Company Secretary is not just a good career option but one among the best career options available to student right now.
Firstly, let’s understand, what the meaning of a good career is. Everyone may have diverse opinions on this but mostly a good career is an ideal combination of reputation in the society, assurity of a job, a decent starting salary, opportunities to grow in the chosen field, sky high possibilities of salary & position after experience, ability to diversify the job role & responsibilities and also the option to be your own boss.
In this article I will be answering based on the above points on how CS is a good career to choose. Most of you would be contemplating on becoming a CS. However you would not be aware on what is a CS and what do they actually do.
Who is a Company Secretary?
A Company Secretary is a vital link between the company and its Board of Directors, shareholders, government and regulatory authorities. They ensure that Board procedures are both followed and regularly reviewed. They provide guidance to Chairman and the Directors on their responsibilities under various laws.
They are key managerial personnel in a Company who command high position and acts as a conscience seeker of the company.
As per Section 2(1)(c ) of Company Secretaries Act, 1980, “Company Secretary” means a person who is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
So to become a CS one needs to take the Membership of ICSI. For this a person needs to clear all the exams conducted by the Institute and to undergo the specified training.
How to become a Company Secretary?
Students aspiring to make a career out of CS must clear 3 stages after their class 12. These three stages involved include – CS Foundation (CSEET), CS Executive and CS Professional.
Any student who aspires to become a certified Company Secretary must fulfill the given below eligibility criteria to pursue the course:
- Minimum qualification required to register for the first level (Foundation Programme or CSEET) of Company Secretary course is to Class 12 pass in any stream (excluding Fine Arts) from a recognized university or equivalent.
- The candidate who wishes to pursue CS after graduation will have to complete only two levels: Executive Programme and Professional Programme.
- Those who have completed graduation, post graduation (excluding Fine Arts) or have cleared Foundation level of CAand Cost Accounting course by ICWAI can directly take admission to CS Executive level.
- Training is the most important aspect for students pursuing courses in Company Secretary. The students are required to complete the following training programme:
- a) Executive Development Programme (EDP) for one month duration after passing of Executive Programme examination;
- b) Practical training for twenty one (21) months after completion of Executive Development Programme on whole time basis during normal working hours,
After completion of all above steps, you will be qualified as an Associate Company Secretary and that’s when your career begins.
Company Secretary Course is often considered as a tough course but Shilpis Academy being the Best CS Classes in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu has proved it wrong with its excellent result every year. Our online classes has seen students joining from not just all over India but also from Dubai, Qatar and Oman. Our journey to beoming the most recommended CS Coaching Academy has been possible due to our amazing team of faculties & students.
Why Company Secretary (CS) is a good career option?
The reasons CS is considered as a good career option is as follows :
- Job Assurity
Be rest assured that you will never be jobless with a CS Degree. The demand is always more than the supply!
As per section 203 of the Companies Act, 2013 a Company Secretary (C.S.) is considered as Key managerial Personnel. And below given companies are required to appoint a Company Secretary (C.S.): –
- Every listed company
- every other public company having a paid-up share capital of ten crore rupees or more.
- Every private company which has a paid up share capital of ten crore rupees or more shall have a whole -time company secretary.
What if the Company does not follow the rules of appointing a CS?
Any company which is mandatorily required to appoint a Company Secretary (C.S.) if don’t appoint, such company shall be liable to a penalty of five lakh rupees and every director and key managerial personnel of the company who is in default shall be liable to a penalty of fifty thousand rupees and where the default is a continuing one, with a further penalty of one thousand rupees for each day after the first during which such default continues but not exceeding five lakh rupees.
- Salary structure
The salary structure depends on various factors like experience, city, the company you choose (listed/unlisted), personality/communication skills, perfomance in the interview, depth of legal knowledge and its interpretation.
A fresher CS starts with a minimum salary of 35,000 – 60,000 pm.
For an experienced CS, truly sky is the limit as after sometime they can be appointed as head of legal department or even as a director in the company and then 1crore+ per annum is also a possibility.
- Roles & responsibilites.
The key role & responsibilities of a Company Secretary are as follows:
- To ensure the compliance of the provisions of various laws applicable to the Company.
- To ensure that the affairs of the Company are conducted in the manner specified in the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company.
- To conduct the Board Meetings, Committee meetings, General Meetings and to attend the same.
- To maintain the Minutes of the above meetings.
- To carry out all the procedure related to the allotment, transfer and transmission, buy back of shares of the Company.
- Keeping the Companies Record and to maintain the Statutory Registers as required by the Companies Act, 2013.
- To advice the Board of Directors of their legal obligations.
- To represent the Company in front of various Regulators and Government Departments.
- To guide the Directors about their Responsibilities and duties.
- To be a liaison between the Company and the Stakeholders.
- To do all such duties as assigned by the Board.
- To do all such acts as may be prescribed under the various Laws applicable to the Company.
- Opportunity to be your own boss
For those of you who do not see yourself working in a job all your life then this course allows you the freedom to be your own boss too! Yes, you can start your own practise and give variety of services to your client companies.
- Reputation
Company secretary being a key managerial personnel who advises the Board of directors has a very good reputation in the society. They are the only professional who interact closely with the Board of Directors.
