What do people think about the CIMA qualification? I am 23 years old, working as a consultant in the Strategy and Ops practice of Deloitte (Asia Pacific). I plan to do an MBA in 5 years time. However, just in case I never get around to it (due to time, family and funding issues), I was thinking that getting a professional qualification in the meantime would be worthwhile. Is the CIMA well respected outside the UK? Does it pigeon-hole you as an accountant type? I was also looking at the CFA, but the new practical experience requirements tend to rule out anyone working in consulting.Just as a note, Deloitte Consulting in Asia Pacific doesn't have any sort of CIMA expectation or requirement, unlike I believe the UK practice.

Good question as I'd like to find this also.Without the funding for an MBA, how far can CIMA quals take you?

Hiya - i work for deloitte in UK - doing CIMA at the mo - its hard work - classes on Saturdays etc, but definitely worth it. I think once you pass your guaranteed at least Senior COnsultant position. But to be honest - youd get that in less than 2 years anyway - so promotion shouldnt be you main motivation for doing it. I find it helps alot with understanding business perormance and improvement - no-one can bullsh!t me about net margins and ROCE ratios to sound impressve and important as i now know what they are talking about - and usually people are wrong. the stratgey papers are also interesting - value chain analysis etc. Its hard work but you get to leave consulting with a solid qualification - and should you want to either join industry ar private equity - it will stand you in very good stead. Do it, but make sure Deloitte pay for the best tuition providers as they do here in the UK.

A top MBA can many doors for someone changing careers. Howabout CIMA? With 3 years of industry experience, if I now go for CIMA, what sort of roles could I be looking at and with what sort of consulting firms?

I believe that you will find the syllabus, intent and complete ethos of CIMA is quite different from an MBA. They are essentially covering different things with a completely different intent. The only real commonality is in some aspects of Management Accounting, but the depth of this is completely inverse in the two. This is exactly why you will find some accountants who have CIMA membership have gone on to also do an MBA afterwards. It all depends upon what you actually want to do. If you want to become a qualified accountant then go for CIMA. If you want to aim for Chartered Management status then go for an MBA. However one other tip, there are so many inferior MBA courses out there now that hardly any MBA qualifications mean much any more! The world is awash with people who now have low grade MBAs. The only MBAs which are worth wasting a lot of your money to get which will deliver any personal ROI are those from the top business schools. (These do not include the Oxford and Cambridge ones.) If you are going to lay out the sort of money which you will have to for an MBA make sure that you do it at one the top business schools. The others are essentially not recognised any longer as significant and are a waste of time!

Does Deloitte Conulting in the UK actually require you to do it i.e. is the CIMA actively encouraged?Or is it a case of "We will only support you if you can prove how it will benefit the firm"?