When Abhishek finished his PGDM, he was excited to begin his career in finance. His first role was with Deloitte, one of the big names in consulting. But instead of diving deep into business analysis or valuations, he was working in tax compliance. It was a stable role, gave him exposure to financial statements and built his comfort with numbers. Yet, something felt incomplete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He often found himself asking bigger questions while going through company filings like \u201cHow exactly is this business valued? What do these numbers really say about the company\u2019s future? How do analysts and investors interpret this data?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That curiosity slowly grew into clarity as he didn\u2019t just want to prepare compliance reports but wanted to analyze businesses, understand their value and be part of roles like valuation, equity research or investment banking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when he came across a financial modelling program<\/a><\/strong>. What caught his attention wasn\u2019t just the content, but the fact that it was being taught by people who had actually worked in investment banking and consulting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He decided to give it a try. Not for a fancy line on his CV, but to feel confident about his own abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that decision paid off in more ways than one. Today, he doesn\u2019t just work with numbers, he knows how to apply them in real situations, connect them to real business stories and build models from scratch. Most importantly, he is now placed at WNS, where he gets to apply these skills in real-world scenarios every single day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I completed my PGDM and then worked as a Tax Consultant at Deloitte. My work was mostly compliance filing returns, reviewing statements, ensuring everything was in line with regulations. It may sound dry to some, but it gave me a lot of comfort with financial statements and numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, this work made me more curious. While preparing reports, I would often think beyond compliance. For example, if a company showed lower profits this year, what did it mean for its valuation? How did investors react to that? That curiosity helped me understand that I wanted to shift into core finance into roles where I could analyze businesses rather than just tick boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Numbers tell stories. That\u2019s the part that fascinated me most. You could look at three years of financial statements and piece together what actually happened inside a business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Valuation especially felt exciting. It\u2019s like asking, \u201cWhat is this company really worth and why?\u201dI remember I used to follow news about companies like Zomato or Paytm. Their valuations would swing up and down dramatically. Everyone debated whether they were overvalued or undervalued, but I wanted to learn how professionals actually arrived at those numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That clarity pushed me to pick financial modelling and valuation. It felt like the most direct way to move into the kind of analysis-focused role I was aiming for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did consider both. CFA<\/a> is great for building concepts, but it\u2019s a long-term commitment with three levels, multiple years and it\u2019s more theory-heavy. MBA is another path, but since I already had a PGDM, I didn\u2019t want to go through another two years of academics.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBelow is our conversation with Abhishek \u2014 Straight from his experience<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Q: Can you share a bit about your academic and professional background before joining us?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Q: So you had clarity that you wanted to move into core finance. Why specifically valuation and modeling?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Q: Many people choose CFA or MBA for this switch. Why did you go for the Financial Modelling course instead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n