Should I Do Articleship or take a Dummy by commerceshala

It is very sad and disappointing when students approach me and ask whether they should do proper articleship in a CA firm or should they take a dummy.  This sadness comes from the very fact that our Institute at the time of envisioning about this great profession would have never imagined that students would ever ask this kind of questions or for that matter even think of not undergoing articleship.

It is to be seen that articleship right from time immemorial has been made mandatory for all students pursuing chartered accountancy profession.  The basic tenet of this proposition was to enable a budding chartered accountant understand the nuances of law, accounts, tax and audit and therefore, become a true professional.  Never ever would have our predecessors at the Institute of Chartered Accountants imagined a plight where students who have cleared chartered accountancy course could not even prepare a proper bank or cash book, which is typically the case with students who qualify as a CA and did not have had any prior articleship experience.

In my professional career of more than 14 years, which includes 3 years of articleship, I have met thousands of fresh chartered accountants.  In the first fifteen minutes of any interaction, it is very easily identifiable whether that person has done his articleship, or is he/she giving some irrelevant global gyaan to cover up his inexperience, or I would rather say his/her incompetency to answer relevant questions.

Articleship during the course of chartered accountancy is extremely important as it forms the backbone of your career.  A qualified chartered accountant without articleship experience is like a blunt knife, which has the power to cut anything but not enough strength.  And such knives are not useful to the society and therefore, redundant over a period of time.

It is important that articleship should be seen as a tool to learn and grow whilst in the process of your journey to become a chartered accountant.  I can share with you my experience when I was looking for articleship at the time of starting my career.  I did my graduation from Delhi University and at that time there were not many people to guide us for good articleship firms.  I am talking of the year 1999.  However, through some references I tried in 3-4 good firms and finally got through a firm called RSM & Co (which later merged with PwC in 2006).  During my articleship, my seniors always used to tell me one thing that the harder you work as a trainee, the brighter you would be as a chartered accountant.  And I think that grooming and training we received in our articelship days really helped us become solid professionals.

Some students also ask how would they cope up with studies and classes during articleship and my answer to them always remain the same.  You do not need coaching and training for all the subjects and even if you need then focus on your time management skills.  It is very important for anyone to realise that CA degree is a highly respected profession not only in India but across the globe and it is therefore, important that one manages everything well.

Me and my batch mates have all attended classes, though not all and used to travel extensively during our articleship days.  In fact, it was so much that almost 10-15 days in a month I was outstation and therefore, always missed my classes.  However, everyone in our batch always had one thing in our mind that we have to focus on our work as well as studies and therefore, managing them together was the key.  This attitude of not cribbing always helped us find time both for work and studies.

My advice to young students who pursue chartered accountancy is always do articleship honestly and with utmost seriousness.  Things that you would learn in those three years would go a long way with you and would help you become a strong and respectable professional.  In the short term you might find things easily achievable, however your ambition to become a through and brilliant professional might turn out to be a distant dream.  After all do you want to be branded as a ‘Dummy CA’ after working so hard in clearing such difficult papers. 

So think long term…

By: Nimish Goel

Nimish is a Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary and has more than 11 years of experience. He has worked with KPMG in Europe and with PwC and E&Y in India.  Nimish is the Co-Founder of Commerceshala, an initiative to help guide and mentor commerce students and help them in choosing the right career.  Commerceshala also helps students in training and internships/ jobs.   

He can be reached on nimish@commerceshala.com

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Exams over - looking forward for the first job - Are you ready?

Exams are over and you are almost on the verge of becoming a Chartered Accountant – One of the most coveted and highly respected degrees.  For this degree, you have worked so hard, burnt the mid-night oil, completed three years of strenuous articleship even if you had no fun doing it.  Listened to your seniors despite some of them having no knowledge, but kya Karen….degree ke liye karna padta hai boss!!

This article is the first in the series highlighting the vagaries of life of a newly qualified Chartered Accountant, especially in relation to their employability.  In this article, we have tried to showcase some of the trends that have been observed by Commerceshala in relation to the preparedness of CA students for their first jobs.

What is employability – Why is this term used so frequently these days and has it got anything to do with Chartered Accountancy. 

Now-a-days it is quite common to read terms like employability, up-skilling, skill-gaps, industry-academia gap etc What is the relevance of these terms and why are they so talked about.  On a careful reading, one can notice that these terms are more frequently used for fresh engineers and MBAs, typically highlighting the situation faced by the industry regarding the challenge faced in hiring, due to very poor employability.

The term ‘employability’ is defined by Wikipedia as “Person's capability for gaining and maintaining employment. For individuals, employability depends on the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) they possess, the way they present those assets to employers, and the context within which they seek work.

Though, the industry at large is facing these problems more with engineers and MBAs due to their sheer numbers, what we have noticed during the past 1-1.5 years is that this problem is now visible even with employers hiring newly qualified chartered accountants.  One of the reasons cited is increased pass percentage which has led to the market flooded with new chartered accountants. 

However, we believe that this is not completely true.  What we have observed that the following factors have led lot of employers going slow on hiring newly qualified CAs, despite having vacancies:

1.    Lack of training during articleship

With focus getting more on clearing examinations, it is quite visible that the students focusing more on academics than on practical training are increasingly facing challenge in getting their first good job.  The importance of articleship is not farfetched and this aspect was also mentioned in our earlier article – “Should I Do Articleship or Take Dummy”

http://commerceshala.blogspot.in/2013/06/should-i-do-articleship-or-take-dummy.html

Not completing articleship is a serious issue which can have social ramifications, typically in the form of no/less jobs for CAs, thereby creating an environment of frustration and angst.

2.    Poor communication/ soft skills

Another challenge increasingly being faced by employers is the inability of CAs to express themselves and consequently, not being able to secure points in interviews and group discussions.  Though, this aspect is addressed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants through GMCS training, a lot more needs to be done, especially by the students themselves.  If one has the confidence to speak good English, he/she can command better scores with better as he/she would be able to communicate with the employers.  English cannot be mastered in 10-15 classes, though improvements can be made.  One has to make consistent efforts over a longer period of time.

In addition to communication, both verbal and written, one also needs to imbibe good soft skills which include basic etiquette, hygiene, dressing etc.  These skills are extremely important and are mark of a good professional.

3.    Lack of general awareness

The other thing, though not prominent and prevalent across the CA student community is lack of general awareness about the socio-political and economic issues.  Though, this lacking is noticed more in students from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, the same cannot be ruled out completely even in students from Metros.  The reason probably is lack of formal infrastructure which inculcates a habit to interact and discuss, coupled with a very strong focus to clear examinations and not giving importance to this aspect.

However, as globalization is shrinking the world and companies tend to be more global in their approach, it is extremely important for students to garner awareness of the local as well as international issues to make them competitive.

As the results would be out by July, you still have some time to work on the above areas and we are sure that a conscious and consistent effort to pick and work upon the above skills would immensely benefit young CAs.

By: Nimish Goel

Nimish is a Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary and has more than 11 years of experience. He has worked with KPMG in Europe and with PwC and E&Y in India.  Nimish is the Co-Founder of Commerceshala, an initiative to help guide and mentor commerce students and help them in choosing the right career.  Commerceshala also helps students in training and internships/ jobs.  He can be reached on nimish@commerceshala.com and for more such articles you can visit commerceshala.blogspot.in

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Completed college but not getting a job by Commerceshala

We all have huge plans about how our lives are supposed to shape up once we complete our graduation. But things don’t always go as planned, at least not for most of us. In this case, being strong and starting over is your best bet.

Instead of laying back, find out how you can increase your employability. Simply stating, employability is the evidence you can provide of your skills and experience, and communicate them in a powerful job winning way to potential employers. In order to increase your chances of getting a job that you desire, you need to start thinking in terms of achievements. In a subtle yet powerful manner you need to convey how well you did something instead of what you did. At the end of the day, results matter. Having substantial certificates, awards, references and more such things that show your true potential, help immensely in making you a more worthy candidate. Staying focused is the key to succeed. Try to gain additional experience by participating in part time jobs or virtual internships or volunteer work. The more work you do, the more experience you get. Don’t just sit at home waiting for the right opportunity to knock on your door, because it might just not. Networking is so important to ensure you have an abundance of opportunities. So being lazy is of no use. Apply for more jobs, sit for more interviews because such experiences will teach you and prepare you for the real world in a better manner. Try to develop in areas you think you are weak in and start perfecting the ones you are already good at. Try to understand what the employers are actually looking for and target those areas with full enthusiasm. 

Just be confident and don’t lose heart because of a rejection. It is easier said than done, but this is what will keep you going. Learn at each step and improve as much as you can. With focus, determination and pure hard work, no one can stop you from realizing your dreams. Getting a job is just this one phase of your life, there is a lot more out there that you still have to explore!

  

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Soft Skills - By Commerceshala

To begin with, the most important thing to know is that what exactly soft skills are and how is it different from hard skills? Soft skills are the complete collection of our social, communication and self-management behaviours. Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual’s interactions, job performance and career prospects. The gist of it is that soft skills are behavioural competencies. The difference between hard skills and soft skills is that, while the former is usually related to the professional knowledge, tools or techniques, that allow us to work within our profession, the latter are the skills that help us in working effectively and efficiently.

Why are soft skills important? Let us consider an example. An accountant needs to be certified so as to work. Now the question is which accountant do you prefer? The one who has great work ethic, positive attitude and is friendly or the one who is sulky, inflexible and arrogant?  While both are accountants, the former would surely be preferred. The simple fact is that hard skills can help you do your job, but soft skills are the ones who get you the job in the first place. So if you are all about the technical know-it-all, start brushing up on your soft skills because yes, they are in demand.

Over the time it has been found that for long term success, soft skills are more important than the technical skills. Nowadays, communication and interpersonal skills are considered to be vital to be successful in the corporate world. It is actually what separates the best from the rest in the management world. Qualities like leadership, teamwork, good communication skills, innovative thinking are a necessity to have a shot at an amazing career. Bookish knowledge of things and technical prowess is no more the be all and end all. The faster you deal with it, the better it is.

To advance your life professionally, you must put an emphasis on the development of your soft skills. Having a winning attitude, acceptance, multitasking and creativity will make you a front runner at whatever you do. So if you think, you have all the knowledge to be great, start backing it up with your personal skills. Because certainly the actual key to success is making your hard skills and soft skills complement each other.

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Can training create employability? by Commerceshala

Well there is no limit on the amount of skills a person can acquire. As they say, the more the merrier. Learning and developing yourself at each stage is the best you can do. Whether you have a job or are trying to get one or planning to change your career path or trying to improve at your current job, training will help you perform better in every way.

Training is invaluable and essential for handling the politics and pressures of the competitive world out there. We all are aware of the key areas that we really need to work on so as improve and perform better. Getting trained in these specific areas will not only increase your employability, but it will increase your confidence, enhance quality of your work, make you more efficient and help you in performing to the best of your abilities. Acquiring training in order to improve your hard skills or soft skills will take you to perfection. It will give your CV an added dimension too. Training will expand your knowledge base and increase awareness about latest technologies or methods, thus increasing your chances to get hired or promoted or just plain performing better. No matter how meaningless it may seem, improving yourself by training will benefit you immensely in the long run too. The more skilled you are, higher are your chances to get selected for your dream job. Sharpening your skills will help you progress further. The most highly trained and skilled people will find that they have a much broader range of work options than the less trained ones. Adding extra qualifications will only do you good and show that you are willing to learn more. In short, you will be a much more attractive option for your employers as compared to others. Training just shows that you take your professional life seriously.

So yes, training does create employability. It makes you better at what you do and helps you in learning new things while improving on the old ones. So if you think it’s a waste of time, think again because it is totally worth all the effort. The point is that you do it once and it will reap you the benefits for the rest of your life.

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

90s or non-90s – But they made it big - By Commerceshala

Each one of us has surely once or twice stumbled across a story that tells about the people who have established themselves despite not having a formal degree with amazingly good marks, correction great marks, because nowadays just being good is not good enough. We just read them, forget them and go back to our normal lives thinking they just got lucky. Yes, luck is important in shaping our lives in some way but is it just luck? Well to be lucky, you first have to work hard and give all you got to even have a chance for the luck factor to work in.

It’s a fact that a college degree does not guarantee success. In fact no amount of degrees can guarantee success until and unless, you actually are determined enough to make it big. There are a number of entrepreneurs who have tasted success despite not having fancy degrees to flaunt. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are our very famous college dropout billionaires. Neither Henry Ford, billionaire founder of Ford Motor Company, nor Jay Van Andel, billionaire co-founder of Amway, attended college. Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s and Richard Branson, billionaire founder of Virgin Empire, are both high-school dropouts. Subhash Chandra, an Indian Media mogul who is chairman of Essel Group, an Indian conglomerate, is a billionaire who dropped out after completing high school. But it is not just entrepreneurs who have achieved immense success.

In many other fields, people have found success without the need of degrees. Coco Chanel, fashion magnate and founder of the Coco Chanel brand, never saw the four walls of school. Bryan Adams, whose music is pure divine, is a high school dropout. Andre Agassi, a highly talented tennis player, quit school in the ninth grade and turned tennis pro at the age of 16. Wolfgang Puck, chef, owner of numerous restaurants and bistros, quit school at the age of 14. We all know who Salman Khan is, but do you know that he is a college dropout. I can keep going on with this list, but by now I hope you have got the gist of it.

There is certainly no dearth of people who have proved the fact that a shining education degree is not important for a sky rocketing career. 90s or non-90s, they have truly made it big and changed their lives completely. So next time when you complaint that you cannot be successful because you did not get your degree from the best college or did not score well in your boards, remember that it is not because of your degrees, but because of your lazy, careless and self-depreciating attitude. If you truly want something, with pure dedication and perseverance, sky is your limit.

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Lessons from Richard Branson’s life – By Commerceshala

One of the greatest men of all times, Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British business magnate and investor. He is the founder and chairman of Virgin Group of more than 400 companies. Virgin Group’s core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. At just the age of 16, his first business venture was a magazine called Student and that was the beginning of the rise of his genius.

What many of us don’t know is that Richard Branson has dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student. But there was no stopping him. Branson started his record business from the crypt of a church where he ran the Student. Trading under the name ‘Virgin’, it was an overnight success. Branson in 1972 launched the record label Virgin Records. In 1984 he formed Virgin Atlantic Airways, in 1999 launched Virgin Mobile, Virgin Australia in 2000. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over” said Richard Branson. Rightly so making mistakes is the fastest way to learn. In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold his record company to EMI. He wept when the sale was completed since the record business had been the birth of the Virgin Empire. He later created V2 Records to re-enter the music business. His spirit and courage are remarkable. He faced failure, but still always emerged as the winner.

In 1993, Branson entered into the railways business, what many saw as a risky one. But nothing could stop him from achieving what he wanted. Giving your 100% in what you do, makes all the difference. Branson is a living proof that age does not matter and it’s never too early to start. He is proof to the fact that age is just a number. Richard Branson made several world record-breaking attempts after 1985, when he attempted the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing. His fearlessness and carefree attitude are truly an inspiration for others. Giving up or losing hope, Branson does not know of. He just knows how to keep moving forward and pushing your limits harder. ‘Change is the only constant’ is what he believes in.      

Branson has guest starred, usually playing himself, on several television shows like Friends, Baywatch, The Day Today and more. He has also made cameo appearances in films like Around the World in 80 Days, Superman Returns and Casino Royale. He’s a worldwide celebrity and an ardent humanitarian, not just any other billionaire. He has his fingers in all sorts of pies. What he teaches is to be the best at what we do and don’t compromise for anything less than greatness.

“Right now I’m just delighted to be alive and to have had a nice long bath.” Even though he has the kind of life that most people envy, for him it is the simple things that matter. Richard Branson with his stellar attitude, teaches us to be what we want to be. His simple principle is to just keep going no matter how hard it is. Not everybody can be Richard Branson, but let us try to be the best version of ourselves.

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Tips for Effective Study

As we all know revision is an important aspect of preparation of professional examination. One needs to do intelligent revision of the course as many times as possible. Reason being lack of revision may become the reason of your failure. A good revision is just like a super –key to your success. But you must know how to use this key. Just think positive about your exam, about your exam preparation and other co-related things. Never think that “This technique is not gonna work for me”. Keep yourself ready to accept new ideas and tricks to succeed in life.   

Now CS December exams 2011 are just 2 weeks away. So I am making this effort to help them by sharing few suggestions regarding exam revision. Let me clarify this thing to every that these suggestions are also very useful for every student. If you like these suggestions please share your comments:
                            

1. Prepare a revision plan: Before starting the revision it is very important to prepare a revision plan. In fact this plan should be in your mind from the very starting i.e. when you start preparing for exams bcoz without proper revision it is very difficult to re-call anything during exam time.

2. Review the revision material: For a effective revision plan I would suggest you to divide the course content in to 3 categories:

• First: In the first category you may add all the important topics and frequently asked questions given in scanner. Here also add topics which are imp from the practical question point of view especially in Audit and law. 
• Second category: In the second category add topics regarding the exam importance of which you are confident and which are easy in preparation and revision. A good revision of this category will strengthen your position in exam.
• Third Category: In this category add the balance topics which are not important from exam point of view. Just give them a basic reading and finish them off. During routine preparation give this kind of topics a sound reading in order to understand them.

  

3. Knowledge of important chapters: Exercise given in second point will help you to understand the structure of course from the revision point of view. First of all at the time of revision it is very essential to have the knowledge of important chapters and topics. So prepare a list of important chapters and topics and first revise them. This will save your time and energy during the final preparation of your exam and enhance your confidence bcoz you know important topics are on your tips at the exam time.

4. Simple reading to other topics: For topics not covered in point no. 2 (a) and (b), i.e. those which according to you are not really important for coming exam, just give them a reading for better understanding. Try and be confident about these topics. Basic knowledge of these topics is enough. This will again save your time and energy and prevent you from confusion regarding what to revise and what to leave.

                            

5. Prepare very small notes for revision: During my study time I was really fond of this technique. We used to prepare very short note of a super imp topics in out note book and mention the page number of note book on our study material or reference book. Later on during final revision open that page number of your note book and revise the topic quickly.

                          

6. Discussion with your group: Another wonderful way to revise is to discuss topics with your friend circle. It will help to you revise the things without any special effort and improve your re-calling power. I used to teach my friends who help me a lot to make commend on given topics especially in law. If you successfully resolve the study related issues of your friends that means your preparation is good.

                               

7. Avoid multiple reference books or notes: During normal preparation it is very much understandable to refer more than one book or notes. However in the process of revision I would suggest you to use single book or use your note book. This is really important to save your time and maintain your revision planning. Revising one topic from multiple books is really fetal to your preparation. Hence plz remember this point.

                         

8. Use latest gadgets: Earlier this technique was not available for our revision and now also most of the students are not aware about this trick to revise. I got this idea from my cousin. He used to feed the notes in his phone enriched with MS office and easily revise everything during commute time. I really found this trick very useful and now with technological advancement in the field of phones and i-pads it becomes very easy for everyone. I understand it is not possible for everyone but still we may consider this as a revision method.   

                         

9. Workout on your basics and follow conceptual study: For quick and successful revision at the exam time it is very important to have clear idea of concepts and basics. If your concepts and basics are not clear then revision will take extra time. So as per my suggestion work very hard at the time of usual preparation for a better result bcoz revision process is just to remind you what you have prepared during usual preparation of your subject and chapters.

                              

10. Understand the importance of time management: If you are not interested in understanding the importance of time management, then this kind of professional study is not for you. A good time management is required at every stage of your professional life. Follow your revision schedule regularly without fail. Always think about how to use your time in the most efficient manner. In short never waste your time as it is money.

Hope you find the above points useful. Please try to implement them in your study.

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

Career in Sports – By Commerceshala

Study, study, study….that is what we hear most of the time our parents telling us or sometimes yelling at us. No doubt studies are very important but is it all that matters?  Well no. Studies is no more the sole criterion that guarantees success, sports is equally vital. Doing sports keeps us healthy, relaxed, fit, energetic at all times and let’s not forget, it is so much fun.

Sports has made a prominent impact in our society. More and more people consider it as not only a good way to stay fit, but as a serious profession they could take on in the future. It has become a great source to earn fame and huge sums of money. Obviously playing at state or national or world level requires huge amount of commitment, hard work, discipline and most importantly extreme love for the sport. The opportunities to make it big as a sports player are increasing day by day. Be it Tiger Woods (minus the controversies), Michael Schumacher, Roger Federer, David Beckham or our very own M.S. Dhoni, these guys need no introduction. They have achieved remarkable success in their concerned fields. Women are not far behind with the William sisters (Serena and Venus), Danica Patrick, Annika Sorenstam, Maria Sharapova all making it big for themselves.

For the people who truly want to make a future in the sport they love, go ahead and give it all you got because at the end it will surely be worth it. Sports not only provides us with a good livelihood opportunity but gives us the mental strength to face success as well as failure, teaches us team spirit and discipline, provides us with confidence and courage, improves our physical fitness and health, enhances our decision making ability and gives us immense joy and relaxation. The more healthy, active and energetic you are, the better you are able to study with focus. So in a way, sports helps you study better too. I am sure this point is convincing enough for parents to encourage their children to play any kind of sport they want.

Tommy Lasorda said ‘The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination’. So if you are determined to succeed, no one can stop you. Do what you love and if you can make good money out of it, well then that’s the icing on the cake.

Follow us on -https://www.facebook.com/Commerceshala

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

3 IDIOTS of real world

Apart from being a super hit revolutionary movie it has showcased students’ life in the best possible manner. We all have Rancho, Farhan and Raju Rastogi in our lives. Sometimes you are one of the 3’s, sometimes you are the ‘Chatur’ aka Silencer.

But let us see one of the personality traits very much prevalent now a days.

Raju can be seen as a guy who would want good marks in all the subjects with all the studying efforts insured by tantra mantra.

He would study his notes word by word, goes to best coaching centre at the cost of movie plans and cheese burgers.

He would make the time table at the back of his notes copy and get sad if unable to follow.

The number of visits to temple is inversely proportional to days left for exam.

He would leave no stone unturned to get important questions for the exam.

He thinks that remaining serious would mean getting good marks.

But if we introspect in this kind of personalities, they are right in their own race. They are worried because they have seen the consequences of failures and fear that. They only have this opportunity at their disposal and they don’t want to lose on it on account of any reason. They are not risk takers and should not be, as the cost of taking the risk is way high for them. But what makes them start following a particular ‘act’ to ensure the success. It is the hard earned success which made them believe in something or some act which worked with their efforts.

The best part about these people is they don’t get into comparisons with others. They set their own targets and put best foot forward to achieve them. They always remain rooted and grounded to their basics.

And we have so many people having Raju traits in them. Like Ekta Kapoor with letter “k” in all her ventures to ensure success.  Subash Ghai always announces his new venture on 24^th Oct. Katrina visits Ajmer Dargah before her every release. Chris Gayle wears a black bandana with his helmet.

Nothing is wrong with such beliefs but make sure the desired efforts are put.

PS:  The writer belongs to the same breed discussed above.

Keep check this space for more personality traits like Rancho, Chatur etc.

This Article has been shared by Commerceshala. Join Commerceshala at www.facebook.com/Commerceshala

Subscribe to Studycafe by Email

Read more »

CLAT 2013

CLAT History:-

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is an all India entrance examination conducted by 14 National Law Schools/Universities for admissions to their under-graduate and post graduate degree programmes (LL.B & LL.M). The 14 participating NLUs in the order of their establishment are:...Read More

Read more »