Does a Chartered Accountant (CA) Articleship count as work experience for an MBA?
“People never learn anything by being told, they learn things by doing it themselves.” This ideal philosophy revolves around getting hands-on experience in the workplace. MBA colleges believe an average of 2-5 years’ work experience helps one stimulate and understand all the concepts one is taught in a better manner while pursuing their MBA in the respective fields.
Today, most of the MBA colleges abroad encourage students with some work experience from every field to pursue an MBA Degree. The question which arises is whether an MBA is worth pursuing, once one has successfully qualified their Chartered Accountancy? Years of study, dedication, and hard work helps one cross this hurdle, still left worried about not having enough work experience to pursue an MBA.
Little do they realize that colleges abroad do consider an articleship as work experience if it’s done on full-time basis with full-time responsibilities. They fail to realize that an Articleship is a 3-year practical training phase that allows students to work on real assignments with a team of experienced professionals. It is a mandatory requirement that every CA student fulfils before their final exam.
Every system has fine lines which read as: On applying for an MBA in India, the articleship is not counted as work experience, unless the candidate has done his articleship from one of the big 4’s. Just a myth, for b-schools, the pre-MBA experience that gets counted starts from the day you join a firm after getting your graduation degree till the start of your MBA program.
Lastly, would love to encourage and advice all the CA’s to fulfill their MBA goals from their dream college. Also strongly recommend them to check the requirements of work experience of each college before filling the application form.
