SAA Global Education (SAA-GE) offers students who are interested in Accounting, Business, Banking, Finance, Economics or Law the chance to obtain an internationally-recognised qualification in their chosen fields. Its full-time and part-time programmes are awarded by the University of London (UOL) and Plymouth University, both established universities in the UK and the world.
The institution is also an education arm of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), Singapore’s national accountancy body. This alone is testament to SAA-GE’s strong repute as an accountancy education provider of quality. Its ability to produce a number of first-class honours graduates since 2010 builds upon its establishment as a leading accountancy education provider.
Yvonne Lin
Senior Sales Officer, ANZ Bank
Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance,
University of London International Programmes
Diploma in Business Administration,
Singapore Polytechnic
Yvonne Lin contributes to the fraction of first-class honours graduates this year. The Singapore Polytechnic (SP) graduate tells us about her SAA-GE journey, and the things she looks forward to in her career.
Choosing a Path with Certainty
Yvonne graduated from SP with a diploma in business management and marketing. But while her diploma provided her with a breadth of business knowledge, what she wanted was greater depth in a specific field.
Given her love for mathematics and numbers, the sanguine individual chose to pursue a degree in Accounting and Finance. She was so sure of this choice that she rejected an offer from a local university, one that would have seen her taking the Project Management path. “After my time at SP, I had a clearer idea of what I wanted to study at the degree level – and that was accounting,” Yvonne tells us.
But Yvonne chose not to pursue her degree immediately after graduating from SP. She instead opted to gain work experience in the banking industry for two years, and take up a part-time Accounting degree concurrently thereafter. This arrangement allowed her to pay for her own school fees and support herself.
Today, Yvonne excels and has been excelling in her work for five years. With her UOL Accounting degree taken at SAA-GE, the Senior Sales Officer at ANZ Bank has built on her banking knowledge and has myriads of opportunities ahead of her.
Juggling Work and Study
Her roles at ANZ Bank include expanding the company’s network and boosting its sales revenue. To the untrained eye, an Accounting degree and a bank sales role do not seem to go hand-in-hand.
But Yvonne explains that an Accounting degree equips one with the skills to triumph in a sales role and the banking industry. For instance, it strengthens one’s ability to understand and make use of numerical and statistical data, allows one to gain insights into business procedures and the commercial world, and hones one’s analytical skills
Before these skills and insights can be gained and transferred into her work, Yvonne had to commit herself to adjusting to a work-and-study lifestyle. This proved to be a challenging experience, and tested her ability to manage her time wisely. Thankfully, Yvonne had an understanding manager who supported her pursuits wholeheartedly.
She shares, “Completing a module is not before fulfilling a major examination component. We do not have an assignment component in our curriculum, which means we have to give our all in one major exam or risk re-taking the entire module. Certainly, the weeks leading up to the exam can leave us high-strung and stressed. But I am grateful to have had a supportive manager who requested for my exam time-tables and gave me time off work to study for my exams.”
A Sense of Motivation
Yvonne proved to have surpassed all her hurdles with determination and hard work. In fact, she did so well in her first year that SAA-GE waived off her school fees in view of academic excellence.
“I had already paid for my school fees and never expected them to be waived off! This is a good incentive for students to work harder and is just one of the many ways SAA-GE motivates its students,” Yvonne shares with a smile.
She also highlights the lecturers at SAA-GE, all of whom are equipped with many years of commercial and academic experience. She shares, “Our lecturers are very approachable and would not hesitate to stay behind after our lessons to answer our queries. Their lectures are always well-prepared and interactive. In fact, I would also attribute the high level of interaction between lecturers and students, and among students, to our small class sizes.”
Yvonne also draws motivation from her sister three years her senior. She shares that her sister’s ability to overcome the challenges of a work-and-study lifestyle fueled her with the same positive mindset. Yvonne shares, “There were trying days when I considered quitting my job to focus on my studies. I do not intend to take my Master’s degree so I felt that my Bachelor’s degree was my last chance to prove myself academically. But I chose to strive on, and the motivation given to me by my supportive manager, sister and lecturers really helped me pull through.”
Aiming Higher
Apart from strengthening her knowledge, Yvonne’s degree has helped to spur her career progression. She tells us humbly that she looks forward to a promotion, and her new role would see her take on a Wealth Management portfolio.
Having come so far, Yvonne has her own nuggets of wisdom to share with prospective SAA-GE students. She concludes, “An Accounting and Finance degree is not going to be a breeze. You may want to reconsider your options if you do not share the same love for Math and numbers. It is also important to enrol with the mentality of not settling for satisfactory grades – aim high and do well.
Lastly, any institution would be able to offer you a degree. But if you want to benefit from good lecturers, an ideal location and interactive classes, look no further than SAA-GE.”
