Dear Friends,
One of old CAclubindia member asked me 2 queries as listed below. As per my understanding there queries are very important for career point of view and many aspirants can identify themselves with the given questions. Hence I thought it would be good to share my thinking with you people.
Question No. 1
Since you are a CS working in the industry I have a couple of queries to ask regarding CS profession in Industry. Is there a need for any dual qualification (in addition to CS). I am not in a position to attend a full time course like LLB or do the Articles for CA. Therefore please suggest some alternatives. Is CIMA a good addle qualification with CS?
Question No. 2
The second question I am asking is for a friend of mine who is 37 years old and wants to join CS. If he joins CS and assuming that he clears the tough exam without much attempts, he would qualify at the age of 41 years. But would he be able to secure a job as a CS? He is willing to scratch from start (at entry level as CS). But would the corporate sector accept him?
Answer to Question No. 1
I think it is a very good question as far as a healthy debate is concerned. If you asked me whether dual degree is necessary to succeed in life then I would straight away say “NO”.
According to me dual degree is not a must to succeed in life. To be honest single qualification of CS or CA is enough to do well.
The question of having dual degree comes when you start focusing on getting good job which is a wrong or somewhere a defective approach. What you should do is just focus on CS with full confidence as job prospectus of CS is good especially in cities like Mumbai, Delhi NCR etc.
But at the same time there is no harm going for an additional qualification. But main objective should be to complement your main qualification. With the qualification of CS you may join LL.B. course. This can be joined any time like simultaneously with CS or at a later time say after 2-3 years of completing CS when you start feeling the need of LL.B. qualification with your current profile.
Unfortunately the current scenario is most of the students are joining/doing 2-3 professional courses just watching each other. Here at this point I would like to warn you that just be clear about your vision. There should not be lack of vision before joining additional course.
As per my advise just analyze yourself and your capabilities and join the additional professional course only if you actually feel the need of doing it. Avoid second course just for the sake that others are doing second course.
WHAT IS REQUIRED TO SUCCEED
Dual qualification is not a guarantee towards professional success though it can be really handy in your professional growth. Your attitude towards corporate challenges and ability to handle adverse situations in life is responsible to get you everything you want from life.
To succeed in your professional life good knowledge and working attitude is must. Recently I have posted an article regarding how to become a better professional. Please read the same at the link given below:
HOW TO BECOME A BETTER PROFESSIONAL !!!
Reality is u r not able to manage 2 courses but others are doing 2-3 courses today and they r ready to give u competition. But it is ok if u r good with ur knowledge. Revert for further advice.
Answer to Question No. 2
As mentioned by you that your friend is 37 now. Here I’m bound to presume that he is quite an experienced campaigner with lots of working experience in the industry.
As per my advice there is no harm at all if he joined CS now. According to me there would be 2 benefit of doing CS at this age which are as follows:
1. First benefit would be with his previous industry experience + membership of ICSI can get him really good job. Here he has to show confidence regarding his previous experience.
But there is one point to be taken care is after completing CS at the age of 41 complete dependencies on CS qualification is not advisable. He has to put his previous industry experience on front.
2. Second benefit be by doing CS he will be able to fulfill his wish of doing CS which is the most imp thing according to me. This degree can give him lots of confidence and once the desired confidence came he can be a star of the industry.
This is my simple suggestion to your friend.
In CCI a frequently asked question is what are the options available after CA or CS? An attempt has been made to suggest something in this regard. So please find below my suggestions.
COURSES AVAILABLE AFTER CA OR CS
Combination of LL.B. with CS
With CS qualification you may join LL.B. to convert yourself into a complete package of legal person. With CS+LL.B. combo you can also get the chance with top management level. LL.B. is a very good combination with CS because overall approach required for both the courses is same.
With additional LL.B. qualification you can easily and confidently handle Legal work/department along with the secretarial work/department. Later on you may be get promoted to legal and secretarial head.
There are many courses which you can pursue with CA or CS. However the choice and decision depends upon many factors like one’s own interest, cost, duration, time devotion etc. depending upon your circumstances.
In this regard I’d suggest you to explore your own interest and then decide what you want to do in future.
Some of the options available are:
1. CS, ICWA, CFA (US), CMA(UK). These are Long term duration with more than 3 years.
2. CPA, CFP, CIA, CISA etc. are medium term duration depending upon the devotion and your level of knowledge.
3. Further there are many certification programmes like, CIFRS, NCFM, CMA (US) etc. NCFM course is conducted by the Indian Stock Exchanges and concerned with security market.
The combination of CA+CFA is good in case the interest is for Investment banking and Portfolio Management.
The combination of CA+CPA is also a good one in case interest is in Accounting and Auditing field.
The Combination of CA+CS is also good. With this combination you will be able to handle Secretarial deptt along with Account and finance deptt. It is also very helpful to take top chances to work with top management.
Hope this information will help you. You are welcome to share your thoughts.
Thanks
RG
CAclubindia
