Career Options For Commerce Stream After 12th...

It’s that time of the year again, when 12th graders face the daunting task of choosing their desired path in life. Choosing the subject depends on the choice of career and doing your research is of utmost importance to avoid choosing a course that you would later on come to hate. Making that choice is not one of the easiest things you have to do, which is why we have come up with a list of career options in the Commerce and Arts stream to ensure a rather smooth-sailing decision-making process for you.

Commerce :

Chartered Accountant

Chartered Accountants have the most important job when it comes to finance, they handle all financial statements that include balance sheets, cash flow forecasts, income statements, etc. They also handle taxations as well as a business’ or an individual’s financial position. Moreover they are tasked with giving financial advice.

Every finance manager should have the know-how of chartered accountancy since they are also required to run through everything the CA has done. The courses you’re required to take in college to become a CA are either a B.Com. or studying Chartered Accountancy itself. Cut-offs for commerce courses are usually high, so try scoring at least a 94% .

Stockbroker

To invest in the stock market, one needs a stockbroker. Stockbrokers usually act as a salesperson trying to sell stocks from various companies for which he or she needs to understand investments and capital market. Stockbrokers have more to do with selling and persuading people to buy stocks than with analyzing finances or accounting. A bachelor’s degree is not required, but suggested to become a stockbroker, preferably Business Administration or Finance. Common degrees like Accounting and Economics also qualify.

Corporate Lawyer

Corporate lawyers usually advise clients on legal issues concerning finance, or business decisions like taking over another company which entails many legal procedures that lawyers have to go through. Corporate Lawyers also handle suits thrown at the client or if the client itself wants to file a lawsuit against someone else.

While TV shows like Suits might give you some information on the kind of cases corporate lawyers deal with, it is only a TV show. Unlike Harvey Specter, lawyers do lose cases and not everything has a happy ending. In India, to become a lawyer you should first do a 3 year B.A. L.L.B, which is the standard 3 or 5 year law course after which you should pursue a degree in Business Law.

To get into law school, you have to prepare for a CLAT exam (Common Law Admission Test) You have to score a minimum of 50% in your 12th grade boards to be eligible to take the test.

Banking

There are usually three types of bankers – Personal, Commercial and Investment bankers. Personal bankers have the responsibility of supervising financial activity of personal accounts. Commercial bankers need to be strategic and have a vast amount of up to date knowledge with the financial world. Commercial bankers are required to form new associations with big corporate companies or small businesses. Managing finances for their clients in the most successful way is also a big part of their job.

Commercial bankers also help their clients navigate through loans, investments, stocks, insurance policies, etc. Investment bankers are like house brokers, but instead of houses investment bankers deal with companies. They make the buyer and seller meet and try to conjure up a deal between the two.

Job applicants are required to have a degree. B.Com or Business Economics are good courses to go for and then maybe an MBA in Finance. Some colleges in India have entrance tests for these courses, others rely on your 12th grade marks, which have to be at least 55% in core subjects like English and Mathematics.

Entrepreneurship

The first step to being an entrepreneur is knowing how businesses run, which is exactly what Commerce teaches you. Entrepreneurs are people who have their own unique business idea and start up that business on their own. The entrepreneur has to take up the role as a leader and chief executive of the company or business. Taking full responsibility for all the decisions taken, even if the decisions failed.

Many Indian institutes offer courses in entrepreneurship but if you’re still not sure what career you’d like to pursue, the safest option would be a B.Com and maybe an MBA in Finance or Business Economics.