Okay, this annoys me too! I've seen a bunch of jobs where you know someone with experience could totally crush it, but they still ask for ACCA. From what I found, a lot of big companies and even universities do it just to have an easy way to sort through applicants. Like, it's a shortcut so employers don't have to look at every resume super closely. Also, there are rules in finance where they legally need someone certified, which makes sense for some stuff, but a lot of the time it just feels like a box-ticking thing. My friend's dad is wicked at accounting, but because he doesn't have ACCA, a bunch of jobs just won’t even look at his CV. Honestly, it makes job searching pretty frustrating for people with years of skills. So yeah, sometimes experience gets pushed aside for a fancy paper! Just goes to show, qualifications don’t always mean you’re the best fit.