Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) Banking and Finance Sector  

‘Educated unemployment’ is a serious issue of this era. This refers to the inability of the educated population to adapt to an industrial working environment. Education alone is not enough to get a good job nowadays. Along with education, it is essential that every person has access to skill education. The fast-changing global work environment has resulted in greater demand for highly skilled workers.Today, the world nations focus on imparting proper skill education to its educated folk. There are numerous initiatives in India too in this regard.

Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) is the scheme introduced by the Government of Kerala to impart formal skill education to students of Kerala. ASAP is a joint venture of Higher and General Education Department of Kerala in 2012 to impart skill education to higher secondary and college students along with their academic classes. This skill development programme is effective in imparting skill education to students.

Skill courses in various sectors have been developed under ASAP. In this article we cover the banking and finance related courses and their scope.

Trending Courses in Banking and Finance

• Banking and Finance Internship Training Programme

The internship programme is designed for students from management, economics and commerce backgrounds. The programme is structured as an immersion-based learning environment and fosters a hands-on and delivery-oriented framework for candidates to work individually and as part of teams on specific, measurable, and time-bound projects with clear deliverables. Students get to work with the best in business across organisations and explore the various aspects of the financial services industry.

Skills Covered are:

• Online work experience
• Connect with established people and organisations in the field
• Practical-industry experience

• Enrolled agent

ASAP Kerala has collaborated with Entigrity Pvt Ltd to recruit 500 Enrolled Agent certified trainees on the successful completion of this Enrolled Agent course. A pre-assessment test will be conducted by Entigrity Pvt. Ltd. as part of the recruitment process. The examination will cover the following topics – Microsoft Excel, accounting, critical thinking, numerical reasoning, and English.

This course is for BCom/ BBA 2nd and 3rd-year students, MCom/ MBA (Finance) 1st and 2nd-year students, Recently graduated BCom/ BBA/ MCom/ MBA graduates, This course may be opted for by BCom/ BBA/ MCom/ MBA graduates who wish to build a career in US Taxation, working closely with the US team and clients.

The duration of this course is 180 hours. After completing the course candidates can work  in the  areas of Tax associate, Senior Associate/ Analyst, Assistant Manager – Global Business Tax.

Skills Covered are:

• Proficiency in US taxation
• Tax return preparation and filing advisory skills
• Represent clients before IRS
• Have unlimited representation rights
• Appeal in favour of clients before IRS
• Advice clients on taxation aspects related to business transactions

• Business Correspondent and Business Facilitator

Male graduates below 26 years of age, and interested female candidates can also apply for this course. After completing the course candidates can work  in the  areas of Financial inclusion officer, Sales officer, Business Correspondent and business facilitator, Insurance agent (fund investment and service), Junior officer.

Skills Covered are:

• Marketing skills
• Digital marketing skills
• Sales skills
• Soft skills and public speaking
• Documentation and research skills

• Certified Banking, Securities Market and Insurance Professional

The course is offered jointly by three established institutes in the financial domain- National Institute of Securities Market (NISM, the apex body for the regulation and licensing of financial market dealing profession in India established by SEBI); Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF, the apex body under the ownership of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, that imparts professional education in banking and finance) & National Insurance Academy (NIA, a premier institution devoted to equip the insurance industry with the best of talents).

The minimum eligibility to enroll for the course is the completion of 1st year of any under-graduation course from a UGC recognized university. Candidates who have completed the graduation course can also enroll. Course duration is 187 hours. After completing the course candidates can work  in the  areas of Entry- level executive, Mid management jobs etc.

Skills Covered are:

• Banking & Finance
• Securities Markets & Insurance Skills

• Finance Service Executive

Graduates can apply for this course. The time duration of the course is 434 hours. After completing the course candidates can work  in the  areas of finance service executive, finance manager, programme assistant finance.  

Skills Covered are:

• Banking & Finance
• Securities Markets & Insurance Skills

• GCC VAT Using Tally

Eligibility of the course, 12th pass-outs/PUC (in any stream) with basic knowledge in Tally, students pursuing or completed graduation in any stream. Duration of 35 hours. After completing the course candidates can work  in the  areas of  Account Executive, Accounts Assistant, Accounts Manager.

Skills Covered are:

• Knowledge of taxation
• Ability to file returns in GCC countries

• GST Using Tally

The course has modules from fundamentals of GST to practicals of GST using Tally. The programme is enriched with varied business scenarios, charts, observations, solved illustrations, and practice scenarios on Tally. It is structured in a blended format which gives learners the flexibility to learn at their own pace while being guided by experts.

These are the trending courses that come under the Banking  and Finance sector offered by ASAP. The above are the certified investment management courses with great potential in the banking and finance sector. Choosing these courses from ASAP would be a great option for those who are aiming for a better job in this field.