After finishing high school in 2013, I went against my father’s suggestion to pursue medicine and chose to follow my heart and do dual degrees. I gained a degree in education specialising in teaching English as a foreign language at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, and a degree in accounting and finance at CamEd Business School.
In 2017, I started my first job as an audit associate at PwC Cambodia. By the time I left I had moved up to a senior level and gained experience preparing audit reports and financial statements, as well as leading teams across a variety of industries, including banking, telecommunications, logistics, manufacturing, hospitality, services and not-for-profit. PwC also sponsored my further study with ACCA and I passed my final exam in 2019.
My biggest career influences are my parents, who were not able to finish high school due to the disruption of the civil war
My current role is business finance analyst at Wing Bank. This involves analysing the financial impact of implementing marketing campaigns and other investment projects, and monitoring to ensure that projects are achieving key performance indicators.
My biggest career influences are my parents, who were not able to finish high school due to the disruption of the civil war but have worked hard to support my education. Their actions have taught me about kindness, responsibility, commitment, endurance and persistency, which I have carried with me in my personal, academic and professional life.
However, as no one in my family worked in the field of accounting, choosing to pursue this career path came purely from my own interest. I have embodied the expression, ‘follow your passion’.
My proudest moment goes back to when I was a junior auditor working in Thailand with a wildlife preservation NGO. This was my first time away from home with work. I met different people, experienced a new lifestyle and culture, explored new places and learned about the urgency of preserving wildlife for the sake of sustaining an ecosystem.
In my second year, I was made team leader and prepared my first audit report. The task and timeline were both challenging, but together my team and I managed to get through it.
In the short term, I intend to develop and progress as a professional, but in the longer term I aspire to be a teacher and to foster financial literacy from a young age. If I weren’t working in finance, I’d likely already be a teacher, travelling around teaching kids who lack access to formal education.
