Articleship Path: Corporates vs. Practicing CS. Firms.
Once we reach a
particular level of our Company Secretary course, we all come across this word that’s
“Articleship”.
Some of the
students pursue it once they clear Executive level and others after
Professional level. There’s a general tendency of taking it up as soon as possible
just to get rid of it as fast as possible.
I respect the students
who take up articleship before clearing professional exams. As they have to juggle
between office pressure and exam pressure. This often leaves them with only
10-15 days to study, just before the exams and try and clear them. Hats off to
their spirits.
‘While, some believe
students have ample time to study during articleship, the reality is that, many
students are exhausted and are left with no energy to open the book and study
daily.
In my case I just
thought of taking it up, only after completion of my professional exams. I
always aspired to be practicing Company Secretary. So post clearing CS exams I was
looking forward to join some PCS ie. Practicing company secretary firm as an
article.
Most of the time
the students are confused in whether to join corporates or Practicing CS firm
for perusing their articleship. Some even think of doing it in 2 parts whereby
half of the term is served in PCS firm and rest is served in corporates, just
to have exposure to both the sides.
Let me share with
you some facts to consider while selecting your articleship.
Big corporates pros and cons:
Pros:
·
You get immediate exposure to
corporate world and most of you are mesmerized with the thought of getting
associated with it so soon.
·
Because the work exposure is
limited you tend to get into monotony very soon. I am sure there are many who
would prefer monotonous jobs, it could be the best bet for them.
·
After successful completion of
articleship you might be absorbed in the company you are serving and you won’t
need to worry about searching for a job in future.
·
You take pride in joining one of
the corporate and that opens up the doors of corporate world to you with
immense opportunities in future.
·
You are guided by seniors in all
the stages of your work.
Cons:
·
Just as we all know, that in case
of corporates there are dedicated compliance departments. Once you are selected,
you are generally exposed to only a selected part of the work. For example you
may be taking care of conducting meetings, or preparing minutes or filling
forms with SEBI and ROC. etc.
·
(Here I am assuming a big size
corporate where the compliance departments are huge). In smaller companies the
exposure of work could be different.
·
You can get bored of doing a
routine job and not getting exposed to the other areas where you could learn
and explore.
·
You might face office politics or you
might get intimidated by seniors.
·
If at all, in future you think of
changing the job, there will be limitations attached it.
·
Since you are exposed to only one
kind of work you will have to push the recruiters to recruit you to new areas
of compliance.
·
In future, if you think of doing
your own practice, you are clueless of what and where to start the work and
especially how to do it is the biggest challenge you may face.
In case of Practicing CS firm:
Pros:
·
You are exposed to all the areas
of the work, if you are proactive and are willing to learn.
·
In case you aspire to practice in
future, you would get a rough idea about the kind of work you can do.
·
You will be able to learn
everything under one roof like How to start the practice, how to attend the
clients, how to do the work, etc.
·
You are guided by seniors in all
the stages of your work.
·
You would know, the regular
struggle that PCS firms go through to serve their clients at their best.
·
If you intend to, you might either
get absorbed in PCS firm or start your own practice in future.
Cons:
·
Getting placement in corporates
with the experience in PCS firm is a difficult task.
·
Once you are trained in PCS firm,
that experience is trivial, in case you think of joining corporates in future.
·
We all know in spite of all the
laws, rules and regulations being the same still the work that’s done in PCS
firm and in corporates is different.
·
In PCS firm, compared to
corporates, you are working in smaller work place and that could affect your
confidence to explore the corporate world in future.
·
[Not that it’s not possible for a
CS to explore but, I have seen many who struggle with “fear of unknown”
symptoms]
·
You risk to be in the limited
world of your firm. You get complaisant with the work and the culture so much
so ,that you do not have courage to go out and explore on your own.
·
You might face office politics
whereby you are exposed to less important part of work and you are intimidated
to such a level that your confidence is shaken.
(This could vary person to person but I have seen such cases.)
My views on the same:
First of all you decide what exactly do you aspire to do.
Ask yourself, do you want to practice? or do you want to do a
job in corporate?
Considering a
career in Practice
·
In case of practice remember, you
might have to face financial challenges in the initial stages.
·
You may have to think of how will
you do marketing and attract the business. You might have to wait till you find
a strong plan of action which suits your dreams of practicing.
·
You may even have to struggle to
get paid in initial period of your practice.
·
There will be customers who will
just take free consultancy and not turn back.
·
There will be some who get their
work done and not pay at all or pay partially.
·
So you have to think and consider
all aspects and then venture into practice.
·
In practice you are on your own,
there won’t be any senior taking responsibilities of your actions.
·
But trust me eventually after few
years of hardship you will definitely establish your place in the practicing
world.
Considering a
career in Corporates
·
The corporate world offers
valuable exposure. You are suddenly getting exposed to the elite class of
employees. You might get to meet the directors and top management.
·
You would know how to behave in
such class of people and culture.
·
Your seniors are there to take
care of you and guide you in case of any difficulties.
·
Even though you are exposed to
only a limited part of the work there could be opportunities in other companies
for the same work and you can survive in the corporates in future.
·
Since you are already serving in
the corporates your confidence is high and you can carry yourself easily in the
companies.
My advise :
·
Whichever path you chose please know
that the opportunities are huge.
·
Be vigilant while selecting your
trainer/ employer.
·
Just be proactive in your work,
·
Always be ahead in taking up new
roles and responsibilities.
·
Remember though 21months training
seems too long it’s the time when you can actually be a clean slate. Learn
& absorb as much as you can.
·
Don’t consider it as a compulsory time
that you have to pass, just ask yourself what have you learnt anything new
today? If the answer is not satisfactory please know that you need to work upon
yourself.
·
Please note during articleship you
are answerable to yourself more than the employer.
·
If you have not learnt or added
some skill or knowledge on daily basis, you are probably missing out on the
golden time when you can make mistakes and learn from them.
·
Because the moment you are out of
articleship, you yourself are going to the Professional who can’t afford to
make any mistakes
·
Office politics is something you
can’t escape from, you just have to deal with it.
So, are you ready to embark on your articleship journey?
Research thoroughly, weigh your options carefully, and choose the path that excites
you the most!
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