Broken chair in first job, sleepless nights, missed family events: Bengaluru CA recalls how rejection shaped her career

For most Chartered Accountants, the toughest battle is clearing exams. But for Meenal Goel, the journey went far beyond textbooks. Her story is about rejection that turned into redirection, sleepless nights that built resilience, and the silent sacrifices that nobody claps for. From working in a cramped office with a broken chair to missing family weddings and struggling with burnout, she says her real lessons came not from success, but from setbacks.

During her articleship, Meenal admits she was obsessed with landing a role in a big firm. So much so that she didn’t apply anywhere else. She kept waiting for a response until just four days before her registration deadline, when her father pushed her to apply at a mid-sized firm. She got through. The very next day, the rejection letter she had been dreading arrived. At the time it stung, but she now calls it the turning point of her career.

About her first workplace
Her first workplace wasn’t glamorous—no swanky offices or perks. Instead, there were long nights at client sites, endless tax filings, and a wobbly chair in a cramped cabin. She missed Diwali parties, weddings, and even sleep. Looking back, she says these very struggles gave her the grit that defined her CA journey.


Overworked early in career
But the challenges didn’t stop there. Even after moving forward in her career, work often came at the cost of her personal life. Meenal recalls one incident vividly: when she was asked to work over a weekend, despite telling her senior that she had an important family function. She gave in to work and skipped it. On Monday, nothing had changed in the office—but at home, the regret lingered.

That moment made her rethink everything. "Burnout doesn’t make you more productive,” she wrote. “Personal priorities don’t make you less professional. And respecting boundaries doesn’t make you weak.”

Now, she believes being a CA is not just about technical skills or clearing exams. It’s about discipline, resilience, and knowing when to draw the line. The sacrifices built her career, but learning to set boundaries, she says, helped her build a life.