Alumni Mentor Testimonial: Mark Ma

Year of Graduation: 2011

Academic Program: Master of Accounting & Finance

Current Position: Managing Director 

Organisation: Jaquillard Minns Chartered Accountants, Adelaide

Biography

Mark graduated from Peking University with a Bachelor of Science and the University of Adelaide with a Master of Accounting & Finance. He has worked in both commerce and public practice after graduation.

Since joining Jaquillard Minns in 2015, Mark has been involved in a diverse portfolio of clients, including small and medium-sized businesses, start-up companies, high-net-worth individuals, large proprietary companies and listed public companies. Mark is fluent in Mandarin and Japanese and is the lead of China & Japan Desk at Jaquillard Minns.

Mark is a member of CPA Australia, an affiliate member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a Microsoft Certified Excel Specialist. He has considerable experience and knowledge in financial reporting, three-way forecast modelling, Excel VBA programming, Microsoft Power BI dashboard reporting and cloud-based accounting systems.

Mark joined the mentorship program at the University of Adelaide since 2016 and has been sharing his career experience with accounting students.

Mentoring Experience

My mentees were both well prepared for our 3 meetings. The questions they asked were quite relevant and demonstrated that they have a reasonable understanding about the industry. We had our meetings in my office which gave them a good opportunity to see what an accounting firm looks like. They both were very serious about this program and I believe the experience I shared with them will help them to make better career decisions in the near future.

After our meetings, they now have a better understanding of the difference between working in an accounting firm and a commercial company which I believe is very useful for their overall career planning. They also became more confident after the meetings. 

I have been a mentor for a number of years already. I really enjoyed sharing my past experience with accounting students. Looking at them is like looking at myself 10 years ago. They all have great potential to grow and are passionate in their career. It is also a great opportunity for me to understand what accounting students are thinking nowadays and how I could better assist them in their career development, whether just through a chat or even offering internship opportunities in our firm. It makes me feel that I am making a positive contribution to the international student community and that is a real sense of achievement to me.

I think everyone should try to contribute and share their successful experience to help the young and passionate future professionals. Sometimes your tiny little tips can make a huge difference to someone's entire career and life. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone develops later in their career because of your positive influence.