What if I can't get a big 4 internship

Whatdidyou
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:15:57 +0000

“accounting activities”, “volunteer events” and certain “leadership experience” (such as club officer positions) can be VERY surface level, and recruiters often read it as such (you just going through the motions).

Although out of those 3, leadership experience is the most important - especially if you’re doing it on a regular basis at your job - even if it’s just fast food IMO.

If it (your resume) feels empty, that’s a problem. Just remember that depth & quality matter more than quantity, just make sure that quality/depth is apparant on your resume and be able to talk about it. Students tend to underestimate the value of their own experiences, I’m sure you’ve lead/supervised/guided/taught people before, but just don’t view it that way - although that experience is often more valued by recruiters than some random club officer title that is just a title and nothing more.

Students do tend to overestimate the ease in getting a public accounting job (it aint no cakewalk!), just being a terrific student and being articulate/well-spoken, don’t guarantee nutin, as multitudes of students find out every year.

However, I think it’s sorta silly to not work towards the CPA if you are an accounting major. Whether you end up in public accounting or not, I bet it pays off in the end. But that is a decision that you will have to make on your own.