Himachal Pradesh

ICFAI offers the Accelerated CFA Program for the benefit of professionals, working executives and full-time students of certain courses enabling them to complete it in 2 years instead of the normal 3 years.

Curriculum

The curriculum of the Accelerated CFA Program is the same as that of the Regular CFA Program.

Program Structure

The CFA Program is divided into three levels : Level I, Level II and Level III.

Eligibility

Candidates under any of the following categories are eligible to enroll into the Accelerated CFA Program :

• CAs/CWAs/CSs
• Candidates with PG qualifications like PGDBA/MBA/MMS/MFC/MIB/MBE/MCom etc.
• Graduates with 60% and above marks.

The following categories of candidates are also eligible to enroll into the Accelerated CFA Program, provided they are graduates.

• Candidates who successfully completed the Intermediate examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) or the CAIIB Part I examination of the Indian Institute of Bankers (IIB).
• Bankers with CAIIB qualification.
• Full-time students of the PGDBA/MBA/MMS/MFC/MIB/MBE/MCom Programs with business schools (recognized by AICTE)/University Departments, IIMs and other reputed institutions.
• Candidates pursuing MBA (by correspondence) with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and other Universities/All India Management Association (AIMA)/Indian Institute of Bankers/Icfaian Council for Open and Distance Education.
• Directly Recruited Officers in Banks, Financial Institutions and Insurance Companies.
• Class I officers in Central and State Government Services.
• Executives having a minimum of 5 years experience at managerial level.
• Faculty members having a minimum of 5 years teaching experience at undergraduate/postgraduate level.

Duration

The Accelerated CFA Program may be completed in a period of 2 years through study and examinations.

Eligibility for Examinations

Candidates of the Accelerated CFA Program have the flexibility of appearing for examinations in a combined fashion for Level I and Level II together, and subsequently for Level II and Level III together. To be eligible to appear for Level II and Level III examinations together, candidates should have completed Level I. Candidates are eligible to appear for the first examination (one Group) after three months from the date of enrollment. Subsequently, after every three months they can appear for one additional Group.

Subject-wise Waivers at CFA Level I

Candidates with prior professional qualifications like CA/CWA/CS are eligible to get waivers from certain subjects in Level I of the CFA Program as indicated below.

Note : All the rules and regulations relevant to the Regular CFA Program stated elsewhere in this site are also applicable to the Accelerated CFA Program, except where stated otherwise.

Period of Validity of Enrollment

The candidates are required to complete the CFA Program (all the three levels) within a maximum period of seven years from the date of enrollment. They are also required to complete Level I of the CFA Program within three years from the date of enrollment. Candidates who are unable to complete the program within the time-frame stipulated above, but still keen on continuing in the program, are required to register de novo.

Award of Certificates

The certification program for financial analysts, designed and administered by ICFAI, has a modular structure. At the end of each Level, the successful candidates receive a Diploma from ICFAI as indicated below. After completing Level III, the successful candidates will be eligible to receive the CFA Charter.

Rank Certificates, Merit Certificates and Medals

Based on the performance at the Level III examinations, ICFAI awards Rank Certificates to top 10 candidates. Merit Certificates are awarded for the top performer in each Subject. Gold and Silver Medals are awarded for the top performer in each Group. A Special Award is given to the Best-Outgoing Student every year.

Award of the CFA Charter

All the candidates who successfully complete the CFA Program of ICFAI will be entitled to receive the CFA Charter from the Council of Chartered Financial Analysts (CCFA), subject to fulfilling the conditions of membership in CCFA.

Public Relation is a management function that involves monitoring and evaluating public attitudes and maintaining mutual relations and understanding between an organization and its public. Public could include shareholders, government, consumers, employees and the media. It is the act of getting along with people we constantly come in touch with. PROs ensures internal cohesion in the company by maintaining a clear communications network between the management and employees.

Its first objective is to improve channels of communication and to establish new ways of setting up a two-way flow of information and understanding. Public relations as a separate career option has came into existence when lots of private or government companies and institution felt the need to market their product, service and facilities. Public image is important to all organizations and prominent personalities. The role of public relation specialist becomes pertinent in crisis situations when the correct and timely transmission of information can help save the face of the organization. In terms of career opportunities, Public relations is broadly practiced for product publicity, corporate publicity, to have better relations with the government, to publish corporate publications like newsletter, bulletins, magazines for employees etc.

Eligibility & Course Area

Educational: Bachelors degree in any discipline preferably with social sciences, liberal arts and humanities is required to take up a course in this field. There is diploma as well as post graduate diploma courses in Public relations. Duration of most the courses is of one year. Apart from this there are also short term certificate courses. Most training programmes in Advertising also include public relations. Some institutes have entrance exams while others prefer admission on merit basis. These courses mainly cover areas like public relations principles and techniques, public relations management and administration, including organizational development, writing, emphasizing news releases, proposals, annual reports, scripts, speeches, and related items, visual communications, including desktop publishing and computer graphics, and research, emphasizing social science research and survey design and implementation.

Personal Attributes

One must have excellent communication skills, both spoken and written so has to express thoughts clearly and simply. An effective personality and the ability to get along with a wide range of people both inside and outside an organization are necessary. Must, be polite always as he has to work under pressure or provocation. An organizing ability is required too, as one may have to organized press conferences, lectures, exhibitions and events. Must, have self-confidence and far sightedness. He must be able to understand human psychology and take decisions apt to the situation. Analytical skills are required to interpret research information and plan activity.

Career Prospects

Public relations officers have to work within and outside the organization. Within the concern they have to conduct management-employee meets, to inform organizations policies, activities and accomplishments. Outside he has to liaison with government departments, trade unions, press etc whose cooperation is required for the smooth functioning, and also have to manage complaints from the consumers, organized events like fairs, exhibitions etc. The work involves keeping management aware of public attitudes and concerns of the many groups and organizations with which they must deal. In addition, public relations departments employ public relations specialists to write, research, prepare materials, maintain contacts, and respond to inquiries.

Another important area of work in this field is to create public identity or an image for public figures like political parties, models and film stars. It include advising them on every aspect of personality, including dress code, behavior, statement given in press, public appearances etc. Lobbying, a new field in this career, involves bringing about the passage of laws favorable to the special interest group they represent like a company, industries, government etc. It is a strategy used to raise public consciousness and influence policy makers in areas like environment, human rights, education etc. This is an interesting area of work in public relation.

Future Prospects

Job Prospects

Public relation officers can find employment in the corporate sector, public sector, government agencies, tourist agencies, hotels, banks and other financial institutions, private consultancy firms etc. Nowadays they can find work even with individuals like political figures, models and film stars who want their pictures, profiles and interviews published in magazines and need agents who can do the work for them so as to have a image in front of general public.