Atishay Jain's Jobaaj Learnings Review: From CA & CFA to Assistant Manager, Valuations at Deloitte

"Initially, the model I created had many flaws, but after receiving feedback from Aman Sir, I was able to improve it. This model was instrumental during my interviews." — Atishay Jain

Atishay Jain is from Surat. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2022 and cleared all three CFA levels between February 2023 and February 2024 — inside a single year. He had no work experience at all: after his CA he was working on a business idea that he decided not to pursue. He took Jobaaj Learnings' Investment Banking Program, received two offers, and joined Deloitte as an Assistant Manager in the Valuations department in Mumbai.

Calibrate before you read the outcome. Atishay holds CA plus all three CFA levels, and completed the CFA sequence in twelve months — a profile very few candidates will match. His Assistant Manager designation reflects that qualification stack, not the course. What the course contributed, in his own words, was direction and the applied skills the qualifications did not cover. That is a real contribution, and it is a smaller one than the job title implies.

If you are searching “is Jobaaj Learnings genuine”, “is Jobaaj real or fake” or “is CA and CFA enough for investment banking”, this account gives a precise answer on that last question from someone holding both. Read it alongside the other conversations in our Interview Series and the wider feedback on the reviews page.

Who Is Atishay Jain? CA, Three CFA Levels, No Job

Atishay's qualification record is the strongest in this series:

• Chartered Accountant — qualified 2022
• CFA, all three levels — started February 2023, completed by February 2024

Clearing all three CFA levels in twelve months is unusual by any standard. His own explanation for taking it on is almost casual: “There wasn't anything specific. It was more about continuing my studies without a break.”

And yet, asked about work experience after his CA, the answer is:

"On the job front, I didn't have any experience. I was exploring opportunities in Surat, working on my own business idea. However, due to certain circumstances, I decided not to pursue it."

So: two of the most demanding finance qualifications in the world, and a blank employment history. That is the position he was in when he found the workshop.

Was CA and CFA Enough on Their Own?

Atishay's answer is the most credible version of this question in the whole series, because he holds both qualifications in full:

"CFA and CA provide a broad knowledge base, but Jobaaj Learning focused on the specifics of Investment Banking. It gave me direction and helped me apply my learning in a practical setting. The financial modeling, Excel, and research reports taught me how to develop dynamic models that are crucial in the industry."

The word to hold onto is dynamic. CA and CFA teach the concepts; building a model that responds correctly when you change an assumption is a separate craft, and it is what interviews test.

His Timeline: Roughly Three and a Half Months, Start to Offer

He is upfront about why it moved that fast: “I'm a quick learner, so I completed the course and assignments in a short period.” He was also unemployed, with the whole day available, and arriving with CA and CFA already done. Treat this timeline as a floor, not an average.

The Model That Was Full of Flaws

The most honest moment in the conversation, and the most useful:

"I worked on a tire manufacturing industry model. Initially, the model I created had many flaws, but after receiving feedback from Aman Sir, I was able to improve it. This model was instrumental during my interviews."

A CA who had cleared all three CFA levels built a model full of errors on his first attempt. That is not a criticism of him — it is the point. Modelling is a practical skill that certification does not confer, and it is learned by having someone competent mark your work.

On how the feedback reached him:

"The instant feedback I received, especially on WhatsApp, was extremely helpful. It allowed me to correct my assumptions and improve my models right away."

Worth cross-referencing: Uma Maheshwari elsewhere in this series criticised the feedback loop for arriving in successive rounds rather than all at once. Atishay describes the same iterative process positively, as instant WhatsApp correction. Same mechanism, two different experiences of it — which is a fair picture of what to expect.

The Interview: Three Rounds, One of Them Pure Excel

Atishay received two offers, and says both processes were structured the same way:

1. Technical round — assessing his skills.
2. Excel round — specifically advanced functions: VLOOKUP, OFFSET, and macros.
3. Director round — testing communication skills and adaptability.

A dedicated Excel round appears repeatedly across this series — Kavya faced a timed one-hour Excel assessment at Deloitte too. If you are preparing for finance or analytics interviews at that level, assume a spreadsheet test rather than hoping for one.

Two Offers, and Why He Chose Valuations

His offers were for financial due diligence and valuations. He preferred valuations and took it. Both are technical advisory seats; valuation is the more model-intensive of the two, which fits the work he had just spent a month on.

What Valuation Interviews Actually Test

Asked what to prepare for a valuation profile, Atishay is specific:

• Cost of capital — and being able to compute it, not just define it.
• FCFF — free cash flow to the firm, how to calculate it, and the reasoning behind using it and when to apply it. That last clause is what separates a rehearsed answer from an understood one.
• IRR and project evaluation.
• Excel speed — being quick with advanced functions and macros, not merely familiar with them.

The Placement Support

Atishay's description is brief and concrete:

• Job leads came through LinkedIn and the job portal.
• His coordinator shared the opportunities and scheduled interviews.
• He applied to positions that matched his preferences — specifically roles near Mumbai.
• He was given guidance on what to prepare for each interview.

Note that his location preference was respected rather than overridden, and he ended up based in Mumbai as intended.

Pros and Cons, Based on Atishay's Account

What worked:

• Investment banking specifics that CA and CFA did not cover
• Financial modelling, Excel and research reports producing a model he could take into interviews
• Instant mentor feedback over WhatsApp, letting him fix assumptions immediately
• Opportunities matched to his stated location preference
• Interview-specific preparation guidance
• Two offers, and the freedom to choose between them

What his account shows honestly:

• His first model was full of flaws despite two elite qualifications.
• His timeline is not typical. Fast because he was a quick learner, unemployed, and already qualified.
• The Assistant Manager designation reflects CA plus three CFA levels, not the course.
• No salary is disclosed and no rating was asked for or given.
• He raises no criticism of the programme — so there is none to report, and we have not invented one.

Valuation Interview Questions and Model Answers

Walk us through a DCF model.

Model answer: Project free cash flow — revenue, operating income, depreciation, working capital movements and capital expenditure. Calculate WACC from the cost of equity and cost of debt, weighted by capital structure. Compute a terminal value using either perpetuity growth or an exit multiple. Discount both the projected flows and the terminal value back at WACC, and sum them for enterprise value. Be ready to say which assumption the answer is most sensitive to, because that is the follow-up.

How do you approach financial modelling for a valuation?

Model answer: Start from historical financials — income statement, balance sheet, cash flow — then project forward on explicit assumptions for revenue growth, margins and capex. Then apply the valuation method, DCF or comparable company analysis. The part that matters is making the model dynamic: lookups, INDEX/MATCH and data validation so an assumption change flows through correctly instead of breaking it.

How do you calculate the cost of capital?

Model answer: Cost of equity via CAPM — risk-free rate plus beta times the market risk premium, with beta measuring volatility against the market. Cost of debt from the company's actual borrowing rate, adjusted for the tax shield. Weight the two by their share of the capital structure to get WACC.

What is FCFF and when do you use it?

Model answer: Free cash flow to the firm — the cash available to all capital providers, debt and equity, before financing flows. You use it when valuing the whole enterprise, particularly where the capital structure is expected to change, because it separates operating performance from financing decisions. FCFE is the alternative when you specifically want the equity value directly.

What is IRR and how does it apply to project evaluation?

Model answer: The discount rate at which a project's net present value is zero — effectively its implied return. It is compared against the cost of capital to decide whether a project creates value. Its weakness is that it can mislead when cash flows change sign more than once, which is why NPV is the safer primary measure.

Which Excel skills matter for a valuation role?

Model answer: Speed as much as knowledge — VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH, OFFSET for dynamic ranges, and macros for anything repeated. A valuation interview may test this directly in a dedicated round, so it needs to be practised rather than listed.

Atishay's Advice for Aspiring Valuation Analysts

• Master the core concepts. For valuation specifically, FCFF and cost of capital — including why and when, not just how.
• Build Excel skills before you start applying. His reasoning is blunt: “you won't have enough time to learn on the job.”
• Prepare in advance to smooth the learning curve once you join — the first weeks in the role are not a training period.
• Build a real model and get it marked. His first attempt was flawed; the corrected version is what carried his interviews.
• Use fast feedback channels. Instant correction is what let him fix assumptions before they became habits.

Full Podcast Transcript

The complete conversation, unedited.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Jobaaj Learnings genuine, or is it fake?

This page documents one recorded case: Atishay Jain, a Chartered Accountant with all three CFA levels and no work experience, who took the Investment Banking Program, received two offers, and joined Deloitte as an Assistant Manager in Valuations. Employer, designation, department, city and interview structure are named on camera. No salary is disclosed. See the wider review set on the reviews page.

Is CA and CFA enough to get into investment banking?

Atishay holds both in full and says they gave him a broad knowledge base but not the investment banking specifics — particularly building dynamic financial models. His first model, built after clearing all three CFA levels, had many flaws.

What was the interview process?

Three rounds in both processes: a technical round, a dedicated Excel round covering VLOOKUP, OFFSET and macros, and a final round with the director testing communication and adaptability.

How long did it take him?

About a month for the recorded lessons, a month for the modelling and research assignments, and roughly a month and a half to secure a placement — with the placement process running in parallel. He describes himself as a quick learner and was not working at the time.

What should you prepare for a valuation interview?

Cost of capital and FCFF — including the reasoning for using FCFF and when it applies — plus IRR and project evaluation, and genuine speed in advanced Excel.

Why does he say to learn Excel before you join?

Because there is no time to learn it on the job. His advice is that arriving already fast with advanced functions makes the whole learning curve in the role smoother.