How to get hired
From May 2026, ICAI holds CA Final twice a year, in May and November, and its campus placement programme follows each result: the spring round (around February to May) and the autumn round (around August and September). Two routes run in parallel, and most people who land a good first job use both.
The ICAI campus placement programme
You register on the ICAI placement portal when the programme is announced, pay a fee (₹1,500 including tax for the August–September 2026 round) and get a centre code. Then:
- Companies shortlist candidates online. They may shortlist up to ten times the vacancies they declare, and they pick on their own criteria, usually marks, number of attempts and whether your articleship is complete.
- You give consent to the companies that shortlisted you, within the dates given. A second shortlisting round follows for people with few or no consents. Consent you miss in round one can't be given later.
- You must attend every interview you consented to. Many companies run a group discussion on the interview day.
- The moment one company selects you and you sign the acceptance declaration, you are out of the remaining interviews.
Read these rules before you sign anything. If you accept and then don't join, ICAI charges a ₹5,000 commitment charge, may take disciplinary action, and bars you from future campus programmes and its job portal. If you were hoping for a call from a particular company later in the week, decide before you sign.
Eligibility is tied to the Final result and your articleship end date. For the August–September 2026 round, May 2026 passers had to finish articleship by 31 October 2026; those who didn't move to the next round. If you are under 21 (and so can't yet take membership), you need special permission by email to cajob@icai.in. The big centres (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur) run first; if you aren't placed there, your profile moves to your second-choice smaller centre with fresh chances.
Off-campus
Big 4 firms, their US-India delivery arms and mid-size firms hire newly qualified CAs year-round through careers pages and referrals. Banks and NBFCs hire fresh CAs into credit; large Indian groups run their own management trainee or finance trainee programmes. Apply in the weeks after the result, when teams have budget for the new batch, not two months later when the campus hires have filled the seats.
Your own articleship firm
Ask your principal before the result whether the firm keeps its qualified articles, at what title and pay. Many do, and a known face often gets a better first title than a campus stranger.
Titles to expect, and one to read twice
Common first titles are "Associate – SaT" (transactions), "Consultant – TAX", "Executive – Assurance", "Assistant Manager – Internal Audit" and "Analyst – Accounting". Read any "Business Development Executive – CA" post carefully: some are sales roles selling software or services to CA firms, which is a different career from finance.
Choosing between offers
Weigh the work you will do in year one over the CTC. A Big 4 assurance or tax seat builds a name on your CV and teaches documentation discipline. A bank credit role pays well early and builds judgement but is harder to leave for an accounting role. An industry finance role gives ownership sooner but less structured training. Ask each employer the in-hand monthly figure, the variable pay rule and the bond (if any). Our offer letter checklist lists what to check.