Drayton Berger met with Corporate Residency MBA accounting professor Jim Power to discuss his experiences with leadership, both in his career and in the program.
Jim was born and raised in Montréal and has a commerce degree from Concordia University, as well as a CA designation. He has had a successful career spanning the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Jim has worked at organizations including KPMG, TransAlta, the YMCA and the Government of Nova Scotia.
What made you choose accounting as your profession?
Very early in my schooling, I came across an opportunity for learning—something called chartered accountancy. I put that in my head as being something I wanted to do when I grew up. When I tell you that I did this in grade seven, some people say “oh my god, that’s so young”. In reality I used chartered accounting as an answer to the question: “what are you going to do when you grow up?” When I heard about chartered accounting it sounded appealing to me. The person I had spoken with about this seemed to have a great job, a beautiful house, as well as a nice car. As a kid around the age of 12 the perks seemed appealing. I pursued it by taking it day by day. One thing led to another. I went to university and enrolled in commerce, majoring in accounting. Next thing you know I was on the verge of graduating and was able to seek out jobs through campus recruiting. I had offers from CA firms and pursued them. I started taking courses at McGill University. The next thing you know I passed my CA exams. Goal number one was accomplished.
What did you do after you received your designation?