Interviews

Jakhongir Zokirov – Positivity is the key to success

Jakhongir Zokirov works for Masdar in Uzbekistan as a finance specialist and chose to study the ACCA qualification due to its global recognition and strong reputation. We interview Jakhongir about studying ACCA and on his ambitions for the future.

Jakhongir, please tell us something unique about yourself

I like to call myself an entrepreneur who is passionate about numbers and enjoys accounting! Speaking of accounting, I must mention that I am an Olympiad winner of the whole Republic of Uzbekistan. I also have exceptional written and spoken communications skills, which helped me become the ‘Expert of the Year 2015’ at one of the companies I worked for.

My beautiful family is a great gift to me that makes this journey called life very joyful!

Outside of work, what are your passions?

Oh, I love playing chess and reading books to my daughter. Travelling is also one of my hobbies, which is why I opened a small business that arranges leisure, educational and business trips all around the world.

What unique difference will you offer a business?

I’d like to say that I don’t ever give up. Doing certain tasks, I have felt like quitting multiple times but found different ways to motivate myself to finish the task and tried to remember why I started it in the first place. Having that mindset, I’ve finished everything I’ve ever started and all with different levels of success. Long story short – I don’t ever quit!

Tell us about the culture you look for in a business

Positivity is the key to success. I typically use all my potential when the team is positive and friendly because a warm smile is the universal language of kindness. I also like a team that strives for growth. We must be always moving forward – there’s no other way!

Tell us about why you chose to study with ACCA

I spoke with a few people that had studied for the ACCA qualification and heard only good things about ACCA. It feels so nice to find this is true!

Another good reason, quite frankly, is the ACCA brand and how well recognised the qualification is. It opens so many great opportunities, in my opinion.

Tell us about your ambitions for the future

I had a lot of ambitions such as having my family settled, buying a house, and achieving financial security. I have achieved them all! Moving forward, my other ambitions for the future are to learn a new language (Arabic), travel the world and give more to charity.

Tell us about the traits ACCA has helped you develop and how you’ve brought them into your company

Although I have a long way to go, my professionalism has been constantly growing for the last decade. I’ve really learned how to look at a situation and always think long term. More often than not, some short-term decisions might look more tempting, but if it hurts the company or an individual in the long run, it’s better to think of another decision. Also, what I’ve recently learned is to never take an assumption as an answer – always inquire and learn the exact information.

If there’s one thing that makes ACCA training unique, tell us what it is

Something really unique and important that I noticed on day 1 was that the ACCA training is very comprehensive. I’ve taken many training courses and most of them were focused on only accounting or other things, but ACCA covers all the areas an accountant may want to learn. Great job there!

Jakhongir Zokirov

Tell us about a moment of praise you received from a colleague or boss

Oh, I have quite a lot of examples here (it’s not bragging if it’s true). One that I can never forget – not because someone praised me for it, but because my action also made me feel very good – is finding a colleague asking all the seniors for help with a deal but everyone was busy and he had to wait. I also had the same amount of work as the other seniors (if not more), but I saw how passionate he was about his request, and his request had amazing potential. I told him I’d help him, and I am glad that I did because at the end that specific deal ended up being the best sale of the month!

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