We meet the newly-elected Chair Sunny Yang and Vice Chair Sophie Armstrong to hear about their plans for the coming year and the benefits of being involved in a local student society.
Sunny is an ACA, CTA qualified Level 7 Apprentice based in London, he began his accountancy career in banking assurance, later moving into corporate tax advisory for privately backed businesses.
Sophie is a Level 7 Apprentice based in London, who began her accountancy career straight from school at the age of 19. She was drawn to the ACA due to its breadth and flexibility.
How did you get involved in the ICAEW Student Council?
Sophie: I stumbled across the Chartered Accountant Student Society of London (CASSL) about two years ago and started coming to events. There, I was struck by how welcoming the community was. I later joined the committee and went on to become Chair. I've been representing London on the ICAEW Student Council (ISC) for the past year, and then the chance came up to be more involved with the ISC. It’s a great forum for hearing what other people are doing and to be able to make an impact in the wider ICAEW community.
Sunny: Representing your local society on the ISC connects you with the broader stakeholders within ICAEW, you're also networking with your peers who run other student societies. That's hugely important in terms of sharing what's going on in each region, giving a voice to your students, and giving back to the ICAEW community.
What are your priorities for the year ahead?
Sunny: I can sum my priorities up in three words: unite, share and grow. I want to collaborate more on our events rather than reinventing the wheel across all the societies. A lot of our events are beneficial to all students and in a digital age, location shouldn’t be a barrier to those who want to participate.
Sophie: For me, it's about providing a platform for people to share their experiences. For the majority of people, their job is contingent on passing exams. The student societies offer networking opportunities, wider skills development, and a chance to hear from others on how they've navigated any challenges, whereas you might not feel comfortable discussing that in a work setting with managers or partners.
What are the big topics for ISC that resonate with students?
Sophie: The ISC acts as a bridge between ICAEW and students in both directions. Take something like the changes to the ACA exams. We can help students understand what the changes mean in practical terms, and the kind of ICAEW support on offer such as caba and other resources that people don't necessarily know about. We can also feedback to ICAEW what students think about key issues.
Sunny: Students broadly have the same worries: Where is my career heading? What if I get fired? What if I do badly in the exams? Our job as both ISC and within student societies is to relieve some of those challenges. The profession is changing and there’s a lot going on like AI, big data, and sustainability. We cover these topics at our events, as well as a plethora of other timely and interesting topics. Students work in all sorts of different environments ranging from the Big Four to smaller firms; for me, diversity is about how we can share our knowledge and opportunities around so that everyone benefits.
How much of a voice does the ICAEW Student Council have within ICAEW?
Sunny: Quite a lot. Senior ICAEW stakeholders will often come to the ISC to present ideas and it's important to them to look ahead to the next generation of ICAEW members. Former ICAEW president Malcolm Bacchus is the president of CASSL and many local societies have council members or past presidents who are involved. The chair of the ISC also represents students as an ex officio member on ICAEW Council so we have a voice there.
Sophie: With the updates to the ACA qualification, the ICAEW did a lot of consultation on what students wanted from the exams. So, it can be very hands on with ICAEW, and even at our AGM, we were joined by the incoming ICAEW president. ICAEW has done a great amount over the past few years to shape the student experience and as part of that they are very keen to hear student opinions.
Why would you encourage others to get involved?
Sophie: The informal support is the biggest driving factor for me. I've met so many friends through student society events. That’s particularly good if you've moved to a new city or it's your first job. You also meet people who might be a year or two ahead of you who can help so much more than managers who might have studied 5 or 10 years ago. Additionally, it can be useful in helping you decide what you want to do after you qualify. We have lots of talks to help you explore your career options. And it's fun! It's a good way to put yourself out there. I've met lots of amazing people -, the CFO of the Bank of England was definitely a highlight.
Sunny: A great thing for me is the networks and the connections that I've made. The local societies and the ISC are both great platforms on which to expand your career and opportunities. I've met so many of my peers in different societies who have done great things through the opportunities and the networks that they've developed and the friends they've made. ICAEW provides that framework for you but you get out what you put in.
How can you make the most of being involved?
Sunny: Being part of the ISC or local student society is a great opportunity to give back to ICAEW, but you can also use it as a platform to expand on areas that you're interested in. I'm particularly interested in education, and ICAEW's been fantastic at supporting me with that, and I've been able to give a lot of talks and meet a lot of new people through that. You learn so much from it, including leadership skills, presentation skills, coaching and mentoring people who’ve just joined the society; from a development perspective, it's very valuable.
Sophie: The workload can be a lot, especially when work is busy, but the people that get involved are very passionate, and want to make an impact. There's always lots of support, and many people with a broad range of experience. So, I'm hopeful it'll be a smooth and exciting year.
Find out more about your local student society Student societies hub | ICAEW
