The first thought that comes up in any CA student’s mind while someone asks them where they want to do their articleship is, “Big Four”. It is almost common for every student to have a desire to do their articleship in a Big four. It maybe either because of the reputation it offers, or the lucrative stipend that you earn when compared to other firms,or be it whatsoever reason, but before we jump on to any conclusions or any sort of decisions regarding our articleship, we need to look at various factors before choosing the firm in which you want to do your articleship since a major part of your CA journey is consumed in articleship.
Basically, CA firms can be classified into three categories :
- Startup or small firms
- Mid size firms
- Big 4s
A student has to analyse the various factors before considering to join a firm in any of these three categories which can be done with the help of the following points in mind:
- Proximity to residence/Classes: This is the most important point to be considered before choosing the firm, since you do not want to be spending most of your time in travel between your workplace and home . Often, i see a lot of students not having enough time to devote to their studies after reaching home because of travel amidst hectic traffic or the distance covered. This problem can definitely be overcome if you choose a firm which is nearer to your residence. Of course, situations can change with any of the client places that you are assigned with. However, i recommend to go for a good firm which is proximate to your residence or classes.
- Startup firms: Often, there are few firms which have been recently established and do not have a huge client base but still would be willing to take in people for articleship. In that case, even though you might not get hands on experience on various assignments, it is still possible that you grow with the firm and get to understand various nuances in client pitching, interaction and starting business from scratch and much more opportunities to explore. Hence, if you get an opportunity to do articleship in a startup firm, go for it with an open mind since there is some sort of learning at every step.
- Diversification: Diversification on various fields is also a major factor under consideration. Mid size firms are those with a huge client base and give you an overall experience in various fields of work. Unlike mid size firms, big fours have the entire organisation divided into various departments such as Assurance , Internal Audit, Tax audit, M&A and Transfer Pricing etc.. Hence , the recruitment for articles happen in any one of the departments and there is an uncertainty if you would be offered job rotation from one department to another on a regular basis thereby restricting your diversification of experience. On the contrary, mid size firms offer you with much more diversification and you will gain experience in all the fields rather than specialization in one particular field.
- Stipend: This in fact, is the least important factor that you have to consider for your articleship. Please do not think of stipend as your salary. It is just a sum that is paid for your on the job training in order to prepare you for the next level of your real career. Lot of students rule out few firms based on the stipend that they offer. Stipend is not an important criteria unless you are from another town or city and you have to manage your hostel rent and food bill etc.,. If other factors such as proximity to residence, work experience, people and any other qualitative factor seem attractive to you, you can very well choose that firm even if the stipend is low. After all, the experience and the knowledge gained is all that matters.
In case, you feel that a particular firm does not suit your preferences, you still have an option to change your firm within one year of articleship without much of formalities involved. However, my general advice would be to take things as it comes and not have much expectations or anxiety about how small or big your firm is, whether you will gain enough experience in the place you are, etc. Every step is a learning and you will learn from every person or place no matter how small or big they are. Be open to every learning that comes your way rather than having any pre conceived notions and basing your ideas upon it.