What are the common misconceptions of CA students?

[Sriram Somayajula]

A Lot actually,

• Several students have a notion that completing CA is a major achievement in life; that cannot be farther away from truth– whether one has cleared in first attempt, or has obtained rank, it all matters only for the first couple of years in a job. After that, it is all about delivering on the job. CA Examination is tough; it is a battle – agreed, but it is not the battle of one’s life; there will be many more and far more important things that will happen in a CA’s life. This perspective is missed by several students.
• Employers seek not just aptitude, but attitude as well –ability to work in teams, thinking out of the box, communicating with peers, positive outlook, dedication to work, initiative and several such attributes – CA exam and study pattern are not structured in a way to encourage a lot of such attributes, that could potentially help a young person build a successful career. CA students usually are content with cramming knowledge and believing that to be good enough for a successful career.
• Several students study only with the intent to pass exams. In-fact many coaching institutes just focus on the examination. The desire to conceptually understand a subject takes a back seat. Consequently, people are in for a rude shock when they join their first job where expectations from a CA are much higher than what the newly qualified is prepared for.
• Whether we like it or not, in a globalised world, India is leaning towards the west in terms of economic policies, fashion, way of life etc., and this will likely continue for quite some time. In this context, communication in written and spoken English will be more important than ever before. (No, linguistic pride please… this is a reality); Preparing for CA exams by attending coaching in languages other than English is not really a great idea; if one cannot comprehend subject in English how can he / she aim to be working in a globalised environment in which the default language is most often than not English?
• Poor levels of general awareness / knowledge of the business world – ask a bunch of aspiring CAs as to how many of them read business news consistently, whether online or offline? One will be surprised with the answer; Such students will not be more than 10-20%.
• Keeping oneself updated of technology – Technological changes like AI, IoT, AR that we are witnessing today will change the way of life for all of us; and accounting / finance will not be immune to this change. CA curriculum does a poor job of preparing students for this change. The students are the eventual sufferers (using FB / WhatsApp do not qualify as being up to date on technology…?). Students neglect everything else that is happening in the world when they are studying for CA – that is a mistake
• Believing that a CA degree alone is sufficient to succeed is another mistake. Once CA is complete, one should be open to study further to enhance skills; It could be an MBA, or another professional course or even something on Coursera / Udemy. A Belief that CA is the peak of education in one’s life as it is tough or it took a lot of time to complete is improper.
• Not choosing internship, and instead sitting at home by preferring dummy internship or choosing an extremely small firm for internship is another mistake. The 3 years of internship are extremely valuable; they enable one to build a network of peers, friends & colleagues, gain knowledge of various sectors, interact with people, understand the profession, and of course more often than not give the intern a chance to travel and see the country / world – missing out on all of this is another mistake.

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[Ganeshan Kalyani]

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