<p>“I suppose my major concern is that I have appeared to scattered and unfocused with my studies. Is that going prevent me from getting a good accounting job? or once i’ve passed the CPA test, does that override any of your past mistakes?”</p>
<p>That is a valid concern. It won’t necessarily prevent you from getting a good job, but it’ll make things more difficult. Be sure you have a good story ready for interviews/cover letters.</p>
<p>There are plenty of people who’ve changed direction/career paths and that is okay. BUT you had a degree in psychology, masters marketing, and quit working towards a law degree. I wouldnt even know how to begin explaining that to recruiters.</p>
<p>Usually, the process is to get your bachelor’s degree, and then get your additional courses to meet the 150 unit requirement for CPA licensing. </p>
<p>Is it possible to complete the additional courses at a community college BEFORE you get your bachelor’s degree, and then transfer to a 4-year school?</p>
<p>taxguy, Could you perhaps describe the different types of accounting jobs and their environment (I’m sure there’s plenty of info like that on the web, but personal experience is nicer), and the outlook for those sections of accounting?</p>
<p>For example, a friend who is a tax intern with GS says she doesn’t use anything she learned in her financial and managerial accounting courses. I find it hard to believe that nothing is used, and I believe she might be exaggerating a bit.</p>
<p>By the way, I’m a returning accounting major (was going for accounting, switched to education, gave that up and went back for accounting). Now I’m trying to set goals for myself to achieve, and I’m hoping you could help me in my researching process.</p>
<p>This is by far the most helpful thread in regards about accounting that has ever been published. Well written and straight to the point. I’m going to use this as a guideline.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this has been asked - but does the school HAVE to be AASCB accredited in Accounting for it to be a viable school toward taking the CPA exam?</p>
<p>I live in California, and the only cheapest schools here that are accredited are SDSU and CSU Fullerton, and UC San Diego… but even that’s a little pricey. IF I can’t transfer into these schools, (I’m pretty sure I could though…) I’ll only be left with uber expensive schools…i.e. USC, etc.</p>
<p>But schools like Northridge also have an Accountancy major, but they aren’t accredited…so is it neccessary for AACSB accreditation?</p>
<p>"This is by far the most helpful thread in regards about accounting that has ever been published. Well written and straight to the point. I’m going to use this as a guideline. "</p>
<p>Yes it’s a good thread. Although I wouldn’t call 150+ pages straight to the point. ;). </p>
<p>Watch out. Much of the stuff written, particularly in the beginning of the thread, is much too optimistic in regards to being an accounting major in this economic environment (it’s a much more competitive field nowadays IMO).</p>
<p>I found a lot of answers in this thread, thank you taxguy for starting it.</p>
<p>I wanted some clarity on an issue that I think a lot of you might have a better understanding of than myself. I’m 23 years old starting an accounting program at my local community college. Before this I attended a state university for 3 years and fooled around, got a GPA way below 2.0 and experienced a big tragedy in the family, I can’t blame my academic problems on that, but it definitely didn’t help. I ended up abandoning my studies at the state school and came back home and started at the local community college. So far I’ve been getting all A’s and I feel way more focused and serious about my studies. </p>
<p>Now when I do get accepted to a four year school, will the internships and jobs I apply to ask for my transcripts from the beginning? Or just the current ones they need. Like the transcripts for my accounting degree.?</p>
<p>Are there any accountants that, you know, actually like their jobs?</p>
<p>The more I research about the profession, the more I read about people who are just outrageously dissatisfied with their jobs, and only see it as a paycheck. Essentially, leading the cliche cubicle dwellelling, clock watching, monotonous lifestyle. Granted, I don’t believe that one needs to have a BURNING DESIRE/PASSION - and in the end, a job is a job, but come on? </p>
<p>Part of the reason many of us went to college to obtain a degree in the first place was to avoid being saddled in a job we detested. So, what’s up with that job satisfaction, or lack thereof? Are these disgruntled employees merely the loud, vocal minority or is there really something going on here?</p>
<p>How would I go about getting an internship with no experience at all? I’m currently a sophomore. I’m taking my first accounting class in the spring because at the end of my freshmen year, I only had 29 credits total and my school requires that you have 30 before you can sign up for the intro accounting class. GPA at the moment is 3.38 but hopefully 3.5+ after this semester. I know I’m not getting into any Big 4 or prestigious firm but i just want to land an internship so I can have some experience. I looked on the career center’s listings for internships and stuff but most of them say they want people with experience or knowledge of Quickbooks. I have neither of those.</p>
<p>Is there any advice someone can give me on how to get an internship?</p>
<p>Strictly
You might try asking your family’s accountant if they offer internships to college students. We did this and it worked well for our daughter. However, she required that our daughter have certain accounting classes before she began her internship.</p>
<p>The reason for this is without a certain knowledge base you simply aren’t useful to an accounting firm. </p>
<p>Why not do an online tutorial for Quickbooks right now? Then begin looking at the internships again.</p>
<p>I’ve got on-campus interviews with 3 of the Big 4 in 2 weeks. It’s not really explicit on my resume that I’m an older undergrad student (I’m 26, I had to work for a few years to save up to attend the nice business school I’m at). I’m curious as to whether I should bring up how I had to work for a couple of years to save for school when I get asked the common “Tell me about yourself,” as I feel that it shows determination. Or maybe it’s seen as “bad” to be an older guy since it looks like I didn’t have direction in my earlier life. What do you all think?</p>
<p>If you like the intellectual challenge of issuing audit/tax opinions and you don’t mind working long hours with stressed out people then public accounting may be for you! If you want an 8-5 job, being praised for your work (some people grew up with oversupportive cheerleading parents), and less insanity then public accounting isn’t for you. I am a competitive person and I love the team environment. It really reminds me of high school football. There is office politics, competition, and a lot to gain or lose. Partners at times can behave like high school football coaches if they are having a bad day and getting sued or having a client threaten to jump ship. </p>
<p>Public accounting isn’t for people that value off time. While firms preach work life balance few follow it. Don’t believe a damn thing they say with regard to that. Why the big 4 are on the top companies to work for year after year I don’t know. Part time is considered 40 hours a week while full time is 60+ hours a week. </p>
<p>That being said it is a much more secure career than investment banking, it takes less time than being an MD or Lawyer ( and less loan debt), and you can make a upper middle class to upper class income in a few years.</p>
<p>For an audit position with the big 4 what is expected in terms of what you learned in school? I haven’t brushed up an some of the things i learned in some of the accounting courses but do have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of accounting. Is this sufficient in terms of interviewing and being able to perform on the job?</p>
<p>After reading what this thread says about colleges in regards to getting a job at the Big four I’ve seen that it says normally you go to school where you want to work, that being said I’m from Northern New Jersey and would like to after school live here and work in the city. That being said is it hard to go to a Southern school (I’ve been considering University of Georgia pretty hard) and be able to work at the NYC offices of a Big Four firm? Looking at Georgia’s career services website it seems that they do recruit pretty hard at UGA.</p>
<p>You will not need to remember that much from your coursework to perform in a national firm. You will need to relearn most things in undergraduate and more to pass the CPA exam. That is very important and if it takes you more than 2 years you may get fired. Th biggest thing is that you have good grades in your accounting courses and those who interview you like you as a person.</p>
<p>Hi, I am currently an undergraduate accounting student at the University of Richmond and have been following this post closely over the past couple years. While I am sure that taxguy is extremely well informed and have personally learned a lot about accounting from his posts, I believe I have some useful information that he left out. As an upper classman at a Big 4 target school, I’ve met personally with recruiters from each of the Big 4 firms and learned a lot about the recruiting process. According to ALL of the recruiters I spoke to and my 201 professor who made Senior Partner at Ernst and Young, I can tell you with certainty that G.P.A is not the end all be all of recruiting. While maintaining above a 3.0 (and usually higher than that) is a must if you wish to be hired, your G.P.A is not the end all be all. According to all of the recruitors and many of my peers who held internships with the Big 4, I know that a company will not hire a student strictly based on their G.P.A. Rather, G.P.A is a sort of pre-screening measurement that will allow Big 4 recruiters to read your resume. After it is clear that an applicant meets the G.P.A requirement (it varies with each firm), the recruitors will look into your leadership experience, work experience, and other extra-curriculars. It may very well be that the accounting landscape has changed since taxguy was a member and now employers look for a more dynamic, well rounded applicant. Again, I don’t mean to negate any of the information taxguy and others have posted (99% of it is dead on), but I feel obligated to share this information with those who have not heard first hand what is looked for in perspective employees. Once again, thanks for everything you’ve posted taxguy and I hope you don’t take this personally.</p>