Yvette Jordan is a finance business partner with the UK Department for Work and Pensions who is working to earn the CGMA® designation. Prior to her current role, Yvette Jordan was a Maths teacher for 20 years. Her goal is to become a Senior Civil Servant, but she must first become fully qualified with a management accounting credential.
‘I've hit a kind of ceiling at the moment, but I see many promotional opportunities at the next grade up, for which I need to be fully qualified’, Yvette said.
Yvette was initially pursuing a credential with another organisation but switched to CIMA® because the CIMA Exam Operations Team was better able to accommodate her limited mobility and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). CIMA and Kaplan provided Yvette with accommodations she needed for study and exams.
‘Straight away after submitting the relevant information, they gave me what I needed in terms of extra time and allowing me to sit the exams at a centre with no one else there, because I was vulnerable during Covid’, she said.
Yvette needs to take micro-breaks and adjust her seating position, so she has been granted extra time and use of her bespoke office chair during exams.
‘When it became apparent that my medical conditions were getting worse and because I needed so many breaks, they upped 50 percent extra time to 100 percent extra time, which I’m so grateful for’, she said.
Yvette chairs the Government Finance Function’s Neurodiversity Network and believes embracing all types of diversity, including neurodiversity, benefits individuals, organisations, and society.
‘We have to value the qualities that neurodivergent colleagues can bring to the finance profession’, she said. ‘That eye for detail, their accuracy, their focus — they'll start something and not stop until it's done to the required standard’.
Yvette encourages anyone with any kind of disability, hidden or otherwise, who works in the UK to complete the Workplace Adjustment Passport and identify reasonable adjustments that could be made. She also encourages anyone with a disability who is interested in earning the CGMA designation to reach out to CIMA’s Exam Operations Team to implement the necessary accommodations.
Yvette’s advice for those just starting their learning journey towards earning their CGMA designation is to adopt a positive mental attitude, reach out for support and block out study time when no one will bother you.
‘I suppose you have to have a certain amount of resilience and self-discipline, but above all, you've got to have a goal and you've got to keep your eyes on that goal’, she said. ‘If you know what you want and you can imagine tangibly getting it, then studying just becomes a means to an end’.
She added that no matter how old you are or how many career pivots you’ve made, it’s never too late.
‘I'd say to anyone looking to make a career change or get back into the workplace after raising a family — you're never too old’, she said. ‘Ignore the phrase “Old dogs can't learn new tricks”, it's simply not true’.
