threedifferent regions and I've been
in finance all throughout. All Ican say is the words in the
(29:10):
rules may sound different, butthey are all trying to achieve
the same thing. They're alltrying to achieve a low risk,
high reward kind of situation,and they're all trying to
maximize their profits. So thatkey of finance sort of remains
the same, but I think thesecertifications equip you to
(29:32):
apply those decisions indifferent aspects and give you
that edge, you know, for others.
Adam Larson (29:38):
So this has been a wonderful conversation. I really
appreciate you both coming onand kind of sharing your
expertise. And I figured wecould end the conversation with
maybe just some actual advicefor an aspiring global finance
leader, somebody who's listeningto you and are inspired by that
your your journey through inyour current career. And maybe
some advice that you'd want togive those folks if they were
(29:59):
you could talk to them.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (30:01):
It's never too early to start. You can
start as early as you want inyour career. Once you decide
this is what you want, you couldstart your CMA journey while
you're in university. You couldstart it when you're doing your
graduation. You could stillstart it.
So that's number one. You couldalways start it. It's never too
early. Second thing iscontinuous learning. We have to
(30:23):
continuously learn and upskillourselves.
Otherwise, technology willovertake us. The speed at which
we learn and we grow ourknowledge should be higher than
the speed at which technology isgrowing. So that means we have
to learn a lot and thatcontinuous learning is what
keeps us relevant. So we have tolearn a lot. Third thing, once
(30:44):
you take up a certification, Ithink the most important thing
is to be prepared, understandit.
You're not going to get the samequestions that you try in your
practice exam. This is notschool where you would possibly
have 10% chances of getting it.None of your questions are going
to be the same. You need tounderstand the concepts, take
(31:05):
the concepts clearly, and thenapply the concepts. Nobody's
asking you to repeat what is inthe book back in the that's one
thing.
And the other thing is always beopen for opportunities. Always
be open for networking.Opportunities, it would not come
knocking at your door. You canknock every single door and try
(31:26):
to find an opportunity.Volunteer in a board, go to
chapter events, try to see, talkto people who have completed
certifications, understand allof this, because that makes you
stand out.
I always tell like, you know,the CSCA, when I took the CSCA,
the first thing I did was howcan I make myself competitive?
(31:47):
How can I position myselfcompetitively in all of these
people who are doing finance?How can I stand out? Like, you
know, what makes me stand out? Ialways wanted to figure out my
niche because that's my sellingpoint.
That's my elevator pitch. That'smy niche. Like, I want to tell
them I have X, Y, Z experience.I've learned all of these skills
(32:07):
and this is why I'm differentfrom the others. This is why you
should hire.
Charu Solanki (32:11):
Think I have similar advice, which is, you
know, to your point, cannotemphasize enough on the fact
that grabbing opportunities isunderrated. You know, like when
you said, you don't have to waitfor something and be very picky
about, okay, only if this kindof role comes out, I'm going to
apply for it or if this kind of,you know, will suffice. I think,
(32:34):
you know, as you start yourcareer, just pick up anything
where you think there's growth,where you think there are
learning opportunities for you.And you can always use that as a
stepping stone to make a careertowards where you eventually
want to go. So no job is betteror worse.
(32:55):
I feel like a job is a job andyou have to be good at it to
make your way to anything else.So whatever comes your way,
always have an open mind and beflexible. I never thought I
would end up in regulatorycompliance back when I started
in real estate. And I sort ofcharted a very different path
(33:16):
for myself. And I think thesecond thing that goes hand in
hand with this is also, as Anshusaid, continuous learning.
So if you're not yet where youthink you want to be in your
career, I think what goes handin hand with crafting
opportunities is continuouslearning and trying to make sure
that you're always keepingyourself abreast with the
(33:37):
industry that you eventuallywant to enter and opportunities
will come your way. And third,but not the last thing, be
there's no shortcut to hardwork. So no matter whatever
situation you are in, no matterwhat job you're in, no matter
what position you are in, evenas an analyst, you have to make
sure that you're working hard toachieve your goals and
(34:00):
portraying to your managers, toyour colleagues, that you're
really serious about where youare, right? You always have to
sort of put that front overeverything else. You can be
really smart, but if you're nothardworking and others don't
seek you as someone who'shardworking and serious about
their jobs, then you're notgonna get anywhere.
(34:22):
So, you can always make sureyou're taking whatever tasks
you're given with utmost respectand giving it your best.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (34:29):
Yeah, the new hard work is also smart
work. You can work as hard aspossible, but you need to do it
smartly because only when you'redoing work smartly, you're going
to improvise the work and worktowards efficiency. So I think
like working towards efficiencyand if you're doing the same
task for fifteen months in a rowor three months in a row, even
(34:49):
you're doing, you're not doingjustice to the task because you
could have been improving it insome possible way and you're not
been doing that. You need to tryto work smartly because hard
work, yes, you could work veryhard, but then you could not be
using your process improvements,efficiency, etcetera. So now,
right now, the new generationhard work is hard work plus
(35:11):
smart work together because youneed to improvise each task
that's given to you.
That's how you're saving moneyfor yourself and you're saving
yourself from the future workthat you're going to do.
Adam Larson (35:21):
Well, thank you both so much for taking time out
of your day to come on thepodcast and sharing your
experience with our audience.And we just really appreciate
you coming on.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (35:29):
Thank you so much. Thanks,
Announcer (35:33):
This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast providing
you with the latest perspectivesof thought leaders from the
accounting and financeprofession. If you like what you
heard and you'd like to becounted in for more relevant
accounting and financeeducation, visit IMA's website
at www.imanet.org.
Welcome to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam Larsen,
and today I'm joined by twoinspiring guests, Charu Solanki
and Unzi Ramanathan, who havebuilt impressive international
careers in finance. In thisepisode, we'll explore why
finance professionals are onhigh demand across the globe and
how certifications like the CMAand CSCA can help set you apart
in a crowded field. Charu andUzi share their personal
(00:44):
journeys from starting out inIndia and Dubai to making their
marks in places like Hong Kongand The US. Along the way they
dive into practical insights onskills you need to thrive in the
industry from strategic decisionmaking and risk management to
the importance of the ability toadapt and continuous learning.
We'll also talk about how toleverage your network, why
(01:05):
staying ahead of technologymatters and how you can actively
stand out as a global financeleader. Whether you're just
starting out or looking toelevate your career, there's a
lot to learn from theirexperiences. So stay tuned for a
conversation full of advice,stories and actionable
takeaways. Well, Unzi and Charu,thank you so much for coming on
(01:28):
the podcast today. I'm veryexcited to have you on as we're
going to be talking about theskills needed to have a global
finance career and especiallythe importance of things like
the CMA and the CSCA in thatcareer.
And to start the conversationoff, I was thinking we could
talk about, you know, why arefinance professionals in high
demand globally and what kind offactors have you seen contribute
to that trend?
Unnamalai Ramanathan (01:48):
Finance profession is basically evolving
a lot. There's a lot ofbadmisses that we have to do.
There's a lot of informationthat goes into preparing our
financials. The laws, theregulations have been constantly
changing, and we have to keep upwith that. So that's the main
reason why it's very importantfor us to have a skill set that
(02:10):
keeps us almost in line withtechnology and keeps us up to
date.
Charu Solanki (02:17):
Just thinking about recent times, I think the
reason why finance professionalshave been in high demand and
always have been is because therecent boom in AI, I feel like
it doesn't cut through thefinance industry just yet. Like
there's a lot of rules andregulations and how AI can touch
the finance sector and becausewe deal with, you know, of us
(02:40):
deal with real money for realpeople. I feel like there's that
hesitance that people have interms of using AI. So there's
more need for, you know, sort ofa human skill set in that
regard. So I feel like we havean upper hand now in terms of,
you know, for example, in thetech industry, a lot of their
roles are being swapped with AI,but I think there's still a long
(03:03):
way for that to happen infinance and which I think sort
of keeps it interesting.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (03:09):
That's true. Basically, AI cannot do
your books of accounts for you.AI cannot accurately apply GAAP.
AI cannot take or approve bankpayments or set up bank payments
because it's all sensitiveinformation. Having such
sensitive information needs ahuman touch and not only a
(03:30):
normal human touch, but it alsoneeds like someone who's
experienced and who has theskill set to actually get to the
roots of all the causes.
Basically, if you have a problemin finance, you cannot have
anyone else solve it but afinance professional who's been
having that skill set. Thatskill set is very necessary. You
need to understand finance. Youneed to understand the root
(03:52):
cause for a lot of issues. Youto understand the whole strategy
of the company, understand thecash flow, the management of
cash flow, because all of thesethings are the most important in
our day to day of management ofbusiness.
Adam Larson (04:06):
So you guys are both you are you are both
certified management accountantsor CMAs. And Unzi, you are also
a CSCA, which is a certifiedStrategy and Competitive
Analysis certification. And howhave you seen these
certifications help you asyou've grown in your careers?
Think,
Charu Solanki (04:23):
Adam, in terms of the certification, I feel like
it does equip you with the rightlevel of skill set and knowledge
that you need in the accountingworld. I think it sort of
refreshes all the concepts andgives you a detailed
understanding of the variousconcepts that you might use day
to day. The certifications alsohave a good way of testing your
(04:46):
competency in a way that appliesto the real world. Is
theoretical, but the way I thinkthe curriculum and the exam is
structured, it sort of tries totest you and prepares you for
the real world. More than that,what I feel gives you an edge is
just having those certificationsover your colleagues, because it
(05:08):
does show to your management andto anyone who's hiring that
you've put in that extra effortto sort of deepen your
understanding or get that extraedge over your colleagues.
I feel like just having thosecertifications on your resume or
on your file sort of builds yourcase for someone who's more
proactive, someone who's moreinvolved with the industry. And
(05:31):
I think that's where you sort ofgain the extra edge with both
the CMA and the CSCAcertifications.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (05:41):
I'd like to add here that one great
biggest advantage of CMA is thatyou can do it when you're in
university. You don't have tocomplete your graduation to do
it. And I took advantage of thatbecause I wanted to take another
professional certification. Iwent through all the testing and
everything. I wasn't eligible.
And I decided, Okay, fine, I'meligible for CMA. I'll take that
(06:02):
as a stepping stone and I'llgive myself that extra time to
go through CMA. I did it when Iwas in my first, second year of
my college, so I was like verynew to this. So I did it in my
first, second year ofuniversity. So it was very
helpful for me because it helpedme in my studies.
It helped me graduate with a CMAcertification, though I've not
(06:24):
completed the work experience.But once I complete the work
experience, I'm good to go. AndI showed that as a stepping
stone for me to get a joboutside. It was recognized in
multiple countries. I got anoffer from Dubai and I was able
to take up a career in Dubai.
I moved to Big Four later, so Iwas able to take that CMA
(06:48):
certification that I've donealmost while I was in college.
And that has helped me toactually step up my career
little by little by little. So Icompleted my CMA in college. I
graduated. Two years later, Igot my CMA certification with
the experience.
And then I got promoted. I gotinto a Big four company. And
(07:12):
then while I was working in aBig Four company, it's just like
I always make fun of CSCA sayingthat it's like a booster seat.
You know, when a child grows up,it's a booster seat. So it was
like a booster seat for mebecause I was already in a
position in my career where Icould also help in strategical
decision making and try to bringthat to focus.
(07:33):
So that really helped me CSCA,having a certification, how to
look at things. That reallyhelped me as well in my career
growth.
Adam Larson (07:42):
Maybe we could talk a little bit about some of the
skills or competencies thatyou've gained and that you've
been able to apply that yougained through the different
certifications that you andyour.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (07:51):
Yeah. So basically, like the CMA itself
covers a lot of your financerelated certifications, ethics.
And ethics is at a very youngage when you're starting CMA,
know ethics, that's like yourbase. So you start off with
that. And then CSCA, how do youdo comparative analysis?
(08:11):
How do you do strategicaldecision making? People related
decisions? All of that comes inCSCA. So the merger of these two
is just like a perfect like,it's like a perfect meal. It has
all the spice and the salt andeverything.
It's perfect. So that's why itreally stands out. The skill
sets. Right now, CMA hasevolved. When I studied CMA,
(08:35):
it's like almost ten years ago.
Right now it's like it'sevolved. Like, you know, right
now we have technology in CMA.We have a lot of new
technologies that's beingcovered under the CMA syllabus,
which was like, as thetechnology is growing, the
syllabus keeps getting updated.It's not like you're just doing
the same level of courses everytime. Your course gets updated
(08:59):
regularly for improvements andthe market conditions, what is
in trend right now in themarket?
What are the skill sets that isactually required for finance
professionals? And I always tellthe same thing. If you don't
outskill yourself so I'll repeatthat again. I always tell the
same thing that if you don'tupscale yourself again and again
(09:23):
You would be out of I don't knowwhy I'm feeling why I'm feeling
so nervous. Okay.
I always tell this, if you don'tupscale yourself regularly,
technology will outsmart you.You need to upscale yourself.
That's very, very important. Forme, continuous learning has been
key. Every year I take up acertification, I take up a
(09:46):
course, I take up somethingbecause that keeps me relevant.
And like, if I see like from theyear I graduated till today,
every year I've done acertification, not just to add
something to my name, but togain the skill sets that's very
important in our day to daywork.
Charu Solanki (10:02):
Yeah, I'd like to add that I think the core skills
that you gain when you take upthese certifications are
analytics. I feel like that'sone skill within the world of
finance that you need to alwayshave under your belt.
Unfortunately, all of ourundergraduate programs don't
give you that first timeexperience on cost analytics or
(10:26):
any type of management analyticsthat can help you take more
strategic management decisions.So I feel like those skills are
very helpful. When I took up theCMA just in addition to my
undergrad and that sort ofhelped me gain an edge over my
colleagues.
When I joined my first role,which was as a cost accountant
(10:47):
for real estate business, soyou're dealing with a lot of
numbers, you're dealing with alot of details in real estate
and so the CMA sort of helped meput a structure to it because I
did know the different types ofanalytical tools and analytical
theories that I could apply tothose numbers. Just right out in
(11:09):
the beginning, which was notexpected. But I think that gave
me an edge. The other moreimportant skill that I feel all
finance professionals shouldhave and that these
certifications are good for isrisk management. They sort of
tell you or give you the righttools to analyse risk, which
(11:30):
might not be apparent in thenumbers or which might not be
apparent in the conversationsyou may have.
And I think it's up to us asfinance professionals to always
highlight the risk that yournumbers might be telling you and
analyse that and present it in away that management can make
more informed decisions knowingthe risks that lie within the
(11:54):
business. So I feel like thosetwo key skill sets, cost
analytics and risk analysis sortof help develop a nice base for
you to be able to take bettermanagement and strategic
decisions, which is what youeventually have to get to as you
grow in your career.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (12:12):
Yeah. And we have like regular CPA events
where you meet as a chapter. Imean, for a person who's in
their early 20s or like who'sjust finished CMA out of school,
just to do that and meet peoplewho have like fifty years of
experience and both of them cometogether, think together. That's
like, that's something that noschool can teach. Like, it's
(12:33):
very, very important.
I met a lot of connectionsthrough those chapters. I
volunteered as a board for thosechapters. Has been like, you
know, a key to makingconnections, basically.
Connections is the next AI. It'sbasically the next AI.
You need to have connections. Ithelps you to understand things
better. It helps you to grow inyour career. It helps you to
(12:57):
understand what's actually goingon in each everyone's business.
You just have a talk with them,keep in touch with your
connections.
And these regular CPE eventsputs you up for like, you know,
all the courses that youwouldn't have otherwise learned
if you had not attended thoseCPE events.
Adam Larson (13:13):
Yeah, it's important to make connections
with folks and especiallynetworking when you're early in
your career and even as you'reprogressing in your career,
making connections with peopleand growing in the different
skills and knowledge that youneed. You know, you both
mentioned the importance ofstrategic decision making and
things like analytics. How haveyou been able to, take those on
and grow in your career andadvance by utilizing these
(13:35):
different skills you've beenable to acquire?
Charu Solanki (13:38):
So, I think Adam, just leaning on from the last
response, certifications, Ithink they equip you in a way by
giving you the kind of exposure,the kind of practical exposure
that maybe an undergraduateprogram cannot. So I think in
terms of the skills that youmentioned, which is analytics
(14:00):
and leadership, I think thesecertifications sort of help you
in two ways. Number one is theway they test. I think it's a
very interesting program and theway they test for your knowledge
is very interesting with certainquestions. I think these
certifications sort of help yougather and apply these skill
sets in two ways.
(14:22):
I think number one is thetesting mechanism. I feel like I
have written a couple ofdifferent professional exams and
I feel like the way the CMAtests for your application of
what you've learned, it reallygives you that real life
experience. So I think we haveboth sort of the more objective
questions where you pick outmultiple choice and then you
(14:43):
have the more subjectivequestions where you sort of, you
you're put in a situation andyou respond to that situation as
if you were, you know, CMA. So Ifelt like that really helped
prepare me for the real worldbecause that's typically how,
you know, when you're put up ina presentation, you're given a
situation and you're like, finda solution for this. So I felt
(15:05):
like that gave me the rightskill set and the confidence to
come up with solutions usingthose tools.
And I think secondly, as Wamsiwas mentioning, the network that
you create as part of just beinga CMA and getting access to
other CMAs in differentindustries. And especially if
(15:26):
you're someone who puts aneffort to go to the CPE events
or just regular networkingevents or try to network with
CMAs in your region, It givesyou that industry experience and
that knowledge that can help youget access to information that
might not be available anywhereelse, right? Like what kind of
situations or problems are otherindustries facing? How are CMAs
(15:50):
solving those problems for thoseindustries? And sort of learning
through that, which I think gaveme an edge.
I was part of the CMA Bangalorechapter, part of the organizing
committee for a few years, whichgave me access to a big network
of CMAs in Bangalore. I thenmoved to Hong Kong and I
(16:10):
attended certain events for CMAin Hong Kong as well. And now
recently I moved to The US andI'm part of the US CMA chapter.
It's a good network that keepsyou connected, that keeps you
abreast the industry, which alsohas helped me in my growing role
(16:31):
within my career to sort ofapply those skill sets to my
role.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (16:38):
I'd like to add that, you know, as a
finance professional, theremultiple finance professionals
graduating out of college everyyear. You need to have a niche.
I always consider myself aspositioning myself. You know, I
need to position myself as adifferent person among all the
other people that are there. Itmakes you stand out, makes you
(16:59):
stand out in interviews, makesyou stand out in opportunities,
makes your resume stand out inanything that you're applying
them to.
That's my most important thing.And CMA gave me that niche, you
know, having completed CMA at ayoung age, having done the CSCA,
which is, as I said, my boostedseat and also like putting
(17:20):
together this whole resume,which makes, which almost
portrays the image that theperson has gone through, like
from basic management accountingto a strategic level person, and
the person's ready to take upchallenges. So that's the
picture that I want to paint outthere. And these skills not only
gives me the additionalopportunity based on like the
(17:41):
certifications, the names andthe niche that it places me in,
it's a unique placing criteria.Like, you know, it's a unique
selling point for me, like howwe have USP for products.
It's a USP for me as a person,as a finance professional,
because I want to make myselfstand out. And these
certifications help me standout. The biggest thing I could
(18:03):
say is I studied in India. Imoved to Dubai. I worked in
Dubai.
And then from Dubai, I moved toUS and I'm working in The US
right now, all within the samecompany. I got into a big four
company in Dubai and then I gottransferred to The US because my
skill sets are a global skillset. It's not like it's not
(18:25):
confined to a country. It's notconfined to a region. The skill
set is a global skill set.
And you learn both US GAAP aswell as the difference between
US GAAP and IFRS and CMA, whichis a very good niche because it
helps you to survive in MiddleEastern countries, it helps you
to survive in Europeancountries. You could you could
actually be anywhere because youhave this global skill set.
Adam Larson (18:47):
So, you both started your career in one place
and then moved to a fewdifferent countries as you've
gone. You know, Unzi, you hadthe opportunity to go within the
same company, Chero. I don'tknow if you've been able to go
or different companies, but howwas that how was that
experience, starting in onecountry, going to another
country, and then going toanother country, even in the
same company or differentcompanies? I can only imagine
(19:08):
what that was like, you know,from a cultural perspective of,
okay, now I'm in a new place. Imight be in the same
organization, but each eachoffice has their own office
politics, office culture.
And then beyond that, you're ina whole different country where
there's that country has theirown cultures and and things
going on. So I want you guys ifyou could talk a little bit
about that experience.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (19:27):
Yeah. Being an MNC, like, the culture
is very multicultural. So youlive and work with multicultural
people. Not everyone is from thesame region. There's so many
multicultural people.
You work with GDS offices. Youwork with service centers that
might be located in Philippines,might be located in India. You
work with a group of people andit's full army that you're
(19:50):
working with. So when you movefrom country to country, for me,
the biggest change was just atime zone. Like, you know,
before we were in India, youwould wake up at their time and
work to their time.
And now I have to wake up maybeten hours earlier to talk to the
Indian team. But like, we justfigured that out and like
working with global teams,basically like having to figure
(20:13):
out the time when to have yourmeetings and how to talk, what
is respectful, what is notrespectful. I think that comes
with a more multiculturalenvironment. Like you need to
understand what is respectful.In certain countries, something
might be considered verydisrespectful.
You need to be very aware ofthat. And that's how you need
you need to position yourself inevery environment that you're
working in.
Adam Larson (20:33):
It's almost like you have to immerse yourself in
that local culture to understandwhat you're going to be dealing
with and also just how to liveand just go from day to day.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (20:42):
Correct. You need to network with people
who are local there, who arefrom there, just like, you know,
your office colleagues. Andlike, you know, always tell
everyone, like, I moved to NewYork, and three questions that I
get asked the most is, theweather has been bad, how is
your weekend? What are you doingfor summer? And then go back to
another country.
They never talk about thesethree things. They talk about
(21:04):
what are you gonna have forlunch? Do you wanna grab lunch?
So it's kind of like everyculture, the questions, the
starting conversations aretotally different. Like, you
know, you need to keep up withthat.
In Dubai, you could walk veryslowly on the road. Nobody would
care because nobody's walking onthe road. And then in New York,
if I'm walking slowly,everyone's like, Are you taking
a stroll in Central Park? It'skind of like totally different,
(21:27):
different things.
Charu Solanki (21:28):
Your question, Adam, I've also been with the
same organization, moved to tworegions with them. So it's been
a similar experience as I say. Ifeel like the thing that stood
out the most for me, actuallythere are two things. One is
definitely the work culture. So,I started my career in India,
where you're working withdifferent regions globally and
(21:51):
your culture depends on theregion that you cover.
If you work more with TheAmericas, your culture is more
American. If you work withIndia, your work culture is more
European. But then I moved toHong Kong, which lives in its
own time zone of its own withinAsia, because it's so far away
from like The US or even EMEA,As that day was finishing up,
(22:14):
the rest of the regions came on.So while for most of our work
day it was just us trying tomanage the workload. And I felt
like in Asia people were reallymore systematic in their
approaches, they were moreoperational, you know, like they
would be told, this is what youneed to do from A to B, and this
(22:35):
is what you need to do from B toC, and this is how you reach
your goal.
That's what they would follow tothe T. Like there was very
little room for innovation orchanging something. If you
wanted to make a change, it wasso difficult, you'd have to
take, I don't know how manyapprovals and convince how many
people to make a change, whichwas very interesting for me
(22:58):
because in India that wasn't thecase in India, you talk to your
manager, you talk to a fewpeople, you can change the
process if that's moreefficient. So it was sort of a
big change for me. And then cutto The US, it's so much more
different.
Like in The US, you are thedecision maker, right? You can
decide what you want the processto be. You can change it
(23:20):
according to, what the businessneeds are, what the client needs
are. And it's so fast paced,you're not really waiting on a
lot of approvals to makeefficient changes. So I felt
like that was a key theme Inoticed through different
regions.
Just because you work in anAmerican company, how different
regions behave, how the mindsetof the work culture is. So I
(23:45):
think that was a good learningcurve for me. And the second
thing is the amount of admintasks that you have to do to be
able to set yourself up fullyfrom scratch in a new country.
For example, in The Americas, Iwas declined a credit card my
first few months because I didnot have credit history. I was
(24:05):
like, well I've been working foreight years, know, I earned a
decent salary, you know saying Ican't have credit card.
So it was a very differentexperience but Hong Kong was
totally different. In Hong Kongyou could you know, set yourself
up without having any trialcredit and money is very free
flowing. Whereas in TheAmericas, it's a lot more
(24:25):
restrictive to start if youdon't have credit history, which
was interesting to me.
Adam Larson (24:32):
What I found interesting with both both
answers was that you both haveto be you have to be very
adaptable wherever you are. AndI know it's a it's it's
different when you're in onecountry and you're just maybe
switching organizations. Youstill have to be adaptable, but
the adaptability kind of growsto personal life to, you know,
even to something as simple asgetting a credit card, how you
(24:53):
have to be adaptable, you know,where no matter where you're
going. And I'm wondering, youknow, if the skills you've
learned in some of thecertifications, you know, have
helped you be more adaptable andbe ready for these for any type
of situation that comes yourway.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (25:09):
That's very true. You have to be
adaptable. You have to beflexible. You have to be that
like, you know, that's the onlyway to go forward. So being
adaptable and flexible is givenand it's key.
And the certification from CMAas well as CSEA tells us how to
plan for change and changemanagement. I think that's very
(25:33):
important. Change management,right? Like, as they say, change
is the only thing that'sconstant. And like, for me, it's
like, you know, you uprootyourself and then reroute
yourself.
I actually literally had touproot myself from Dubai, where
I had like a set career. I hadlike a set everything, friend
(25:54):
circle. I had everything setthere. Come to a country where I
know no one and then start fromscratch. And hear the timelines,
the requirements from managers,everything is very different.
So though you work today, likeyour reviewing way of reviewing
work is very different. Likepeople would review your work
(26:14):
differently in Dubai. Peoplewould review your work
differently here. So youliterally have to uproot
yourself and reroute yourself.It's just like, it's a total
change that we have to gothrough.
But I think that change is, thekey point of that change is
change management. Like how youdo everything, how you keep
yourself organized, how you keepyourself grounded during this
(26:37):
change and how you set yourselfup for success and not for
failure because you have to likeplan everything out. You cannot
miss meeting new people becauseyou need to make friends and
improve your network in thiscountry because you've moved to
different countries. You stillneed to keep in touch with your
old colleagues. It's a lot ofthings to manage and juggle at
the same time.
Adam Larson (26:57):
Charu, we were just talking about adaptability and
how important that is whenyou're switching from country to
country. And I don't know if youhad anything to share around
like how important adaptabilitywas and how the things you've
been learning in your educationand certifications helped you be
more adaptable and prepare youfor that.
Charu Solanki (27:14):
You know, as we were talking about work cultures
and meeting different people,you need to adapt just in the
way like Anjali was saying, inthe way you network and the way
you work, you sort of have toadapt yourself to the new region
that you're in. But I think thekey benefit of picking up these
certifications, which are moreglobal manager, I think they
(27:36):
sort of mentally prepare you ina way that sort of helps you be
more adaptable, because ifyou're learning about global
roles already, it sort ofmentally prepares you that if
I'm in this part of the world,the rules are going to apply
differently. If I'm in this partof the world, the rules may
apply a bit differently. Andthen you sort of learn to add
(28:01):
the culture bit to it. But Ithink taking a global
certifications definitely giveyou that exposure in your
current seat as a student.
And so it helps you prepare forwhat's to come by giving you a
flavor of the world is not justthe industry you see around
yourself, but it's much biggerthan what you study in your
(28:25):
books in your undergraduate. Andso it helps to just mentally
prepare you to take things as itcomes. It mentally prepares you
for the fact that roles canchange, but how you apply those
roles, given your basics,remains consistent. So, what you
learn in terms of analytics, interms of risk appetite, in terms
(28:47):
of making strategic decisions,that core remains the same. But
how you apply that in differentscenarios and different regions
with different people canchange.
Know, now I've worked in threedifferent regions and I've been
in finance all throughout. All Ican say is the words in the
(29:10):
rules may sound different, butthey are all trying to achieve
the same thing. They're alltrying to achieve a low risk,
high reward kind of situation,and they're all trying to
maximize their profits. So thatkey of finance sort of remains
the same, but I think thesecertifications equip you to
(29:32):
apply those decisions indifferent aspects and give you
that edge, you know, for others.
Adam Larson (29:38):
So this has been a wonderful conversation. I really
appreciate you both coming onand kind of sharing your
expertise. And I figured wecould end the conversation with
maybe just some actual advicefor an aspiring global finance
leader, somebody who's listeningto you and are inspired by that
your your journey through inyour current career. And maybe
some advice that you'd want togive those folks if they were
(29:59):
you could talk to them.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (30:01):
It's never too early to start. You can
start as early as you want inyour career. Once you decide
this is what you want, you couldstart your CMA journey while
you're in university. You couldstart it when you're doing your
graduation. You could stillstart it.
So that's number one. You couldalways start it. It's never too
early. Second thing iscontinuous learning. We have to
(30:23):
continuously learn and upskillourselves.
Otherwise, technology willovertake us. The speed at which
we learn and we grow ourknowledge should be higher than
the speed at which technology isgrowing. So that means we have
to learn a lot and thatcontinuous learning is what
keeps us relevant. So we have tolearn a lot. Third thing, once
(30:44):
you take up a certification, Ithink the most important thing
is to be prepared, understandit.
You're not going to get the samequestions that you try in your
practice exam. This is notschool where you would possibly
have 10% chances of getting it.None of your questions are going
to be the same. You need tounderstand the concepts, take
(31:05):
the concepts clearly, and thenapply the concepts. Nobody's
asking you to repeat what is inthe book back in the that's one
thing.
And the other thing is always beopen for opportunities. Always
be open for networking.Opportunities, it would not come
knocking at your door. You canknock every single door and try
(31:26):
to find an opportunity.Volunteer in a board, go to
chapter events, try to see, talkto people who have completed
certifications, understand allof this, because that makes you
stand out.
I always tell like, you know,the CSCA, when I took the CSCA,
the first thing I did was howcan I make myself competitive?
(31:47):
How can I position myselfcompetitively in all of these
people who are doing finance?How can I stand out? Like, you
know, what makes me stand out? Ialways wanted to figure out my
niche because that's my sellingpoint.
That's my elevator pitch. That'smy niche. Like, I want to tell
them I have X, Y, Z experience.I've learned all of these skills
(32:07):
and this is why I'm differentfrom the others. This is why you
should hire.
Charu Solanki (32:11):
Think I have similar advice, which is, you
know, to your point, cannotemphasize enough on the fact
that grabbing opportunities isunderrated. You know, like when
you said, you don't have to waitfor something and be very picky
about, okay, only if this kindof role comes out, I'm going to
apply for it or if this kind of,you know, will suffice. I think,
(32:34):
you know, as you start yourcareer, just pick up anything
where you think there's growth,where you think there are
learning opportunities for you.And you can always use that as a
stepping stone to make a careertowards where you eventually
want to go. So no job is betteror worse.
(32:55):
I feel like a job is a job andyou have to be good at it to
make your way to anything else.So whatever comes your way,
always have an open mind and beflexible. I never thought I
would end up in regulatorycompliance back when I started
in real estate. And I sort ofcharted a very different path
(33:16):
for myself. And I think thesecond thing that goes hand in
hand with this is also, as Anshusaid, continuous learning.
So if you're not yet where youthink you want to be in your
career, I think what goes handin hand with crafting
opportunities is continuouslearning and trying to make sure
that you're always keepingyourself abreast with the
(33:37):
industry that you eventuallywant to enter and opportunities
will come your way. And third,but not the last thing, be
there's no shortcut to hardwork. So no matter whatever
situation you are in, no matterwhat job you're in, no matter
what position you are in, evenas an analyst, you have to make
sure that you're working hard toachieve your goals and
(34:00):
portraying to your managers, toyour colleagues, that you're
really serious about where youare, right? You always have to
sort of put that front overeverything else. You can be
really smart, but if you're nothardworking and others don't
seek you as someone who'shardworking and serious about
their jobs, then you're notgonna get anywhere.
(34:22):
So, you can always make sureyou're taking whatever tasks
you're given with utmost respectand giving it your best.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (34:29):
Yeah, the new hard work is also smart
work. You can work as hard aspossible, but you need to do it
smartly because only when you'redoing work smartly, you're going
to improvise the work and worktowards efficiency. So I think
like working towards efficiencyand if you're doing the same
task for fifteen months in a rowor three months in a row, even
(34:49):
you're doing, you're not doingjustice to the task because you
could have been improving it insome possible way and you're not
been doing that. You need to tryto work smartly because hard
work, yes, you could work veryhard, but then you could not be
using your process improvements,efficiency, etcetera. So now,
right now, the new generationhard work is hard work plus
(35:11):
smart work together because youneed to improvise each task
that's given to you.
That's how you're saving moneyfor yourself and you're saving
yourself from the future workthat you're going to do.
Adam Larson (35:21):
Well, thank you both so much for taking time out
of your day to come on thepodcast and sharing your
experience with our audience.And we just really appreciate
you coming on.
Unnamalai Ramanathan (35:29):
Thank you so much. Thanks,
Announcer (35:33):
This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast providing
you with the latest perspectivesof thought leaders from the
accounting and financeprofession. If you like what you
heard and you'd like to becounted in for more relevant
accounting and financeeducation, visit IMA's website
at www.imanet.org.
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