Beware - How do recruiters fool the freshers...

Hello friends.....

I hope your celebrations would not have ended still. The joy of being CA is such that it invites endless celebrations.

Today lets discuss how the recruiters lure the Freshers. All those who have qualified recently are the most vulnerable and soft targets for all the recruiters. Lets discuss what are the ways how a people deceive the newly qualified CAs.

Fake Offer Letters

One fine morning I received a mail from Bajaj Auto Ltd. offering me a good position in the company with a good pay. As most of the people who are into the employment, I was frustrated with my current job and so I was looking for a change.

After being rejected from almost 7-8 employers, this mail was the only ray of hope for me. I was excited and informed all of my friends about this but after a close scrutiny of the offer letter I found that it was a fake offer letter. I was going to be a victim of a fraud if I had accepted the offer.

Recently from the past two years there has been a sudden outburst of such kind of offers. There are few fraudsters who send such kind of spam mails to selected recipients and deceive them.

Lets learn how to identify such fake offer letters. Below is the letter which I received from Bajaj Auto.

At the first instance this offer letter seems to be an original one. Since it is printed on the letterhead of the company, no one can raise a doubt on the authenticity of this letter. Further it is signed by the Asst. Manager HR and so this seems to be a letter sent by the company itself.

As its said appearances can be deceiving, the same thing has happened over here. Though the offer letter seems to be an original one, it is a fake letter send by someone.

How to identify the authenticity of such letters and how to identify that they are sent by fraudsters:

• Normally such offer letters are send by the HR department. They send such letters through their official e-mail addresses and never from their personal mail ids. So the first trick is to check the domain name of the mail address. If its a public domain like "gmail.com" or "yahoo.com" then there are chances that such mail can be a fraud.

         However nowadays the fraudsters are getting more and more expert and organised.
         Hence the generate a fake mailing address with a fake domain just like that a of a
         corporate domain and send such mails so that we can never question this offer letter. 
         Below is the screeshot of the mail I received where the domain name used was 
         "bajajautoltd.in" so that it portrays as a mail sent by the company itself.

• Further one thing which I found unusual in this mail was that there was nothing written in the body of the mail. The letter was just attached and send it to me. This was something weird which I noticed in the mail.

• If you see the letter carefully, there are watermarks used in the whole letter on both the pages. Watermarks are never used in any of the official documents. Even the font colour pattern is unique. There are three type of colours black, red, blue, brown and green used in the letter. Any sort of corporate communication doesnt use such colourful letters.

• There's a paragraph mentioning the reimbursement of some travel costs which will be incurred by the candidates. In reality none of the companies mention such nonsense stuffs in their offer letters.

• The most important thing which I noticed in the mail was that the company wanted to deposit Rs. 12,650/- in the Company HR account. BEWARE....none of the recruiters actually require the candidates to pay any money to them. If you notice carefully it is specifically mentioned that the payment should be only in cash and no other modes like cheque or demand draft. Cash deposits do not take much time to reflect in the other person's account and it can give enough time for the fraudster to run away with the money. So these people prefer cash deposits over other modes of deposit.

• You can also move a step further to call on the number provided in the mail. I am pretty sure that you wont be able to make a call to this number. Everytime you try, this number would be busy or out of order.

So friends please be aware if u receive such kind of offer letters. DO NOT deposit any money inspite of how much lucrative the offer is. In case if you have already done, then request the bank to stop the payment.

Salary Structures

One area where all the freshers are easily fooled is the salary structure offered by the companies. The salary packages mentioned in the job offer are based on a concept of CTC (i.e. Cost to the Company).

Salaries in India are quoted in terms of CTC or cost to company. CTC is nothing but the cost that the company incurs to employ you and keep you employed. It includes your pay and anything else that the company may incur to keep you in employment. It’s important because a lot of components of your CTC may not translate into actual take-home cash every month.

As a broad thumb rule, what you get in hand will be 70% of your CTC. So if your annual CTC is Rs 5 lakh, you can expect to get an annual take home of 3.5 lakh or Rs 29000 per month.

The CTC is not going to be the take home salary. i.e. your in hand salary that you get. The difference between the take home salary and the CTC is stuffed with various non cash components like: car, driver reimbursements, interest free loans, free meal coupons, contribution to provident fund, medical expenses, Leave Travel Allowance, telephone reimbursements etc.

Just remember one thing. The more the non cash components in the salary structure, the less your take home salary will be. In layman's language that means you will receive less salary in your bank account.

One more thing towards which I would like to draw all of your's attention is the Provident Fund part in the salary. As per the PF Act, its optional for any person having a basic salary above Rs 6500 to opt for the PF deduction. But employers do not disclose this thing beforehand.

But once of you opt for PF deduction, you do not have the permission to change your decision for the lifetime. PF deduction is a forced savings that you might incur, so its a safe & wise decision if you opt for PF deduction. But those who want more salary in hand, they can opt not to go for the PF deduction in the initial stages. For the all those who do not opt for the PF scheme in the beginning have the option of being a part of the scheme in the future but vice versa is not possible. So be careful and take a wise decision.

I hope this will be useful to you in determining your correct salary structure and the keep you away from the fraudsters.

In case of any questions feel free to post a comment over here or mail me on snehal.sukhadia@gmail.com

Bbbye....

Campus Interviews - How to impress the interviewers with your CV and how to appear for interview

Till now we were just discussing about what all things a person needs to take care of when he participates in the campus placement program. Today lets discuss about the what are the components of a good CV and how to face the interviews.

CV - The Gateway for any interview

CV is the most important document for any interview. Its the only way through which an interviewer will come to know about you. CV serves the purpose of the introduction to the interviewer.

Recently I happened to receive many CVs and I was disappointed by the quality of the CVs I got. Some of the CVs were not in a proper format. Some had the worst fonts in all shapes and sizes while some lacked a proper flow.

In some of the CVs the data was not presented in a manner which could impress the readers. While others mentioned all the non relevant details in the CVs.

Out of almost 43 CVs I received I could just find 6 CVs in a proper format. Rest were in such a way that the interviewer would have thrown it away without going through it.

Lets see how to draft a CV which can be decent enough and good for the interviewers to read.

• Start with your name, address, contact nos. and your mail id. Provide your correct nos. and mail id so that the interviewers can approach you. A suggestion to have a professional mail id for all the job related work separately from your personal id. Mail ids such as supercooldude@gmail.com or cutiepieangel@yahoo.com dont look good for a job interview.

• Then write a few lines about your career objective. This is just a formality that you need to do, There are hardly any employers who bother to read this section. Most of the times its ignored. You can Google a few good lines, at the max 2-3 lines and paste them in your CV.

• Now write about your work experience/articleship experience. Write in detail about the work performed there. If you have done articleship at more than one place, mention details about all the places. If after the completion of your articleship and before the CA results, you have worked somewhere add that work experience prior to your articleship details.

•  After the articleship experience now its the turn for educational qualifications. People make a lot of blunders here. I have seen CVs where people write about their qualifications in just one line. This is not going to serve the purpose. My suggestions are prepare two tables. One for the professional qualifications. Mention the details of all exams CPT, IPCC, Final, CS, ICWA, CFA etc in this table. Write details of CA course first and then the other courses because you are appearing for the CA interviews. Keep the following columns in the table.

1. Exam
2. Year of passing ( Provide separate details if you have cleared individual groups)
3. Marks scored
4. No. of Attempts

• After the professional qualifications go for the educational qualifications. Start from the latest one to the oldest qualification i.e. in reverse order from M.com/M.Sc./MBA to 10th Std. Add the following columns in this table

1. Exam
2. School/College
3. Year of Passing
4. Marks Scored

• After this mention if any special achievements you have achieved at anytime in your life.

• Then comes a small section of the computer proficiency. Write about in what things you are an expert at in computers.

• After the computer proficiency mention about the your skills and your strong points.

• Now at last provide the personal details like Father's Name, DOB, Marital Status, Your Hobbies and Languages known

This format is an ideal format for the CV. It can make your CV look decent.

Write everything in bulleted points. Do not write in paragraphs because paragraphs irritate the readers of the CV. Also be consistent in the font type and the font size. Use the common fonts like Times New Roman or Arial.

DO NOT write your height, weight, religion etc in the CV as you are seeking a job and not making a CV for matrimonial sites. Also DO NOT give your photo on the CV.

DON'T be under the impression that longer the CV, the better you can impress the interviewer. CVs more than 3 pages are a headache for the interviewer. Try to limit the length till 1.5 page or max 2 pages. DO NOT mention the expected salary you want in the CV since you all are freshers.

There's no need to mention anything about the references in the CV. Its optional. Even a declaration stating the truth and correctness of the facts mentioned in the CV is also optional. Even a covering letter is optional for interview. DO NOT make your CV colourful. Keep it simple.

Remember CVs are just important for initial 2 minutes. An interviewer takes maximum 2 minutes to  go through the CV. So try to impress him in that short span of time. You have to market yourself via the CV. You have to make yourself saleable through that piece of paper so try to include all your achievements (like first attempt for CA exams, extra curricular achievement) in the CV to impress the interviewer.

How to face the interviews

USEFUL TIPS FOR INTERVIEW

1) Being Confident: Guys be confident. Being confident ...helps to win half of the game

2) Be strong in Technical Knowledge. Go through the various things like AS, SA, Companies Act, IFRS etc. Also be aware of the current affairs.

3) Don’t beat around the bush. Give answers to the point and in case if you don’t know anything then don’t be afraid to admit it in front of the interviewer

4) Present yourself in a proper manner. Try to market yourself as much as possible but in a proper way. Don’t forget this is the only opportunity where you can impress your hirers. Don’t be nervous before your turn.

5) Don’t be too choosy about the format of your CV. The interviewer just takes only 2 mins to go through your CV.

6) When it comes to Negotiation of your pay package, please try your hand on it if you are really good at negotiating things or else you will lose the job. Remember a bird in hand is better than two in bush

7) Always look into the eyes of the interviewer while giving answers. This makes him feel that you are confident.

7) Don’t be depressed if you don’t get any job. There is a job for each and every one in the world.

I hope these few tips will help you to perform well at interview and it will reduce the pressure of interviews.

Please give me your feedback by commenting over here or mail me on snehal.sukhadia@gmail.com

Till then bbye.....!!!

Campus Interviews - How to get your dream jobs - 3

I hope you people might be now geared up for the campus placements. Lets take our discussion further.

What to do after the interview?

Nothing in this world can be compared with the joy when you get to hear that you have been selected for the job. As soon as you hear this news, it seems that all of our hard work has been rewarded. Indeed its a moment of joy for everyone.

As its said in hindi "Josh mein hosh mat khona." Be patient and understand carefully the profile that the company is going to offer to you. Also properly understand the package they are offering to you. If you have any doubts regarding the job offer, ask the HR guys immediately. Its better to clarify the things instantly rather than to stretch it further.

Bag sometime to accept the offer. If required have a word with your family members regarding this. You can always ask for a time of 3-4 hours before signing the offer letter. If required in that time you can also appear for the interview of other companies.

Do not accept the offer immediately. The Institute requires all the candidates to sign a document once you accept a job offer. This document bars you from appearing in any of the interviews of the Campus Placement Program in the same centre as well as some other centre. So please be careful while signing the offer letter.

General tips for the Campus placement program

• Be sure to submit your campus placement application form on 31 July 2013. If you are late you will miss the chance of getting the job. The Institute doesn't allow people to appear for the next campus placement program.

• Keep all your documents right from 10th Std examinations to the Final examination in hand. Take adequate photocopies of the same. (Preferably one set of all documents per employer + 2 extra sets). Also take keep photocopies of other important documents like PAN Card, Voter's ID Card, Aadhar Card, Passport, Birth Certificate, School Leaving Certificate etc.

• If you have not passed in the first attempt and are in a confusion whether to apply for campus placements. My personal opinion would be to go for the placements. Give it a try. Who knows the interviewer might select you.

• There prevails a lot of confusion amongst all when it comes to the selection of the centres. The best way to select the centres is to inquire your friends and your seniors about the past trend of all the centres. Get a glimpse of the previous campus placements and get an info about the type of recruiters participating in those centres.

• Try to attend the pre-placement talks and the orientation program which will make you aware of the recruiters and the profiles for which they are hiring people.

• Be careful in short listing your recruiters. Select only those companies in which you have a genuine interest.

• Prepare well for the Group Discussions and written tests. Sometimes there are extremely off beat topics taken up for the GD. Also be prepared for such surprises.

• Do reach the venue before time. Since you have have been shortlisted by the companies, the employers will surely conduct your interview but remember you have to beat others in this race. The earlier you reach the venue, the quicker your interview will be conducted and more are your chances of being selected.

• Try to interact with more and more people at the campus placements. Build a strong network of professionals. This will help you a lot in future when you go for a job change or in search of a new professional opportunity. To be a successful professional you need to have a wide professional network.

• DO NOT select the employers on the basis of the profiles they offer. Nowadays the employers give a very beautiful name to the job designations which in reality are just a trap. e.g. Some company may provide you a profile and designation of Finance Executive which sounds exciting. But in reality the work will be just that of an accountant i.e. passing entries in the accounting system.

• Before signing the offer letter clarify your role and the type of work that you are going to do with the HR. Do not hesitate to ask them about even the minutest details of the job that you are offered.

• DO NOT forget the money vs. exposure dilemma which we discussed in the previous blog. Take a rational decision while selecting a job.

• Understand the salary structure well. Nowadays the companies offer the pay packages in terms of CTC (i.e. Cost to Company). Be well versed with what does CTC mean. Google it for more information. But beware, CTC is not the amount that you are going to take home. Your take home salary will be always less than the CTC. The more complex the salary structure, the less your take home salary is. In case of doubt regarding your salary structure, consult your seniors.

• Always clarify the job location, date of posting (i.e. start of the job) with your employer. In the past there have been instances where the candidates were selected by the employers but their job started 6 months after their selection at the campus placements. So please be careful that such things dont happen with you.

• DO NOT sign a bond with any of companies. Bond is an educated slavery where you are tied up till the bond period. You cannot resign from that job till the bond expires. In case if you do, you have to pay an exit amount which may be more than the total salary earned by you. So refuse from signing any bond.

• Signing of an offer letter is not the final commitment you make to any employer. Offer letter has no legal validity and so you can always forfeit the offer once you accepted it. In case if you have signed an offer letter for an employer and meanwhile you get a job which you feel better than the one already accepted you can select the later job and forfeit the former offer.

I hope these tips will be useful to you for attending the campus placements and remove all your confusions.

In the next blog I will provide you some tips about drafting your CV and interview techniques.

In case of any doubts or suggestion please feel free to write me on snehal.sukhadia@gmail.com

Till then bbye....

Campus Interviews - How to get your dream jobs - 2

In the last blog we discussed about the campus interviews and its basics. We also learnt about the things that you need to prepare for the interviews. Lets carry the same discussion further.

Selection of the recruiters

After selection of the centres and preparing for the topics, the next important step that you have to follow is the selection of the recruiters. Almost a week before the campus placement program, on the website of CMII, the candidates get a list of the companies which have shortlisted them. In turn the candidates are given the privilege to select the recruiters with whom they want to be interviewed.

As discussed earlier the candidates during this time are to be provided just 4 interviews per centre and hence they can select maximum 4 companies only. So please select the companies carefully and not in a hurry. First know about your areas of interests and decide in which field you want to build up your career and then select the recruiters.

Go through the company profile first. Google it and find out the credentials of the company which you are going to select. DO NOT get attracted by the job profiles the companies offer. Use your mind while selecting the recruiters.

Tips for the day prior to interview and on the day of Interview

Some of the recruiters have a system of online aptitude test which needs to be given before the campus interviews. Be careful in noting the time of such tests and please note that it doesn't miss our or else out of four, your one chance will be wasted as it is.

On the day of the interview reach the place before time and get fully prepared for the interview with confidence. One typical thing about the campus programs is that the recruiters start all the interviews simultaneously. There may be chances that when you are appearing for the interview of a company, at the same time you will be called for interview from some other company.

Dont panic in such situations. You can always make some Jugaad with the interviewers and can shuffle between the interviews. But be sure to appear for both of them. Also be relaxed on the day of interview. Dont panic and worry about job. Everyone's going to get the job.

Dont get disappointed when the recruiters come out with new criterias for selection of candidates on the day of interview itself. For e.g. lets say XYZ company in its pre-placement talks and in the information given to all the candidates on the placements website may mention that they will choose all the candidates who have passed in first attempt. But on the day of the campus placement they might change their mind and now only select rankers. At this point of time dont panic. Do not waste your time in complaining about this issue to the ICAI committee. Instead concentrate on the next 3 chances you have and work hard to impress those recruiters.

Exposure (Experience) vs. Money

Its obvious that all the young, fresh CAs are full of enthusiasm and vigour. They have that hard working attitude and a fire in the belly to achieve something in their career and their life. What I have personally experienced is that every fresher who is new to the outside world gives more importance to the exposure/experience that they will get in their jobs.

Its the common mentality of all the young CAs to spend first 3 years of their professional life in gaining a good work exposure and knowledge and then start minting money. They get the same advise when they turn to their seniors. This leads to very deadly results. In order to gain the so called "work exposure", freshers tend to accept the jobs in which they are underpaid. And the sad part is that the freshers dont know themselves that they are underpaid.

This has a chain reaction. Soon you will be frustrated of the job which you took up for the experience purpose and then you will start searching for the new one. New jobs are not easy to find in this recession scenario and thus this small decision of your will make all your future plans go haywire.

In this materialistic world, money is of utmost importance. This reminds me of a Hindi movie scene where, a boy and girl are in deep love with each other. The boy loves the girl madly and proposes her to marry him. The girl rejects his offer saying that the boy doesnt have money. The boy in turn shows her how much he loves her. At this moment the girl says a typical Hindi dialogue "Sirf pyaar se hi duniya nahi chalti"

The same thing applies to all of you freshers. I believe that work exposure, knowledge and the experience are very much useful to progress in any of the professional field. But you cannot ignore the money part.

If you have money you can rule the world. You can fulfill your desires and you can live a life of your own. Money automatically brings you experience and knowledge.

So during the campus interviews given a choice between a good work exposure and a good package, be rational and select the company paying a higher amount of salary. I am telling you to do this because the first salary package of yours will become a benchmark for all the next jobs. The more higher you are paid in the first job, the more benefit you will receive in the second job.

I know I might sound somewhat weird or unusual but this is the truth. Lets say a a young fresh CA ABC passed out in the first attempt has got a very good job in terms of work exposure in one of the best corporate if the country but his package is just Rs 4 Lacs p.a. Now we have one another fresh CA PQR who selected a job which has very limited work exposure like preparing MIS reports and monthly reporting but his package is Rs 6 Lacs p.a.

Now lets say they both quit their first job at the same time and apply for the a new job. There are chances where PQR would be offered a good pay package in comparison to ABC because of PQR fixed his minimum benchmark salary level of Rs 6 Lacs p.a. in the first job itself, leaving a very little scope for the future recruiters to negotiate for a salary less than Rs 6 Lacs.

You would be the luckiest person if you are getting a good pay package with a good exposure. But given a choice between the two, be rational and take a wise decision. My theory may not hold good in all the cases. So think patiently and then take a decision of choosing the job.

In the next post I will provide you the tips for your first job and some general tips on the campus placements and how to face interviews.

Till then if you have any queries you can post the comments over here or mail me on snehal.sukhadia@gmail.com I will be happy to help you.

Bye.....

Campus Interviews - How to get your dream jobs - 1

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Hello Freshers!!!!

Chartered Accountancy is considered as one of the most reputed profession in India. Irrespective of the number attempts to become a CA, society gives equal respect to all the CAs.

Its the only profession which has been untouched by the malices of reservation and corruption. Entry to the profession is easier but passing out is a herculean task. CA examinations helps us to be disciplined, strong, determined and keep on moving irrespective of the failures we face.

Congratulations to all those who passed the examinations in May 2013. Its really a commendable achievement for all of you. You people are the most luckiest person in the planet. That excitement of getting something for which you have sacrificed everything for 5 years, including the 3 golden years of college life, cant be described in words.

Everytime when I see a student passing his CA final exam, I remember the days when my Final Exam was going to be declared. That moment of uncertainty, those few hours before the exam results, those few minutes when your heart starts beating rapidly at the speed of 200 beats per minute, those moments when your brain thinks about all the possibilities and then that excitement when you pass irrespective of the attempts made. Its a fun thing to experience this.

And then there comes the sudden change around you. People start looking upon you with respect, you suddenly gain a lot of importance in the family and friends and you are on the top of the world. On one hand there's an excitement of passing the examinations while on other hand there are lot of dreams to fulfill. Completing CA opens up many opportunities for everyone and there are many options available in the market to make an exciting career path.

Due to increasing career options and many opportunities available, freshers get confused what to do and they end up landing in a place where they destroy their career path.

What to do now?

Passing CA is tough but more tough is choosing a right career to fulfill your dreams. The recession in the job market makes the scenario more and more challenging. To start with lets discuss the two basic possibilities:

Starting your own practice vs. Employment (Job)

 

Practice

Starting your practice is one of the best opportunity that anyone can grab in the current situation where there is a recession in the Indian job market.

All the budding entrepreneurs those who like to work on their own, who cannot work under anyone can go for practicing as a Chartered Accountant providing consultancy in the various fields like Audit, Taxation, Finance etc.

Starting your practice requires a great deal of courage and firm determination. You have to be well versed in public dealing and have to build up a strong network to build a good client base. The average gestation period for any fresh practicing CA to establish himself in the market, in the current situation is 9 - 10 years.

Moreover in this changing times starting a sole proprietorship firm is never advisable. Its an era of specialization and clients require all the services under one roof. So the only option is to start a partnership firm which provides a variety of services to the clients.

As a practicing CA you need to venture in the new and untouched fields like:

• Carbon Credit Accounting
• SOX Audit
• International Taxation
• FEMA Compliances
• Environment Auditing
• Management Auditing etc.

Remember, starting a traditional Statutory Audit and Income Tax practice is not going to work out. While practice nurtures the inner entrepreneur in you, there are lot of struggles which you need to establish yourself. Practicing as a CA helps you to develop your leadership skills and makes you an expert in managing people and circumstances.

Employment (Job)

 

Employment is the safest option one can bet on when you are starting your career path. Though its said that the job market is facing a huge recession, deserving candidates still try to bag jobs with a lucrative package.

Being employed makes your life easier specially when you are a fresher. There are no fixed costs of starting your own office, no worries of gaining clients and no struggles for earning money. Being employed makes you financially secured and gives a very good exposure to learn new things.

Cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Pune etc provide an excellent opportunity to work into the corporates and provide a good exposure in terms of the quality of work and the knowledge. As a fresher you can get jobs in various sectors like"

• Big 4s
• Banks
• Insurance Companies
• Finance Companies
• Accounting Firms
• KPOs
• Manufacturing Industry
• Media Industry etc.

Being employed somewhere makes your future secure in terms of the money you get, but jobs tend to be boring in the long run. Due to the monotonous work life and extensive traveling a CA does, people lose the charm of jobs as and when they start getting experienced. Job makes you dependent on someone and you lose the basic fighting spirit and independence in yourself. It kills the entrepreneurial spirit in you. But again if you work hard at the job you secure, it can take you to a level where sky is the limit.

So to summarize, both practice and job have their own pros and cons. Please do think about your future before taking a decision as this will affect your future career plans.

In the next blog I will post about the Campus Interviews conducted by the Institute and how to crack them.

Till then..bbye....