Oversmart or Overdue? CA Firm Gets Schooled for Dismissing Curious Intern

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Incident Background An innocuous question by a Chartered Accountancy student about work timings and stipend before applying for articleship has created a firestorm in the social media sphere. The student approached a mid-scale CA firm in Faridabad, where he was rejected as oversmart for asking basic questions. The firm's curt response—shared as a WhatsApp screenshot—has invited widespread criticism and brought the topic of toxic work culture back in the spotlight in India's professional training system.

Key Developments

The student wrote on Reddit, stating that they requested office hours and did not want to waste time on ill-fitting opportunities.

The company's reaction, instructing the student not to report and referring to them as oversmart, was interpreted by the majority as being offhand and unprofessional.

The student later revealed they joined another firm offering 2.4 LPA, but the original firm’s identity remains undisclosed.

Community Responses

Others have defended the student, deploring the actions of the firm as exploitative and symptomatic of a deeper problem in CA articleship culture.

Some experts believed that talks about stipends could wait until later in the interviewing process, while others maintained transparency had to exist on both sides from the beginning.

The word oversmart itself had critics, with the word being accused of being a red flag that's being used to silence proper grievances.

Greater Implications

This incident has been a rallying cry for more profound issues—transparency, power dynamic, and outdated expectations in professional internships. It is not one student; it is about rewriting norms for the next generation of professionals.

Sources: Hindustan Times, News18, Storypick, Livemint, The420.in