How important is it for young CAs to have job experience before starting their practice?

Now that I'm qualified as a CA should I go for a corporate career or take up practice? Or should I work for a couple of years and gain experience before taking up practice? These are the common and confusing things one goes through once qualified. To put an end to this confusion let me explain how important it is to have job experience before starting their practice, if it is eventually decided to take up practice.

Job experience is fundamental for an individual's career. A hands on experience will play a crucial role in developing an understanding about how the organizations work and apply the knowledge or skills gained in their practice. Job experience ensures that the individual develops transferable skills including team work, leadership and communication skills which ultimately serves as a plus point when in practice.

People management is also one of the skill sets learnt on the job. It helps in tackling any situation effectively by understanding the human mind. Be it solving employee issues or employing the right resource required for the job, people management is the key. As you would already have the experience of working under someone, you will better understand the employee requirements and thereby create a win-win situation when in practice.

Once an individual qualifies as a CA, a host of opportunities opens. It is upto the individual to decide in what stream should the practice be taken up or what field should he or she be specialized in.This can be determined only through the job experience as it helps to identify their skills, strength and areas of interest. It is also noteworthy that specialization gives an upper hand in today's competitive world and sets you apart from the rest. It also helps in gaining knowledge and better understanding about the profession and about the things which one didn't get opportunity to learn during articleship and industrial training.

Not just that, a hands on experience also helps in building networks and connections across the industry for their future practice. The network connections that you build now will help you in establishing your career as a practicing CA as these are those connections which will give your first assignment as a practicing CA and will take you long way in the future.

Work experience and the degree go hand in hand. Though taking up employment for a couple of years and then venturing into practice may be time consuming, it is still worth it. It will help in developing the competitive nature and also give you an edge. Since the necessary skills are honed and a network required for the practice is already established, you would feel more confident about yourself and would be more aware and prepared when you venture into practice as you would know what you are diving into beforehand.