I™m a commerce graduate with three years work experience. To better my job prospects, I want to pursue an MBA degree through distance learning. What are my options? Nilima Swamy, Bangalore A full-time MBA has greater value in the job market. However if it™s not possible for you to enroll in a full-time programme, a distance MBA is the next best option. Among the instit-utions offering this course are IGNOU, New Delhi; Annamalai University; Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, Pune; Madurai Kamaraj University, Directorate of Distance Education, Madurai; Anna University Centre for Distance Education, Chennai; and S.P. Jain Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. I™m a first year B.Com student interested in a career in banking. Will a chartered accountancy (CA) qualifi-cation help me? Deepak Mehta, Mumbai This is a professional qualification which renders you eligible to work in most divisions of a bank. Typically, chartered accountants work in loan disbursement, credit and risk assess-ment; the treasury; audit and acco-unting divisions; foreign exchange; debt and equity trading and merchant banking. The CA study programme now allows students to substitute three years of articleship with one year of industry training and two years of articleship. Thus working with a bank during the one year of industry training will be useful. I™m a class XII (commerce) student keen to acquire an MBA degree after graduation. I™m confused as to whether I should sign up for a BMS (bachelor of management studies) or B.Com degree after Plus Two. Shashi Iyer, Chennai Both degrees qualify you to apply for admission into reputable B-schools. If a Masters degree is your goal, BMS will give you greater exposure and experience. However no weightage/advantage is given to BMS graduates for admission into MBA courses. My advice is that you begin preparing for the MBA entrance tests during the second year of your BMS degree programme. I™m a third year B.Com student interested in accountancy. Will compl-etion of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) course help me secure admission into a reputed B-school/university in Europe or America? Navin Chawla, New Delhi Candidates who clear the uniform CPA Examination are awarded a CPA licence in the US. The examination is a 14-hour computer-based test (CBT) with four papers ” auditing and attestation; financial accounting and reporting; regulation; and business environment and concepts. In general, 150 credit hours of education at an accredited college or university is a precondition of writing CPA. Many of the 150 credit hour programmes lead to a Master™s degree such as an MBA. In the Indian context, a B.Com degree with CA training is a good base for CPA certification. The CPA licence has no bearing upon admission into US/European business schools. After graduation, you will need to complete the first year of a M.Com degree, to meet the 16 years of education requirement for admission into postgraduate programmes in the US. During this period, plan to write the GMAT and TOEFL tests. For further information log on to www.aicpa.org. After completing my B.Sc in 2015 I…
