Over the past few months, I have received queries from both the candidates who have just completed their CA’s or are appearing for their CA finals, that their job prospects even after completing this gruelling course are very grim. Then to my utter dismay, I keep on hearing that MBA’s from top institutes grab all the best jobs in finance just because their communication skills are very good, even though a CA’s financial knowledge is better than their MBA counterparts.
Before moving on-let me tell you that I am a MBA from an ‘Ivy-League’ institute and trust me when I say this, that I can fully understand the pain when students after years of hard work-months of study complete their CA’s, only to get rejected in their campus placements. (P.S- The reason why I say that I can understand the pain is because many; in fact most of my cousins have completed their CA’s and had met the same fate in their campus placements). What follows is a deep resentment followed by repentance- (we should have prepared for the group-discussions, personal interviews: we should have read newspapers etc etc.)
What amazes me is that CA aspirants spend days and months and years taking numerous tuitions for subjects and when the ultimate step of getting an excellent dream job awaits them, they simply turn a blind eye towards the group-discussion & personal interview stage (GD-PI). Often they fail to give a convincing answer and falter 3-4 times in a one minute speech to an ice breaker question – ‘Tell me something about yourself” ? Think logically that if you are not able to speak confidently about twenty two years of your life for 2 minutes, what impression does it casts on an interviewer.
I have heard my students say that they will start reading newspapers, business magazines after their CA final exams. These are not something which can be developed overnight. Having been in industry for more than 5 years and having worked with hundreds of professionals, I can safely say that one’s communication skills play a major role in his/her day to day corporate life, more so as you move up the ladder. And therefore it becomes imperative that students pursuing CA should focus on them as a part of their curriculum. I understand the course is huge, but tell me had there been five subjects in a group instead of four, would you have left that fifth subject. The answer is NO. You would have somehow found time to prepare for that fifth one.
Even I agree that most of the MBA’s - even from the Ivy-League colleges, would not have that sound understanding of financial concepts that a CA has, but the lack of communication skills and sometimes basic general affairs leaves the employer’s no choice but to reject them.
What I mean to say is that you need to consider the GD-PI and communication skills as a part of a curriculum and devote proper time to master it. And then I see no reason, why YOU guys cannot grab those best finance jobs which MBA’s from top institutes have.
Ashish Nahata- The author is the co-founder of 'I Learn 2 Lead' - A premier educational organisation by IIT-IIM graduates providing specialised training for Group Discussions & Personal Interviews (GD-PI) in Kolkata for students pursuing/completed Chartered Accountancy and looking to enter the corporate world. Ashish did his Bachelors's in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Trichy and holds a Management degree from Sprott School of Business, Canada and from School Of Management, IIT Bombay. He is a CFA Charter Holder from CFA Institute, U.S.A. He has extensive experience in fields of financial services, oil & gas etc. For more details, please visit ilearn2lead.in or contact +91- 84205 68212.
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