Career as a Company Secretary

Everybody has some or the other career goals set in their minds. To become a Doctor or an Engineer is one of the common desires. But for commerce students, there are many streams to jump upon. Company Secretary course is one of such professional course to opt for as profession.

Many of us are truly unaware of the career path as a Company Secretary. Lets put a light on the a few points such as –

1. How to start with?
2. The procedure for enrollment
3. Scope of this career path etc etc…

One can choose to enroll for this profession post SSC/HSC Board exams. If we enroll post our HSC exams we get admitted directly for the Executive Programme (level 2). But, after SSC exams, we should appear for the Foundation Programme (level 1) as well. We should enroll ourselves with ‘The Institute of Company Secretaries of India’, New Delhi. To know more in detail do visit www.icsi.edu. There are three levels of examination and a minimum of 50% passing marks in each subject and the group together as well.

A new set of syllabus has been introduced post the passing of the New Companies Act, 2013. Following are the levels and topics covered as per the new syllabus -

Foundation Programme (Computer based examination)

========================================
1. Business Environment & Entrepreneurship
2. Business Management, Ethics & Communication
3. Business Economics
4. Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing

Executive Programme:

====================
1. Cost & Management Accounting
2. Tax Laws & Practice
3. Industrial Labour & General Laws

Professional Programme:
====================
Module 1:
1. Advance Company Law & Practice
2. Secretarial Audit, Compliance Management & Due Diligence
3. Corporate Restructuring, Valuation & Insolvency

Module 2:
1. Information Technology & Systems Audit
2. Financial Treasury & Forex Management
3. Ethics, Governance & Sustainability

Module 3:
1. Advance Tax Laws & Practice
2. Drafting, Appearances & Pleadings
3. (Elective 1 out of the following 5 subjects)

• Banking Law & Practice
• Capital, Commodity & Money Market
• Insurance Law & Practice
• Intellectual Property Rights - Law & Practice
• International Business - Laws & Practices

Also, alongwith the academics, we do have to attend various other training programs. These programs do help to get the practical knowledge of our subjects and it also helps us to remain up-to-date with the current happenings of the industry. To know more visit the below given links -

https://www.icsi.edu/webmodules/Student/Impact%20of%20Modified%20Training%20&%20various%20clarifications%20related%20with%20the%20same.pdf

https://www.icsi.edu/webmodules/Student/Status%20of%20applicability%20of%20various%20trainings%20to%20the%20students.pdf

Once a member of the Institute, again there is a compulsory attendance structure for Professional Development Programmes. The structure is as follows-

The Council of the Institute at its 200th Meeting held on March 18, 2011 at New Delhi amended the Guidelines for Compulsory Attendance of Professional Development Programmes by the Members to provide as under:

TITLE	DESCRIPTION
Next block of three years	April 01, 2011 to March 31, 2014
Min. number of Programme Credit Hours (PCH) to be acquired by Members in Practice	15 PCH in each year or 50 PCH in a block of three years w.e.f April 01, 2011
Min. number of PCH to be acquired by Members in Employment (i.e. members in whose name Form 32 has been filed to work as Company Secretary under the provisions of Sec. 383A of the Companies Act, 1956)	10 PCH in each year or 35 PCH in a block of three years w.e.f April 01, 2011
Min. number of PCH to be acquired by Members above the age of 60 years	Presently the members of the age of 65 years are not required to obtain PCH. This age limit stands reduced to 60 years and the members above the age of 60 years shall be required to obtain 50% of the PCH required to be obtained by the members below 60 years w.e.f April 01, 2011.
Members failing to obtain the mandatory PCH upto March 31, 2011	Provided with a shortfall upto 10 PCH and required to compensate by obtaining atleast 5 additional PCH on pro rata basis in the first year of the next  block of three years commencing from April 01, 2011.
Members who have not obtained any PCH during the block ending on March 31, 2011	Members seeking renewal of CoP to provide an explanation for non compliance with the Guidelines – to be decided on case to case basis.
Carry forward of the excess PCH if the member has already completed the mandatory PCH upto December 31, 2010 and continued to attend Professional Development Programmes during January – March, 2011	The Guidelines for Compulsory Attendance of Professional Development Programmes by the Members do not provide for carry forward of PCH from one block of three years to the other. If any member had obtained the mandatory PCH upto December 31, 2010 and continued to attend Professional Development Programmes during January – March, 2011, then in such case the PCH obtained by such member during January – March, 2011 would be treated as having been obtained in the first year of the next block commencing from April 01, 2011.

(Source - www.icsi.edu)



Career Scope and Growth as a Company Secretary:
==========================================

As mentioned in the earlier post (http://chartered-secretarial-spot.blogspot.in/2015/12/company-secretary-at-glance.html) the scope as a Company Secretary has widened with the growth in Corporate World. As a CS one can get highly paid positions in both Private as well as Public Sector Industries. One can also opt for practicing CS post acquiring of the degree. One can start at a junior position and can go upto becoming a legal department head or even to the position of Director or Managing Director as per his/her skills.

In terms of packages, a fresher may get a start of 3-5 lacs/annum. A well deserving candidate will definitely earn a good amount of money. There is a huge demand for this profession in countries like USA, UK too.

To sum up, CS is a very exploring career path in today’s corporate world. 

---------