Introduction
I qualified as a company secretary way back in 2000.
Back then, I had what I would today call a measly aim: make INR 10000 plus in a month from using the skills learnt in the CS course.
And yet, I struggled.
I made almost equal money from some graduation classes I taught on the side as I made from my practice in the initial few months.
In order to meet my goal, I started looking for jobs.
I will never forget an interview that I gave in a medium sized listed company in Ahmedabad. I interviewed with the CFO and when I told him I was practicing, his reaction was “So you have kind of done nothing after completing CS”.
Obviously I wasn’t selected.
What was worse was, at that time I felt he was right. I needed to go all out and “do something”.
I decided to leave Ahmedabad and move to Mumbai for good, in order to make my career move.
I have moved across geographies many times in my career, with a view to progress, and I have almost always had to start afresh.
I had moved to Bahrain after my marriage and moved back to Mumbai after six months there. I had to start afresh because of the six month hiatus.
I moved to Dublin from Mumbai and again, I had to start afresh because it was a new geography.
I moved back to Mumbai after working in Dublin for around 9 years and again, I had to start afresh. The legal scene in India had changed a lot in that duration.
It was very clear to me that if you moved geographically, you would have to start afresh.
But then, the pandemic completely changed everything.
Let’s say people were still rolling the dice, and the pandemic swept the playing board away from under them!
No longer do you need to move in and out of places to be able to work for people in different countries.
I am now working on creating remote opportunities for students at LawSikho and as I write this, I have communicated with clients based in Singapore, Portugal, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Canada and Slovakia for different opportunities, all the while working from my home in Mumbai.
And this is just the beginning.
Every single day I see opportunities on freelancing platforms which I feel can easily be picked up by Chartered Accountants or Company Secretaries, albeit with the right kind of skills.
There are quite a few corporate paralegal jobs which are remote and these can also be taken up by Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries - your background and the right kind of skilling on top of it can enable you to do that.
For example, there is this job by Paylocity, a company which provides payroll, workforce management and HR related solutions, with a payment of $46,286-$69,417 a year, and this is full remote.
https://www.paylocity.com/careers/career-opportunities/all-listings/?jobId=9069
The responsibilities for this position include managing contracts, filings, compliance and corporate governance, improving policies, dealing with information requests. Nothing which is alien or new for chartered accountants or company secretaries.
USD 46000 converts to approximately INR 34,37,000.
How many chartered accountants or company secretaries are making that kind of money in a year?
This is just one job on one platform. There are multiple such opportunities across different platforms and companies.
And this work is completely remote - there is no license required to perform US paralegal work as a remote paralegal.
How can a young Chartered Accountant or Company Secretary obtain US paralegal work?
There is a simple formula for success here:
Capability (skills and knowledge) + Track Record + Outreach = Success in Career
Before you get these opportunities, you need to have the capability to do the work. Capability is different from willingness or interest. You need to be able to deliver the work that you would be given if you landed the job.
This means you have to acquire the skills and knowledge.
However, this alone is not enough.
You also need to build a track record that gives potential recruiters some evidence that you can actually do what you are claiming. There are many ways to build a track record and develop credibility - publishing articles, doing freelance work, doing pro bono and low bono work and getting testimonials - something that tells the potential recruiter that you are worth a shot because you have already proven your worth in some ways.
Finally, it is about outreach. Making sure that the right people know you are available to be hired. You can ensure such outreach through networking and building a strong social media profile, and we do that through our large and focussed placement office.
In our course, we address all these 3 aspects so you can succeed in your career.
This course is designed to teach you how to perform remote US corporate work as an Indian Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary and includes comprehensive guidance on how to build a successful profile on global freelancing platforms, build a track record and send proposals which are compelling to secure these work opportunities.
On top of that, you will get on-demand support from our team, to help you to succeed in your freelance career, provide you leads for projects, gigs and jobs, and even prepare you for interviews.
If you learn the skills and do this work properly, it is possible to earn more than an in-house company secretary role in a top company or a Senior Manager or even Director role in a large CA firm in a developing country like India while working remotely and at your own time and convenience.
We have been helping several young lawyers successfully secure US work in domains such as IP, technology and contracts since November 2020 and in US Corporate law work since July 2021.
Now, it is turn for the Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries to learn picking up compliance assignments in corporate law. Expertise in this area is very much in demand, and very low in supply, especially when there is just a little combination of taxation and compliance required. Therefore, the opportunities are very bright.
This is the right time to venture into the US corporate freelancing domain before it becomes too saturated, which is highly likely to happen very soon considering the potential it holds.
In addition to enabling you to earn a decent income, this also helps you build a track record of work which will be relevant and recognised in the event that you are looking to take on further studies (ICSA / CPA) and actually work in the US
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