The company secretary course popularly called the CS course is one of the top-rated career options in India. It is a professional course that is equivalent to an undergraduate degree. It is ICSE (Institute of Company Secretaries of India) that conducts the company secretary course in India.
The CS course is equivalent to the CA course but is much easier than the latter. The candidates who complete the CS course get a senior post in a private or public sector company.
Check out this article for the career in political science.
Company Secretary Role
A candidate who completes the company secretary course gets a job to deal with the legal activities of any business. The actual job role of the company secretary is to keep the records, file the tax returns, give legal advice, and evaluate the legal aspects of the organization.
Traditionally, the role of the company secretary is to stand as a support to the board of directors and administrative staff. However, with time, the role of the company secretary has expanded.
It is the CS who represents the name of the company on the legal documents. Their work is to ensure that the directors of the company work under compliance’s for the company. To maintain the records of the company, it is the CS who is directly related to the shareholders.
They check with the shareholders that the dividends get paid & the annual records are maintained.
How long is the course
The company secretary course is a 3-year course that is equivalent to any undergraduate course. The foundation course is for eight months. The intermediate or the executive course is for nine months. The final or the professional course is for fifteen months.
For detailed information, check out the ICSI official website.
Eligibility and How to become a CS
The students who want to pursue the CS course can do it directly after the 12th standard or even after their graduation. The students who decide to take it after the 12th, have to go for all the three programmes mentioned above.
The students who decide to take it up after their graduation, have to take only the executive and professional programmes.
Any 10+2 pass students or equivalent to 10+2 pass can take up the foundation course. They could be from any stream from arts, science, or commerce. However, fine art is an exception.
The executive programmes can be pursued by any graduate from any stream but fine arts.
The professional course can only be taken after taking the executive programme.
Interesting Subjects this course offers
The subjects keep changing as per the levels of the courses. However, the prime subjects of the company secretary course are company law, tax laws, Jurisprudence, Interpretation & General Laws, Financial and Strategic Management, Securities Laws & Capital Markets, Corporate & Management Accounting, etc.
- Mind-Blowing Job opportunities in the company secretary course
- Legal advisor
- Corporate Policymaker
- Chairman
- Administrative Secretary
- Managing Director
- Assistance to the Board of Directors
- Administrative Assistant
- Contents Coordinator
Top Colleges in India for Company Secretary Course
Some of the top colleges in India that teach the company secretary course are listed below. Most of these colleges give admissions to the students based on the merit list of the qualifying examination. Some colleges also do have an entrance test.
- Indira Gandhi National Open University
- Aligarh Muslim University
- National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), Delhi
- The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)
- Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad
Training in the CS course
Once the students complete the company secretary course, they will have to undergo the following training processes. The CS programme ends with these training programmes.
- SIP (Student Induction Programme) – 7 days
- Compulsory Computer Training Programme – 70 hours
- EDP (Executive Development Programme) – 8 days
- PDP (Professional Development Programme) – 25 Hours
- Training in a specialized agency – 15 days
- MSOP (Management Skills Orientation Programme) – 15 days
- Articleship Training Programme – 15 months