Dear Sir,
A professional course always provides an immense oppotunity to pursue a good professional career to a person.
Unlike in Government Sector where age is a major factor for getting a job, other Private organisation and MNCs prefer to have employees with better professional accumen combined with good soft skills.
Company Secretaries profession has career opportunities both in employment and in public practice. The profession is becoming progressively synonymous with corporate governance and corporate compliance management.
in employment :
Every company which is presently having a paid up share capital of Rs.2 crore or more is, by law, required to appoint a whole time Company Secretary to look after the legal compliance and secretarial work of the company. This provides a huge opportunity for employment.
in public practice
Every company having a paid up share capital Rs. Ten Lakhs or more but less than Rs. Two Crores is required to engage the services of a Secretary in Whole-Time Practice for issue of Compliance Certificate. Pursuant to Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, Practising Company Secretaries have been authorized to issue Certificate regarding compliance of conditions of Corporate Governance as stipulated in the Clause.
A Company Secretary in public practice ("Practising Company Secretary") carves out niche areas of professional work in various fields like corporate governance certification, securities audit, corporate compliance management, corporate finance, mergers, amalgamations and takeovers, Intellectual Property Rights, secretarial audit, direct and indirect taxes, MRTP and competition law, etc.
For the consultancy job like "Practising Company Secretary" age is never going to be a factor in professional career.
Job profile of a CS
A Company Secretary employed in a company gets a ringside view of the functioning at board meetings. Corporate governance demands excellence in board process and systems. Preparation of Agenda and notes thereon, informationalizing the board, helping in leadership and decision making at the board level all require upto date knowledge base and high degree of communication and interpersonal skills.
A Company Secretary also has to act as a nucleus of coordination and communication with various positions at the executive levels in the company, with regulators and with shareholders and other stakeholders. In executing strategic board decisions like merger or takeover, Company Secretary has to act swiftly keeping all precious corporate secrets and complying with all legal and regulatory provisions.
In the field of complicated yet prestigious legislations like competition law, securities laws and regulations, he has to maintain the prestige and goodwill of the company intact.
The job profile of Company Secretary in employment is, thus, albeit glamourous, studded with heavy responsibilities. He has to show enormous efficiencies and skill to succeed in the job.
Necessary qualifications to venture into this field:
A 10+2 pass student can register for the Foundation Programme of the Institute and pass it in order to be eligible to register in the regular course consisting of Executive Programme and Professional Programme.
A candidate possessing any of the following qualifications is eligible for exemption from passing the Foundation Programme examination:
(i) A Degree or master's degree in Corporate Secretaryship or Commerce; or
(ii) Pass in the Final examination of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India or the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India or any other Accountancy Institution in India or abroad recognized as equivalent thereto by the Council; or
(iii) A degree or master's degree in any disciplines other than Fine Arts.
A non-commerce candidate seeking exemption from the Foundation Programme examination in clause (iii) however is required to undergo satisfactorily a course of postal or oral tuition in those subjects of the Foundation Programme, which he had not studied at graduate or post-graduate level before becoming eligible for undergoing coaching for the Executive Programme examination.
Procedure for training or obtaining a mandatory qualification:
Candidates are registered as students throughout the year.
Under the regulations of the Institute, candidates registered as students upto and including the month of February in a year will be eligible to appear in December examination and those registered upto and including the month of August in a year will be eligible to appear in June examination of next year.
Candidates registered upto and including the month of May in a year will be eligible to appear in one module only in December examination and those registered upto and including the month of November in a year will be eligible for appearing in one module only in June examination of next year.
Candidates registered in | Eligible to appear in |
June/July/August | Both modules of Executive Progamme to be held in June next year |
September/October/November | One module of Executive Programme examination to be held in June next year |
December/January/February | Both modules of Executive Programme examination to be held in December |
March/April/May | One module of Executive Programme examination to be held in December. |
After passing the Professional Programme, the candidate may undergo training for a period of fifteen months in a company of a certain size or any other institutional organization as may be approved by the Council from time to time.
A candidate who has passed the Executive Programme Examination of the Institute may also commence his training with companies or under a Company Secretary in practice or a firm of Company Secretaries in practice, recognized for the purpose by the Institute with prior approval and sponsorship from the Institute for fifteen months.
Every candidate after completing the training as above is also required to undergo a fifteen days training with approved authorities like Registrar of Companies, recognized Stock Exchanges, SEBI, Company Law Board, etc. Thereafter, he undergoes Secretarial Modular Training Programme which also involves training in life skills and practical corporate matters of high value.
