Every CA Inter student after giving exams enroll themselves for ITT and OC (which is basically a 15 day program about your IT skills and soft skills). But everyone knows that one friend or senior or teacher, who may say that ITT is main and all practical knowledge, OC is not that important or not so useful).
May be this preconceived notion is created among some students or teachers, is due to an abundance of knowledge and guidance on your favorite teachers or any CA's Youtube channel. We have all seen them, they guide us about mostly all the learning's from OC. we can learn through those video's in flexible time slots, as per our convenience and with zero spending.
So, what makes OC different?
The difference between OC and learning online is basically quite similar to learnings and experience. The experiences make up the best memories and is like a fresh breath of air for every student. (the condition is active participation and a positive mindset, otherwise it will just come and go). CA is already a distance learning course where we learn a lot but presenting ourselves and interacting in a professional world is difficult for a lot of us. For students who have been quite active in the co-curricular activities in school, enjoy their OC days the most because they express themselves. You will interact with your entire batch, learn from every individual, teachers will personally guide everyone, make friends.
Now making friends is the best part about OC, and due to pandemics in virtual mode, it is the best experience to make friends from different cities. You may forget the section numbers from the law but not the games played and those teams which were made. The first day you all will be strangers but the last day your batch's WhatsApp group will be filled with memories and emotions.
So, I tried to sum up some important OC learnings which may help:
1. The right way of introduction
The introduction is not all about your name and qualification and all that you mentioned in your CV, but while introducing yourself you should state something about you as a person, relate it with the organizations need, the different quality of yours which will make you stand out.
2. Significance of book reading
No not your modules and notes, but different books apart from the course. The best thing about book reading is you can live a thousand lives through books. It will be your forever best friend. A well read person is always appreciated and looked upon.
3. Communication and presentation skills
Speaking skills can only be polished by interacting, making mistakes is ok, you will learn through them. You will learn about presenting any topic from the best professionals.
4. Articleship guidance
After the intermediate you can learn all about article-ship through online sources as well but in OC, you will get personal guidance. you will prepare for PI round and GD round through activities and games. This will be a warm-up session for your actual interview.
5. Career Counselling
Many of us are confused between the other courses we can pursue along with or after CA. shall we go for MBA, or CMA, or CS, or ACCA, etc. but what I learned was a deep knowledge and practice about one course is enough for your career. All you need is to excel in one and be the best.
6) Team-work, Leadership skills, Value of prioritizing your work, How to manage ca finals and article-ship, Entrepreneurship skills, Presence of mind, Value of networking, Practical implementation of laws
OC is definitely full of leanings in a very interactive manner. Every student will get happy memories from it. The only condition is you have to be participative and excited about it. Whether mandatory or not such training by ICAI is appreciated.
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