Focus
One of the most important aspects of completing the Company Secretaryship (CS) course is the long-term practical training. Passing the exams is only half the job. CS training- Where you do it? A firm or a company or some other institution? What did you learn during the period? - is the other half. This, in some ways, determines the initial few years of your CS career.
This post gives a brief overview of the training structure. It also details the steps to find vacancies for CS training.
Training Structure
Currently, there are two formats of training:-
- 15-months structure for students who registered for the CS Executive Program before 31st March 2014 (called “Earlier Training Structure”)
- 1/2/3 year structure for those who registered for the CS Executive Program on or after 1st April 2014 (called “Modified Training Structure”) as per the level of program
Note: Students who registered before 31
st March 2014 can also opt for the “Modified Training Structure” by a switch-over request. Visit
Procedure for opting out for modified training structure.
Apart from the long-term training, there are other short-term training programs to be completed alongside. A comparative table below contains information on the various kinds of training:-
| Components of Training |
Duration of
training |
Earlier Training
Structure |
Modified Training
Structure |
| Executive Development
Programme(EDP) |
8 days
(After passing
Executive
Programme) |
Applicable |
Not Applicable |
| Long Terms Internship
|
- |
15 months
(After passing
Executive Programme) |
3 years on
registration to Executive
Programme;
or
2 years after passing
the Executive
Programme;
or
1 year after passing
the Professional
Programme |
| Professional
Development
Programme ( PDP) |
24 hours |
Applicable |
Not Applicable |
| Training with
specialized agency |
15 days |
Applicable |
Not Applicable |
| Management Skills
Orientation Programme
( MSOP) |
15 days |
Applicable |
Applicable |
Source: ICSI Training Guide
The ICSI has also recently introduced a 15-days academic program applicable students clearing CS Executive Program on or after 25
th August 2015. Visit for details of
15 days academic program as on 1-02-2016
How to find vacancies for long-term CS training?
Now that we have seen in detail the kinds of training, let us move to the important question- How to find vacancies? This surely is a question that bothers many CS aspirants. While some may take it seriously and some others see it as just another step in the course, the undeniable fact is that- it matters!
Practical training is a crucial aspect of not only putting to test theoretical knowledge but also charting the course of your CS career. What you learn in this period, both technical and non-technical should be utilized effectively.
The major sources to find information about trainee vacancies are:-
- The ICSI website
- ICSI regional offices and chapters
- Job-finding platforms like Naukri, Shine etc (but very few openings are advertised in these platforms)
- Social media like WhatsApp, Facebook- one can be part of CS communities where such information is posted (again this also ranks lower compared to the first two)
I shall be detailing here on the first two sources alone for obvious reasons.
ICSI website:-
The ICSI website has a dedicated page for trainee/ job vacancies. An excel sheet containing info on openings is hosted and updated regularly.
- Go to the ICSI website.
- On the homepage under the head “Activities & Initiatives” you will find the tab “Training opportunities for students”
- Click on the above tab; you will be redirected to another page containing the link “vacancies for CS trainees”
- An excel sheet containing information on vacancies will be downloaded; most recent openings will appear first
For ease of access, I am giving the link here:
Traning Opportunity
There is another much easier way!
You could check out our discourse community- Company Secretary Trainee Vacancies. The information given by ICSI in the excel sheet is updated here simultaneously. You just have to visit the page sans the trouble of downloading and checking each detail. CSClub has all information readily, neatly available.
Try it and let us know what you think!
ICSI Regional Offices and Chapters
This is another reliable information source. You could try the following means:-
- Mail your request to the chapter in the city where you intend to do your training. Ex; If you want to do your training in Pune, mail the Pune Chapter of ICSI to update you regarding trainee vacancies. Most chapters have this facility.
- Physically visit the Chapter and check Notice Board to get updates. This is quite tiresome as not everybody has the time to visit personally.
- Visit the ICSI webpage of Regional Offices or send in a mail request to them. You could also check out their Notice Board physically.
Recommended Template of Resume for CS Trainees Articleship in PDF and Word
Hope this article was useful in giving you some inputs. In the next post, I shall discuss few tips on finding the right kind of organization for your training and do/don’ts during your training.
It would be great to have your feedback! You could suggest topics to write on too!