I joined the SL Army as a directly enlisted officer to the rank of Lieutenant. At that time, I had only the AAT and Chartered Intermediate qualification. Subsequently, I became a member of CIPFA (UK) and CIMA (UK). The skills, knowledge and competence that I gained through the AAT qualification helped me a lot especially at the beginning of my career. I am very proud to be a Fellow Member of AAT Sri Lanka. I know most of the 50 AAT members and 80 (partly completed AAT) students who work in foreign countries. With my experience as a Director, I can vouch for the fact that they are extremely capable of performing tasks in a manner that fulfills the expectations of top-level management. I have no hesitation in recommending them to function as Accountants anywhere in the world.

Around the time that I was pursuing my Degree in Business Management at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, very few of my batch-mates had any idea of obtaining a profession qualification alongside our degree. Little did we know that the corporate sector preferred candidates who were both professionally and academically qualified. In the meantime, AAT was gaining popularity among university students as one of the best career gateways, and this in fact, is evident even today, considering how competitive this qualification has become among school students. Today, I am truly grateful to AAT for giving me a head-start in my professional career. Thanks to the recognition that AAT receives in the corporate sector, I was able to succeed in my interview at RDA, if not for which, I believe, my career would have taken a different path.

AAT was the first professional qualification that I obtained in my career. Thanks to AAT, I gained a wealth of information and knowledge on topics ranging from Corporate Governance to Supply Chain Management and Strategic skills and more. This had a great positive impact on my conceptual skills which was instrumental in helping me to climb up my career ladder with confidence. In addition, the interpersonal skills and PR skills which were nurtured in me through various seminars and other programmes helped to groom me to be the professional I am today. I must make special note of the efforts taken by the AAT Institute and its members in organizing the Annual Members' Conference and in releasing tabloids such 'Insearch' which has been a great source for us members to keep abreast of new developments and other related topics that have raised eyebrows of many, both locally and in the international arena. All of this has proven to be extremely beneficial to me in handling my job effectively and efficiently.