Accountants: Do you like your job?

[Ebichuman]

Wade, if you hadn't taken any accounting classes, why would you want to intern at Big 4? For the accounting/audit stream you'd be at a disadvantage, for consulting/advisory it might be easier. If you get through the initial sort and start talking to recruiters, do that - a lot, attend school sessions, presentations etc and network. Reach out to any school alumni that might come to represent the employer. I think there were a few other threads with similar discussions - search for them. And good luck!

 

[SJ0323]

^Any of you guys have tips on how to land an internship at a Big 4? What do the interviewer look for aside from good grades? I'm going to be a sophomore in the fall. Hoping to get an internship for summer of 2013 (this doesn't have to be a big name firm) but I'd like to have a Big 4 or some other well known accounting firm as an internship in the summer after my junior year. Currently GPA is 3.38 but planning on getting that 3.5+ hopefully. Is it going to be a problem if I haven't really taken any accounting classes? By the end of spring semester 2013, I would be done with an intro accounting class but my school doesn't let us take any higher courses until junior year so I feel like that might put me behind others.

Hey wade, I would definitely reccommend checking with some professors in the Accounting Dept at your school on when students typically do internships because in most cases theres almost a path students take. I am a rising senior and our school has a 5-year Undergrad/MAcc Program and the students here tend to internships during the Spring Semester of their senior year, which gives students plenty of time to take the basic Intermediate Accounting and Auditing/Tax Classes.

As for tips on landing Big 4 internship I definitely would reccommend looking into the Summer Leadership Conferences some of the firms host. I'm a pretty similar student compared to you and did local leadership conferences with three Big 4 firms and got offers from all three before Campus recruiting has even begun.

As long as you try and network with the recruiters, have decent GPA, have some extracurriculars (Ones w/ leadership position helps), and appear to be a decent guy to work with you shouldnt have much trouble getting an internship. If you have any other questions shoot me a message though.

 

[FidelCashflow]



Is the new job more enjoyable?

Thought I'd update this thread since I've been working the new job in industry for 9 months now (previously a senior associate at a big4 firm) - you could probably see from my posting history i was pretty miserable at one point. Now I'm settled in my new role - it's not a thrill-ride everyday because it is accounting, but I do enjoy the balance. Part of my time is pretty straight-forward review of monthly JE's and reconciliations - the other part of the time is tackling issues for our department. Overtime is minimal, compensation is good - I'm fairly happy at the moment.

 

[longskate88]

Fidel,

Thanks for sharing...I'm about 1.5 years into Public but an exit route is always on my mind. How long did you spend in public before leaving? One of our clients mentioned the other day that he enjoys private more since you actually make operational decisions that really affect the company...like how you're going to make payroll next month, acquisition decisions, etc. If you have any other thoughts on public vs. private I'd be interested to hear. Thanks,

 

[FidelCashflow]

I left about 4 years into my career - really anytime after you get your designation you can go into industry - everyone is open to hiring a newly minted CPA. About a year after people get their designation is usually when they start thinking about whether they want to make manager or go elsewhere. The advice I give to all my friends at the firm is don't be in a hurry to leave - if you are with a good firm, you will get plenty of job offers. I know people who were just so desperate to get out they took the first job that came their way and they regretted it because their thinking was "it can't be any worse than my current job" - not "I want this job."

As an auditor I was pretty single minded - make sure the client follows GAAP - I didn't really care how they get there as long as they get there and I wasn't interested in anything else involved in their job. Now that I'm in industry I am starting to appreciate those other things - looking at GAAP is maybe 20% of my job - I have to be cognizant of how each decision affects the bottom line earnings which affect share prices, how each decision is impacted by our regulatory environment, how it affects customers and project managers as well as how it affects my team's workload. There are really alot more dimensions to how we do things beyond just following GAAP.

 

[Texasmade]



I left about 4 years into my career - really anytime after you get your designation you can go into industry - everyone is open to hiring a newly minted CPA. About a year after people get their designation is usually when they start thinking about whether they want to make manager or go elsewhere. The advice I give to all my friends at the firm is don't be in a hurry to leave - if you are with a good firm, you will get plenty of job offers. I know people who were just so desperate to get out they took the first job that came their way and they regretted it because their thinking was "it can't be any worse than my current job" - not "I want this job."
.

So true.

Also when staff and seniors ask me when the best time to leave is I always tell them leave when you don't want to be here, the hours are too much, you can't handle the stress, etc. but don't leave just for another 10% or 15% in pay.

 

[Flame]

So is there a difference in the Big 4? I have job offers from all 4 but leaning towards Deloitte since I plan to jump into consulting and advisory after establishing a solid foundation via assurance.

 

[Texasmade]



So is there a difference in the Big 4? I have job offers from all 4 but leaning towards Deloitte since I plan to jump into consulting and advisory after establishing a solid foundation via assurance.

Depends on the city. Big city like NYC, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, LA, etc. probably not much difference. You go to a place in Nebraska (Deloitte) or Louisiana (KPMG) and it'll probably be 1 big 4 firm dominating the city.

Also, don't think about moving practices from audit to consulting or advisory. It's possible but it's pretty rare without straight up switching firms. In my 6 years in public accounting, I've seen about 10 people switch from audit to advisory and more than half was through switching firms.

 

[janky fish]

I am taking FAR on the 8/30 and AUD on 11/30, hoping to take BEC and REG in the first testing window of 2013. 3.2 gpa; major in accounting minor in finance, went to a smaller private school and have no internship or accounting experience.

When should I start applying for accounting positions?

I was looking after I graduated and got a few interviews, but nothing serious. So I took more credits at a JC to get the 150 hours required by Illinois and have started the testing process. I assume passing a portion of the test would let potential employers know I am at least competent enough to be trained etc. but if I got no bites I'd probably just be applying at the same places after I pass all 4 parts. Any thoughts/advice?

 

[barkingloud78]

Worked as a junior accountant alongside CPA's for years. It can be rewarding for the right person. I understand your comment about being a 'numbers' person. I'd say, if you're someone who finds great satisfaction in getting things in order, making sense out of a mess, and then doing it all over again next month, you may find satisfaction in this field. Obviously the enjoyment of the job is greatly dependent upon where you work and who you work with as well. I was very blessed in that my accounting position gave me contacts to then start another company that was totally unrelated to accounting. The beauty was that the accounting position and the experience I gained in setting up a new company, filing state and local corporate documents, filing tax returns, bookkeeping, etc allowed me jump right in to starting my own company from scratch without any outside assistance. There are some very valuable and lifelong skills that can be gained in the accounting field that can serve you well over the course of your life, even if you don't stay in the field forever.

 

[Flame]



Depends on the city. Big city like NYC, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, LA, etc. probably not much difference. You go to a place in Nebraska (Deloitte) or Louisiana (KPMG) and it'll probably be 1 big 4 firm dominating the city.
Also, don't think about moving practices from audit to consulting or advisory. It's possible but it's pretty rare without straight up switching firms. In my 6 years in public accounting, I've seen about 10 people switch from audit to advisory and more than half was through switching firms.

Thanks.

So I have an physical interview with EY (one of the partners) on 25th September.

How good are my chances for a fresh grad position in *gasp* general assurance?

 

[Texasmade]



Thanks.
So I have an physical interview with EY (one of the partners) on 25th September.
How good are my chances for a fresh grad position in *gasp* general assurance?

If you go in thinking this then not very good. Audit isn't the greatest but if you act like it's **** then why would anyone want to hire you to do it. Back when I used to be somewhat involved in recruiting I would toss resumes of candidates that would sign up for audit interviews but would say they wanted to do transaction services or some other advisory service because it sounded more prestigious. I've done rotations in advisory from time to time when they were short staffed and it's every bit as tedious as audit is at a staff or senior level. Also the amount of travel you do in advisory is ridiculous. A lot of them travel about 70% or more of the year.

 

[Flame]

^ Thanks. I think you misunderstand me. Talking to my peers, I think I'm one of the rare cases in my cohort to actually want to do general assurance (due to the wide-spread exposure, and cross industrial learning experience) as opposed to everyone wanting to do advisory, risk mgmt etc. Everyone is saying how audit will suck the life out of you and is pretty much shunning away. All better for me I guess.

You still haven't really answered my earlier question. thanks for the help so far.

 

[Texasmade]

Is this an office interview or on-campus interview? The former means your chances are pretty good while the latter is still a toss up.

 

[millionaire75]



I left about 4 years into my career - really anytime after you get your designation you can go into industry - everyone is open to hiring a newly minted CPA. About a year after people get their designation is usually when they start thinking about whether they want to make manager or go elsewhere. The advice I give to all my friends at the firm is don't be in a hurry to leave - if you are with a good firm, you will get plenty of job offers. I know people who were just so desperate to get out they took the first job that came their way and they regretted it because their thinking was "it can't be any worse than my current job" - not "I want this job."
As an auditor I was pretty single minded - make sure the client follows GAAP - I didn't really care how they get there as long as they get there and I wasn't interested in anything else involved in their job. Now that I'm in industry I am starting to appreciate those other things - looking at GAAP is maybe 20% of my job - I have to be cognizant of how each decision affects the bottom line earnings which affect share prices, how each decision is impacted by our regulatory environment, how it affects customers and project managers as well as how it affects my team's workload. There are really alot more dimensions to how we do things beyond just following GAAP.

Great advice. I agree...don't leave public accounting too early. I did after only three years and now over 10 years later regret it. One piece of advice...look into bank regulatory accounting...a field that is heating up right now (especially reg capital).