A 3 year articleship, under a practicing chartered accountant or a firm of chartered accountants, is a compulsory requirement, in the CA Course .This is included as part of the CA Course, to provide on the job training, to the students pursuing CA. This 3 year training, moulds you into a better hardworking individual, considering the efforts that you put in balancing your work and study . A student would have to register for articleship, after clearing the inter examinations and ITT & orientation, in case of he/she is admitted under the CA-CPT route. Direct entry students , have to complete minimum of 9 months of articleship, before being eligible to appear for the inter examinations.
There are also few students, who prefer doing dummy articleship. This is not recommended since , it does not provide you with any practical knowledge, though it provides sufficient time for you to prepare for your examinations.
Articleship demands of you, a lot of patience and endurance to manage your studies, even when your hands are full at work. Many students also struggle with articleship, either because of the stringent rules of the firm regarding the work timings or the exam leave rules and so on and so forth. These can be endured , only if you develop a mindset that, this is how it is going to be and that you will swim through it all, with a smile on your face. 🙂