Mr. Ajay Kaushik
and Mr. Varshith Asoori have got SIRC Prize awards for scoring high marks in CS
Executive exams recently.
We talked to both
of them and got answers/ tips on how to prepare for Cs Executive. Excerpts from
the interview:
1. When did you start your CS course? What is your
graduation?
Varshith
Asoori:
I started my CS course while
pursuing my CA articleship. I have done my B.Com (A & F) in Correspondence.
Ajay Kaushik
I registered for
CS course in Aug-14. However, due to some reasons, I could attempt the exams
only in Dec 2015. I am pursuing my graduation side by side and I am currently
in final year B.com.
2. Did you attend any coaching or studied
yourself? If self study, how you managed to do it yourself?
Ajay Kaushik
I attended
coaching classes for all subjects and the classes lasted for about 4.5 months
totally.
Varshith
Asoori:
I have not attended any coaching for CS
executive. I have studied all the subjects on myself using the ICSI Study
materials and referring to some materials of professional authors.
3. What were the materials/ subjects that you used in
Executive for various subjects? Particularly Accounts, Tax and Costing?
Varshith
Asoori:
Mostly I have used the ICSI study
materials and Books written by Sangeet Kedia for preparation. ICSI materials
help in understanding the concept with clarity and books of Sangeet Kedia helps
for quick revision of subjects before examination. For Accounts, Tax and
costing , I have referred only the study materials of ICSI and practiced the
practice manual, previous year exam papers and model papers for perfection.
Ajay Kaushik
I read from the
study material provided by ICSI, for all subjects. However, for subjects of
Tax, Costing and accounts, I used the institute's material as a secondary
material and the tuition material and a few other reference books primarily.
4. Did you use Institute study materials ? Were they
useful? Any other books that you may recommend for each of the papers..
Varshith
Asoori:
Institute study
materials have been immensely useful for understanding of Concepts. Coming to
preparation of exam they were slightly difficult to revise before exams so I
preferred author books for quick revision of concepts. For thoeritical papers ,
I recommend the books written by SangeetKedia for theoretical subjects in CS
–Executive. For problematic papers, Institute study materials and practice
manuals would suffice.
Ajay Kaushik
Yes. I did use ICSI's materials and they are
really good. Especially, I would suggest students to go through the practice
manuals released by ICSI for a few subjects as it is really helpful to
understand what is required in the exam answers.
5. How long did you prepare for Executive exams?
Ajay Kaushik
I prepared for the exams in about 50-60 days.
Prior to that I would do some reading day-to-day, but serious preparation only
happened in those 50-60 days.
Varshith
Asoori:
I have started my
preparation for Executive exams three months before the exams. I used to refer
to the study materials for two hours a day since I had CA articleship to do
simultaneously. I took leave of ten days for exam preparation.
6.Why many students struggle in Tax & Capital
market paper? What can they do to overcome it?
Varshith
Asoori:
Securities and
Capital markets is a new subject and concepts explained there were of greater
standard which pose a bit difficult to understand at the first instance. But
when we develop interest in Stock markets world, the concepts if were dealt and
related with practical examples it all becomes easy to understand.
In Tax, students
may tend to remember and mugup the sections without understanding its
interpretation and intention thereby arrive at the wrong conclusion to the
questions.
Ajay Kaushik
6) Tax, at the
executive level, is an MCQ paper. However, we need to read a lot of topics and
cannot limit ourselves to reading few topics only. A through understanding of
certain basic concepts in tax is necessary, both in direct and indirect taxes.
Although most of us, students lose out marks on questions related to section
numbers or rule numbers, we can gain marks in questions which test our
understanding and knowledge on various topics.
Securities market
paper has two sections- One is the practical & application side whereas the
other is related to the laws governing such markets. The paper is rather simple
when you can understand the topics and concepts. Students lose out when it
comes to quoting the law and relevant section numbers, but I believe that marks
can be scored in areas which are more concept based rather than memory based.
For a better conceptual understanding of any topic, the internet and its vast resources are always available to students.
7. Which are the scoring papers in the Executive
level? Which are the slightly tougher subjects? Why?
Varshith
Asoori:
Obviously Multiple choice papers are
scoring papers at Executive level along with Accounts subject provided we have
understood concept well. The Subjects which was slightly tough to me was
Securities and Capital markets. It is a new subject and concepts explained
there were of a high standard which posed a bit difficult to understand during
my study time.
Ajay Kaushik
The multiple
choice papers are high scoring and papers while Economic laws and securities
markets are perceived to be tough. The reason is simple. Both the papers have a
lot of Laws and Acts to study and probably, students get confused with the
provisions of these acts. If the various acts have harmonious construction, it
would be better for students to remember them.
8. Is it advisable to write both modules together? If
so how much preparation is required?
Varshith
Asoori:
It is always advisable to write both
modules together. Preparation time varies with individual perception. For me ,
I have studied 2 hrs each day in the 3 months prior to exam and 10 days of exam
leave was enoughto clear it.
Ajay Kaushik
Always I advise writing both modules and clearing the
exams in one shot, rather than taking it piece by piece. Further, the benefit
of set-off would be available only if both modules are attempted together.
Preparation starts
about 3-4 months before the exams. But, real and proper preparation only
happens in the last 50-60 days.
9. Is there any important chapters in Accounts &
Tax? If so, please share.
Varshith
Asoori:
I have never looked for any important
chapters in Accounts and Tax, so i could not say any.
Ajay Kaushik
For this, I do not
have a specific answer. I request the students to refer the previous year paper
analyses for this.
However, unless
time is really short, I advice students to read all topics and understand the
concepts at least, rather than focusing only on few topics.
10. How do you consider the valuation of exam papers?
Did you get the marks that you expected in all papers?
Varshith
Asoori:
In my opinion, Valuation of exam papers is perfect. I have got marks
that the same which I expected with a variation of 5-10%.
Ajay Kaushik
Valuation is not in the hands of the student.
The aim should be to give it your best shot in the exams and appropriate
results will follow, barring a few unlucky cases.
11. Can you share your ideas on how to present in the
examination
Ajay Kaushik
I request the
students to be professional and complete in the way the answers are presented.
Loose language and incorrect usage of words or phrases can be very costly. Law
journals, ICSI bulletins and the articles written in the newsletters should be
a good source to improve language usage and precise communication capabilities.
Varshith
Asoori:
Present your
answer specifically to the questions. Never beat around the bush. Point wise
answer or using the bullets answer looks impressive to the examiner in
theoretical papers.
12. Any other general advise or tips to students…
Varshith
Asoori:
Always aim high in the examinations. Greater goal
poses the need for hardwork which gives you better results than what u worked
for. No need to mugup. When you understand the concept well, Fear of
examination is lost and since this is a professional course, that helps you in
the longrun.
All the best
Ajay Kaushik
The suggestions
which I would like to give to my fellow students are:
a) Plan properly
for facing the exams. Bad planning can cost you very dearly
b) Read institute
materials and give preference to institute's books over your tuition materials
as the questions come from ICSI materials and not tuition books. Moreover, ICSI
books are definitely more professional compared to tuition materials.
c) Aim high. Your
aim should be to give your best shot in the exams. Dont ever go to the exam
with the intention of just passing the paper or just appearing for the paper as
a practice. All that practice should be done when preparing itself, and not in
the exam hall.
All the best!
Compiled by: CS. A
Mohan Kumar
Secretary- ICSI
SIRC
