Investment Banker - CFA Level I Passed - Chartered Accountant - tutoring accounting and finance subjects in undergraduate and postgraduate degrees - Melbourne.

Find out more about Irfan

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I started private tutoring in my final year of high school. I was doing well in my Economics and Business Studies class and my teacher at the time received a request from a few younger students for help in extra tutoring. The request was shared to the top students in our class, and I was one of them. I reached out and got a student in Year 9 who needed some extra help with maths and economics. At the time, it was just a way for me to make extra cash and solidify my knowledge on certain subjects (teaching others is a good way to check whether you understand your subject well enough!). After tutoring for some time, I started to enjoy observing my students' growth in their learning. In addition, I realised my students would often struggle with concepts that I also found challenging at the time, so I wanted to help those students overcome the same struggles without having to spend long hours studying like I did.
  
  For my chosen field, I've always been interested in finance and accounting since an early age - my mum bought me two books about Warren Buffett and Robert Kiyosaki that I read in primary school that sparked a real interest in the world of finance. After that, it has been a continuous pursuit!

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I teach a lot of subjects in accounting and finance. It's something I'm specialising in more and more each day and teaching it just helps me become better everyday. I like pretty much every topic in accounting and finance - probably with the exception of statistics!
  
  I also teach the Indonesian language to non-Indonesian speakers. As a native speaker who is perfectly bilingual, I think this helps my teaching a little bit more because I am able to approach the linguistic understanding from a thought process perspective too.
  
  Similarly, I also teach English - specifically to ace the IELTS test. This was something that I had to go through to legally prove my English fluency, and at the time I wished that I had someone who could just teach me how to get the best grades as I was already perfectly bilingual at the time, without having to learn the tricks myself.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  One of my role models is my high school Economics teacher. He taught the subject really really well - to the point where I was able to gain a much deeper insight and felt a lot more knowledgeable in the field. I cannot adequately describe the feeling, but it was quite simply the most inspirational feeling that I had felt coming from a teacher - and to date I have not witnessed the same level of teaching quality come out from a teacher/lecturer anywhere else. I hope that I can teach as well as he does.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  Being able to explain complex concepts in a simple manner that is understood by the student. Sometimes this requires reframing the concept in a different way that the student can relate to more easily. Additionally, a good tutor is able to recognise their students' strengths and weaknesses, and to improve those strengths whilst focusing on improving the weaknesses. Finally, a good tutor is empathetic and someone with whom the student feels comfortable talking to and asking questions. More often than not, tutors have gone through a similar process that their students are going through, and being able to provide support and general advice makes a great tutor.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  I was revising a finance subject one time, and then I came across one of the teaching methods that really struck me. When I thought I had understood the concept, the teacher asked me "OK, imagine I was a child. Explain what you just learned to me - and try to hear yourself and think whether it would make sense." That really gave me a moment of reflection because I came to understand that when you truly understand something, you should be able to synthesise that understanding well enough that you can make it as simple as a child could handle.

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or are still facing in your subject?

  I face challenges when it comes to integrating statistics in the world of finance and accounting. The formulas and concepts used are generally exact, balanced and targeted. When statistics come into play, there is a lot of noise and estimation where your analytical judgement is required. Reconciling the two sides of that coin is a rewarding challenge to tackle.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I am passionate about helping people understand more about the field I delve in. For example, Finance to me is not an otherworldly science that only Wall Street guys know - but a science that everyone can learn and use to their benefit in day-to-day life. Bridging that gap for me is a passion that I pursue.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P)?

  I really try to make sure that my students feel a direct benefit from my sessions. If a one hour session with me saves the student hours of self-study to reach the same objective of understanding a particular concept, then to me that's a job well done