A fresh CS’s annual salary ranges from R5 lakh to R7 lakh a year on an average. With a little more experience one can start earning upwards of R8 lakh to R12 lakh a year. Company Secretaries with four to five years of experience make R25 lakh to R1 crore a year in large corporate houses and multinational companies. Compensation, of course, depends on an individual’s performance and varies from one sector to another.

9.30am: Coordinate with banks, registrar of companies, RBI, regulatory authorities, stock exchanges 1pm: Lunch 2pm: Complete the agenda for the upcoming quarterly board meeting 5pm: Prepare shareholding patterns in line with stock exchange 6pm: Prepare the annual performance report of the company 6.30pm: Set up a meeting with the team doing the quarterly internal audit 7pm: Pack up time

Good communication skills (both written and spoken English)
Analytical and decision-making ability
Good with numbers
Good problem-solving skills
Strong reasoning ability
Should be comfortable with presentations
Ability to work on and grasp company annual reports
Must have a sound understanding of the global stock exchange market
Good comprehension skills help

.    You get a chance to rub shoulders  with the company’s top management 
.    You get exposure to various external agencies and regulators
.    You get a broader view of taxation, finance and general management 
.     Salaries can be fantastic – provided you do a good job for your company
.     Not many people are aware of what exactly it is that a CS does and could mistake you for a chartered accountant
.     This can be a very demanding job, with gruelling hours

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) conducts the CS programme in India. After students complete Class 12 in science or commerce or arts, excluding fine arts, they can enrol for the CS programme conducted through distance mode in three stages: Foundation (eight-month), executive and professional. Graduates in any discipline except fine arts need to do only the last two levels. After clearing the executive or professional course, one needs to complete 16 months of training in a company or under a practising CS. Those with the specified work experience can take partial or full waiver from the training. One has to then complete training in a specialised agency and a Secretarial Modular Training Programme. After the professional course and training, you can practice and also become an associate member of ICSI.