Interview with Jyoti Maheshwari CA Final Topper Nov 2016 (3rd Rank)
How does it feel to be at the top? I can’t describe it in words (smiles). It’s like I am on the top of the world. Were you expecting a rank? Actually, I was expecting a second rank but it’s disheartening that I secured 3rd rank (smiles). I have secured 8th rank in IPCC and 6th rank in CPT, so I was expecting a rank this time as well. What was your first reaction when you got to know that you have secured AIR 3rd rank? I was very happy when I got a call from the President and came to know about my result. There were tears in my eyes. I share the news first with my dad and there were tears of joy in his eyes as well and he hugged me immediately, he was very happy. Who inspired you in this whole journey? Any special mentions? First of all I would like to thank my parents for standing beside me at each and every moment, for at times, there are situations where you feel stressed. So, they were always there, beside me. They never pressurized me – like study for this much hours, get the rank or so. So, there was a constant moral support that I received from my parents. I would also like to thank my teachers, coaching institute and my office colleagues – everyone and god. What do the rank holders do differently compared to other students? I would just say that – be self-confident. Don’t get depressed or mentally stressed easily. If you are putting your 100% effort with full passion, you have to be consistent in your performance. It’s not that within 4 to 5 months of study leave, you can do it. It needs consistent performance. For e.g. when my articleship started, I used to study 3 or 4 hours daily – either during the morning or evening whenever I could set some hours of studying on daily basis. During my study leave, I dedicated 14 hours each day. So, I would say consistency and self-confidence can definitely help one in securing a good rank. You handling said that stress and remain self-confident is very important – how you handle that stress and what did you do to cope up with that stress? Obviously after 3 or 4 months when you are like – yeh main 4 mahine se kar rahi hun, bahut hua, I could not tolerate any more of this. Then just do one thing. Go for a deep sleep of 14 hours, talk to your parents and watch some cartoon (smiles). So, you used to watch a lot of cartoons!! Not lot of cartoons but I enjoyed watching them during my lunch and dinner time for half an hour. Which one is your favourite? Motu-Patlu. How did you manage to study during your articleship period? I am doing my articleship in a Big-4. So, in case if you are not able to attend the classes for e.g., in my case, I couldn’t attend for all the theory subjects but we should ensure that in case of practical subjects, each time you should manage for attaining the whole chapter and for rest of the subjects, you must study yourself. So, every 3 hours a day during your articleship period, you used to study and attend classes. So, it must be tough!! Yes. My journey started from 7 in the morning and it ended by 10 in the evening. So, you have to do that. You have to manage your study with your work and family. Can you share the study pattern that you followed before and during the exams with the students? I would say that one have to study in a structured way. It cannot be like – you woke up in the morning, do costing today and by afternoon, you are bored down with Costing and started Audit again. You cannot do that, it needs to be a planned-manner study. What I used to do is – in a 15 minutes review, I used to plan out my daily schedule like within these 7 days, I have to finish which subject and which chapter. So, that helped me a lot. I would say, one should plan for short-term goals (weekly), Along with long-term goals. And during the exams what was your strategy? Before the exams, I have planned in such a way that I could complete the revision one day before, for each subject. So, that on the day of exam or the prior day, I could focus on those chapters which carries more weightage considering the past exam pattern. So, I studied for almost 15 to 18 hours prior to exams. Any tips you would like to share regarding the theoretical subjects? For theoretical subjects, do CM and SM because it will help you both conceptually as well as on technical terms. And prepare your own notes. The notes which you prepare on the basis of what you have heard and learnt in the class will help you a lot, considering you have to go through the entire subject in a span of 1 or 2 days. And your own notes will help you to analyse from where to start and end with. And this also helps you I improving your writing skills and paper presentation. Also, I would suggest that institute material is the best one as I would consider those books as the best one rather than somebody else’s compilation. Any tips for the practical subjects? Generally, I have seen most of my friends doing is that for costing or FR, they generally go to the question and without any thought process, write the answer. They don’t try to do it themselves. For practical subjects, don’t do audit – if it is practical then do it practically. And write mock test papers. I have written almost 40 papers in last 5 months. Yes. Every week I used to write two papers and that helped me a lot. Throughout, this journey, it has helped me a lot How important is the articleship? As you said that you did articleship from a Big4 but a lot of students may not get this opportunity as well. So, even if they are in mid-size firms, what are the important things they should take care of in their minds so that it can help them in their career? I would say that CA Final examination is just a level to cross. What your career will be based upon is your articleship. What you have done in your three years of articleship will help you in build up your career better and you will flourish professionally. Also, articleship helps you in your practical papers a lot. I covered my articleship or rather served in taxation. So, comparably, I did well in indirect taxation rather than Audit and DT. Practical experience helps you a lot. What are your other hobbies apart from studying? I like reading newspapers or other books. And I love making paintings and as I said earlier, I love watching cartoons What are your plans now? I will continue with my job and along with that I will prepare for civil services. Are you the only CA in your family? Yes. I am the only one. Wonderful! Thanks Jyoti and with these lovely words we conclude this conversation!! Thank you. Thank you so much !! Marksheet of CA Final 3rd Ranker Jyoti Maheshwari Nov 2016
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