My 30+ post qualification experience confirms that CS, ICWA and CFA are far ahead as institutions for creating impact & in some cases made is compulsory on the industry absorb / employ their pass out graduates. ICAI, other than audit which very few fresh or experience can affortd, has not done any thing constructive to ensure its graduate have secure future with the job availability.
Undoubtedly, compared to above courses, CA is full time, takes more years wihtout earning ( other than meager Articles stiphen), it is most comprehensive with regards to accounting, finance, company laws, costing etc. Still there is no mandatory for the industry to appoint CA in finance or accounting field. CA could lose out to B.Com or above professionals for Finance / Accounts jobs. Where as it is mandatory for company secretary to be CS and CFA is preferred by investment banking and companies with M&A as major thrust for growth or those have plant & in engineering, FMCG, cons. durable, cement, metal etc prefer ICWA over CA
Despite, of all the inhereted problems, what requrires CA to succeed is hard work, do not sit in the office and just approve vouchers or sign checks/reports. Develop presentation skill with bit of aggression. Operate from the field to generate financial numbers and provide solutions where techies who handled production or matketing have no clue as to how & why the profit is higher / lower or what is best product mix to optimise profitability / ROI and where the organization stands vs sector or against the competition. Remember, every thing filters thru or recorded in accounts. You jist need extra efforts to anaylse and relate to operation whether they are reasonable/justified per plan/past trend / industry trned and prevailing economic and competitve conditions.
Coming from very humble background, with above philosophy, I had earned great respect and admiration through out my career and left my mark where ever I worked. INDEED I AM PROUD TO BE INDIAN CA