12 Dec 2025
Between data and human nature, within rules and changes, true business capability lies not in repeating standard answers but in accurately responding to complex realities. The career trajectory of Yueying Cai, an alumna of International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, vividly exemplifies this philosophy.
From a freshman's simplistic understanding that business equals financial statements to now serving as an Assistant Manager at KPMG leading audit projects independently, her growth did not happen overnight. Instead, nurtured in the free yet rigorous environment of XJTLU, she gradually learned to proactively connect classroom knowledge with real-world practice, ultimately carving out her own niche in the audit profession.
Starting Point: From Waiting for Instructions to Taking the Helm
"The diverse environment at XJTLU and the rich exemption policies for business programs were the core reasons I chose this university," Cai admits. Even though she grew up immersed in a family business atmosphere, it was not until after four years of systematic business studies that she truly grasped the essence of business.
In 2018, Yueying Cai, a graduate of Suzhou High School, enrolled in IBSS's International Business with a Language programme as a freshman. Before admission, like many others, she thought business was just a pile of financial statements and numbers, similar to a math problem with a standard answer. However, XJTLU's free atmosphere quickly shattered this certainty—no class teacher chasing homework submissions, no fixed seats or attendance lists, and the learning pace entirely self-managed.
Halfway through her first year, a clear realization emerged in her mind: "If I don't take the initiative to plan my reviews, the knowledge I've learned this week will quietly slip away." This sense of "loss of control" forced her to undergo a mindset transformation—shifting from passively receiving knowledge to actively steering her own learning rhythm. She previewed lessons in advance every week, summarized each chapter promptly, and reflected on her progress monthly. For her, learning was no longer a step-by-step task but a voyage guided by her own direction.
Exploration: Building Bridges Between Classroom and Reality
At XJTLU, the all-English teaching environment, interdisciplinary curriculum system, flexible course selection mechanism, and the explicit initiative to complete 90 hours of extracurricular internships laid the foundation for Cai to connect theory with practice.
In her junior year, the course International Development completely broadened her understanding of business. The instructor was Professor Eddy Fang, the current Dean of IBSS, a scholar graduated from the University of Cambridge. "Instead of teaching through formulas, he started with economic history and changes in cross-border operations. I used to think mastering financial statement analysis and numbers was the most important thing, but this course made me realize that business models are always deeply intertwined with national development and social evolution."
Later, in Dr Yameng Zhang’s Corporate Social Responsibility class, she heard the professor analyse Pinduoduo's business model: "Is serving low-income groups exploitation or empowerment?" She began to think: The essence of business is not just profit-making, but more about meeting the real needs of different groups and creating diverse social values. "This course taught me that business studies shouldn't only focus on the glamorous cases of multinational giants, but also pay attention to the national conditions around us and the needs of ordinary people."
XJTLU's emphasis on extracurricular internships motivated Cai to take action from her sophomore year. She completed internships at a fast-moving consumer goods company, an education enterprise, and Deloitte successively. "Interning early helps you understand the actual needs of market positions in advance, and subsequent course selections can more accurately align with your interests and strengths." During her internships, she discovered that her passion for interpersonal communication and personnel management far exceeded that for pure financial data analysis. Therefore, in her senior year, she took an interdisciplinary course in International Human Resource Management to supplement her skills for career development.
Yueying interviewing the Managing Partner of KPMG Suzhou during her university years
XJTLU's East-West integrated teaching atmosphere and frequent group collaborations subtly shaped her collaborative thinking and communication skills. In course assignments, she not only learned to absorb ideas from different classmates but also coped with various challenges in team collaboration—such as motivating passive team members to participate and assigning tasks based on individual personalities. These experiences served as a preview for her future team management. Additionally, the language proficiency honed in the all-English teaching environment made her proficient in dealing with international standards and English financial statements, laying a solid foundation for her smooth entry into one of the Big Four accounting firms.
Yueying performing in a drama club show
Leap: Forging Core Competencies Through Challenges
After graduation, Cai officially joined KPMG Suzhou. The high intensity and complexity of the audit profession surpassed what she had learned in the classroom. "In my first year, I was basically in a state of 'learning while doing' throughout."
Faced with statutory audits across multiple industries including manufacturing, retail, and chip semiconductors, as well as group audits, IPO audit projects, and handling differences between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), and Chinese Accounting Standards, she grew rapidly relying on her strong self-learning ability and perseverance. Beyond completing daily overtime tasks, she took the initiative to invest a lot of time in supplementary learning, putting in more effort than her peers to adapt to the challenges.
In her third year at the firm, Cai led a project independently for the first time—a challenging assignment involving two companies. She needed to issue statutory reports to Chinese clients and report to the US headquarters simultaneously within a short period, with tight deadlines and high requirements. As a newly promoted Assistant Manager leading the team, she broke down the goals, advanced uncontrollable work such as confirmation procedures, clarified progress milestones for each phase, and accurately coordinated the schedules of team members and senior managers. Eventually, she won client recognition through efficient responsiveness and professional delivery.
In team management, she continued the wisdom gained from undergraduate group assignments: giving more affirmation to team members who needed encouragement, clarifying task lists for those lacking initiative, and delegating appropriate authority to experienced members, caring for each team member with empathy.
Looking back on her career growth, Cai attributes her core competencies to three aspects: first, the self-learning ability cultivated at XJTLU, which allows her to quickly respond to unknown challenges; second, the perseverance to start over when facing difficulties, which supported her through countless bottlenecks; third, empathy, which helps her maintain team cohesion and gain client trust in high-pressure work environments.
Yueying representing KPMG at XJTLU's campus recruitment talk
Business Value: Beyond Professionalism, Toward Lifelong Growth
For students pursuing a career in business, Cai offers sincere advice: "First, learn university courses well—this is the foundation for postgraduate applications and employment. Don't put the cart before the horse by blindly pursuing certifications. Second, maintain curiosity about new things; even non-professional skills like AI and Python should be actively explored to understand their application scenarios. Finally, develop a mindset to accept imperfection. Whether it's conflicts in team collaboration or setbacks in the workplace, they are all necessary steps for growth."
When talking about her plans for the next three to five years, she has a clear goal: on the one hand, continue preparing for the CPA exam to deepen her professional expertise; on the other hand, hope to transition to a Financial BP role or join a startup in the future, integrating the industry experience and professional knowledge accumulated in auditing to truly participate in corporate value creation.
"Genuine application of knowledge means using financial language to help companies make practical profit-driven decisions, not just explaining why numbers change," she says. This understanding stems from what XJTLU taught her—to view business within the context of the real world.
12 Dec 2025