Aptitudes that help
A career in Finance sectors calls for a
strong foundation in mathematics. The specialised
courses in this subject, also, require the
candidates to be much focused, determined
and, of course, hard working. A good understanding
of financial sectors and their specialised
functions is a must for the candidates.
How to get through
Most of the jobs/careers in this area are
pursued after completing specialised courses
for which minimum eligibilitiy is always
a Bachelor’s degree. Hence, after +2
Sc/Commerce/Arts with Maths, Economics or
Statistics, one may pursue undergraduate
courses such as B Stat/Maths/Economics/BFM/B
Com. Further; one may opt for specialised
PG programmes or Master’s degrees in
Finance Management, Banking, Insurance, Statistics
or scores of other finance related courses.
Or, one may opt for studies in CA/CS/ICWAI
to go for a career in accounting. A degree
in Law or short term courses in the subject
proves to be helpful professionally. One
can further specialise in computer software
trainings (who would opt for Bioinformatics,
Market Research and a variety of R & D
works.) after a Bachelor’s or Master’s
degree in Statistic/Mathematics/Economics.
Here, we discuss some finance and accounts
related study lines and their prospective
job sectors.
Chartered Accountancy
A chartered accountant deals with all intricate
financial matters of individuals and companies.
They are the only professionals who are entitled
to audit the finances of a company/organisation.
Chartered accountants perform a variety of
responsibilities: of accounting, auditing,
tax-planning, financial analysis, investment
analysis, cost, tax and financial counselling
and often counselling on project feasibility
and legal aspects of a company’s financial
transactions. Among all professional accounting
jobs, CA is most demanding in the present
day job market.
How to get through
To become a professional CA, one has to
qualify for the membership of the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI),
head quartered in New Delhi. The institute
has five regional councils at Mumbai, Chennai,
Kanpur, Kolkata and Bangalore. After registering
with the institution for the qualifying examination,
one has to gain practical professional experience
by joining an accounting firm as an article
clerk. A candidate has to clear the Intermediate
and then the Final stage of the examination
to qualify as a full-time CA. Students opting
for a CA examination after +2 Arts with Mathematics
have to clear a test of Foundation course
before appearing for the Intermediate.
Career avenues
Chartered accountants are in great demand
in industrial houses, trading and retailing
businesses, financial institutions, foreign
and private banks, insurance sectors, stock
exchanges and government taxation departments.
They, also, have great prospects in setting
up private accounting firms and render services
of tax planning, auditing, cost planning
and counselling on all financial transactions
to big commercial concerns.
Company Secretary
A Company Secretary is an accounts professional
who, broadly, handles almost all the financial
transactions and administration of a company.
He looks after a broad range of activities/works
such as HR jobs of a company, settling remunerations,
maintenance of company’s records, handles
the company’s public issues, investments
and loans, advises on legal matters concerning
corporate laws, government and international
regulations on inland and offshore trade
practices.
A CS’s services are very much required
in the reorganisation of companies. Often,
a CS acts as a company’s stock broker,
being the vital link between the shareholders
and the company. He convenes and handles
board meetings, annual meetings for a company’s
share holders and, also, signs and files
the annual returns for a company.
In summary, a CS acts as an expert adviser
on legal and business matters of a company.
How to get through
To become a full-time Company Secretary
a student has to qualify for the membership
of the Institute of Company Secretary of
India (ICSI). Any graduate or students who
have cleared the final examination of Institute
of Cost and Work
Accounting of India and the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India can enroll
for the membership examination. The ICSI
conducts an oral as well as a postal coaching
course to prepare students for the main examination
and makes it mandatory for the students to
qualify the coaching examination.
Qualification in the ICSI membership examination
has to be supported by at least 3 years’ of
practical experience on the part of the candidate
in legal, finance or accounting field.
Apart from that, a CS has to undergo a
four-month practical training at a company
which has 50 lakh or above paid-up share
capital.
Career avenues
Small companies recruit CSs on a retainer
basis whereas the Company’s Act make
it statutory for others having Rs. 2 crores
or above paid-up share capital to retain
a full-time CS in its management. Department
of Personnel and Administrative Reforms of
Central Government empanel CSs for expert
assignments to developing countries of Asia,
Latin America and Africa. Indian Bank Association
recommends CSs to be appointed at legal cells
of merchant banking divisions of all nationalised
banks.
Company Secretaries can take up jobs in
accounts branches of central and state government
law services, company law boards, private
and government corporations, and alternatively,
they can opt for setting up their own private
consulting firms.
Career Openings for students of
Economics, Statistics and Mathematics
Many students opt for finance related subjects
for higher studies at their graduation or
post graduation level such as Applied Economics,
Statistics and Applied Mathematics, which
have wide career openings in inter-disciplinary
fields. Apart from going for a career in
academics after an M Phil/ PhD and a NET-UGC
qualification in the related subjects, they
can find job options in the expanding fields
of banking, insurance and in newly emerged
positions in stock market, or one can go
for a specialised career in media.
Mathematics
The subject is popularly compartmentalised
as ‘pure’ and ‘applied’.
Various equations and probabilities coming
under applied mathematics are applied in
the construction of guided missiles. Many
sophisticated pure mathematical methods are
used as solutions for security calculations
in finance, defence and other technological
sectors. Such as ‘encryption algorithms’ is
applied in the working of credit and debit
cards, whereas, ‘signal processing
algorithm and coding’ is vastly applied
in the Telecommunications and in the working
of other electronic devices. In fact, all
engineering applications are based on mathematical
calculations.
Career avenues
Though, in the face of it, mathematics
as a professional subject seems monetarily
unrewarding, in reality, mathematically trained
students can opt for paying jobs in interdisciplinary
fields like computer software, bioinformatics,
biotechnology, booming sectors of banking
and insurance, accounting and finance ( financial
managements, stock markets, financial institutions
etc.) and in space study/R & D.
Leading organisations such as Indian Institute
of Mathematical Sciences, Indian Statistical
Institute – Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore,
Mathematical Institute, Chennai, Harischandra
Research Institute, Allahabad, Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research – Mumbai and
Bangalore, Indian Institute of Sciences,
Bangalore, National Board for Higher Mathematics,
and the IITs recruit suitably qualified mathematicians
for teaching and research purposes.
Statistics
Statistics is concerned with data collection,
designing information to aide understanding
of a subject, drawing inferences from data,
estimating and predicting the future trends
in a field. Statistics has become an important
tool in a number of disciplines – from
medicine to market research, social sciences
to finance and accountancy. At one hand,
they study lifestyle trends of people and
predict the market prospect of a consumer
product; on the other hand, they help design
and decode data about human genome. Hence,
statistics has a wide range of application.
How to get through
Graduation in statistics with specialised
training in - information technology, MBA
or courses in finance and accounting / M
Stat, are essential qualifications for a
variety of private and public sector jobs.
Students qualified in +2 with Mathematics
can opt for a graduation course in Statistics.
A strong mathematical ability is required
at higher level of study in statistics. Indian
Institute of Statistics conducts annual examinations
to award Junior and Senior Diplomas in Statistics
which lead to prospective employment opportunities.
To opt for a course in this institute a student
has to qualify in its national level aptitude
test.
Career avenues
Students having higher education in statistics
(B Stats with specialised trainings/M Stats)
can get job opportunities in the Central
Statistical Organisation (CSO) and the National
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Planning
Commission, government funded agencies/organisations
for socio-economic research, bank and public
sector undertakings. M Stats candidates can
opt for Indian Statistical Services (refer
chapter on Indian Civil Services).
Statistics graduates with specialised trainings
in computer programming, courses in banking
and insurance, MBA etc. can avail private
sector jobs in the areas of – bioinformatics,
biotechnology, private and multinational
banks, mutual funds, insurance, demography
and population studies, market research,
accountancy (Cost and Works, CA), stock markets
and export houses/international trade orgisations
(Refer article by Sanjit Samal on International
Trade Management on page:...).
Economics: Candidates having higher qualifications
in economics may go for the same career openings
as mentioned in the categories of Statistics
and Mathematics.
Profiles of
some of the prospective work areas
The Stock Market
On an average, Indian
securities markets trade stocks and futures
worth more than Rs. 5, 000 crores a day and
recent market studies rate Indian market
as one of the top five performers among the
world financial markets. Generally, stock
broking companies register on the stock exchange
and transact businesses for their clients.
Such firms have divisions in sales and marketing,
research and operations or back office functions
of processing and settling transactions of
a trade.
Increasingly, special certifications have
become regulatory for professionals working
in this field. NSE’s Certification
in Financial Market (NCFM) in nine areas,
sanction persons to trade in National Stock
Exchange. Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for all
Mutual Funds to appoint agents/advisers who
have certification in AMFI-Mutual Fund (basic
module). Graduates with a background in mathematics,
statistics, and economics with specialised
trainings/CAs/ CSs/ ICWAs/MBA-Finance/ CFA/MFC
have great openings in this sector.
There are more than 1000 brokerage firms
in India, including subsidiaries of nationalised
and multinational banks, merchant banks the
NSE and Indian and multinational investment
companies where suitably qualified persons
stand very good chances.
Leasing & Credit Rating Agencies
Financial Analysts and Statisticians can
go for research and credit rating works in
agencies such as Credit Rating and Research
Ltd (CARE), ICRA Ltd. and the Credit Rating
Information Services of India Ltd (CRISIL),
etc.
Top
Banking and Insurance
The profile of the banking and insurance
service sectors has undergone a sea change
over the last 10 years. Participation of
private and multinational banks and insurance
firms has prompted growth and competition.
Services have been largely customised, packaged
and addressed directly to the customers’ convenience.
Professionally qualified candidates such
as MBAs in the subject of Banking and Insurance,
Finance, or CAs, CSs or students of Economics,
are in great demand for various positions
of administration, marketing, business development,and
accounting in this sector, especially in
private and multinational banking and insurance
companies. Graduates and post graduates from
non-financial subjects are, also, recruited
by nationalised banks and insurance companies
through national level tests from time to
time.
Government and private actuarial companies
recruit a number of insurance agents/advisers
for selling their policies to prospective
clients. Generally, they recruit people with,
at least, a Bachelor’s degree.
One significant position in actuary is
that of the Insurance Surveyors’ who
assess and verify the losses and claims of
the policy holders. A licensed Insurance
Surveyor could be a CA/ICWA/ BE/B Arch/Diploma
in Engg/Arch. Moreover, the Institute of
Insurance Surveyors and Adjusters (IISA),
Mumbai, conducts an examination to employ
Insurance Surveyors. (IISA, Assurance Building,
232, Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Mumbai - 400
001)
The retail banking revolution has been
riding on technology in a big way. The application
of software technology has opened up a niche
career opportunity for the computer technocrats.
Besides, banking services such as customer
care, core banking, risk management and enterprise
management are, now, highly professionalised
to compete with the multinational players
in the field, creating a demand for trained
and enterprising personnel at hand.
Journalism
All major dailies, specialist financial
newspapers, magazines, news channels and
websites recruit trained financial professionals
to research, write, or newscast according
to the mediums’ nature of communication.
This is a less explored career area for the
students with background in financial studies
which is professionally exciting and paying,
as well. (www.nse-india.com, www.bse.com,
www.icicidirect.com etc.)
Other openings in financial sectors are
in Corporate Finance, International Finance,
Venture Capital, Financial Consultancy and
Real Estate Consultancy where MBA-Fin/MFA/MFC/CA/CS,
have excellent career opportunities. |
