|
Bugamol posted:How long have you been looking for a job and where? Just saying "Yes I'm currently living in Germany, but want to move back to the United States" is going to turn off a lot of employers. I've been looking for jobs mainly in Germany since the beginning of May. I haven't bothered applying to US companies, since up until a couple weeks ago I was still planning on trying to stay here. It's possible no one here wants to deal with a work permit for me and the MBA isn't even the problem. I've been thinking a lot about what direction I want to go with my career, and came to the conclusion I want to focus on accounting. I've been reading a lot about corporate finance or accounting guys who climb a bit up the ladder, then can't get any higher (controller/CFO/etc.) because they don't have a CPA, and can't get a CPA because they'd have to downgrade their life massively to get the public accounting work requirement. People also seem to have similar trouble without an MBA - Finance, but luckily that's not me! I figured I'm already making nothing, and if I want to get the CPA *someday*, my opportunity cost today is lower than it will be 10 years from now.
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2014 20:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 14:59 |
|
|
If you want to be in accounting, go get your actg cert or second bachelors. You should be really employable with your current degree set though. But perhaps in more finance things than actg, but i'm sure you know that,
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2014 22:55
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:If you want to be in accounting, go get your actg cert or second bachelors. You should be really employable with your current degree set though. But perhaps in more finance things than actg, but i'm sure you know that, The problem I've run into looking for finance jobs, is a lot of the stuff I think is interesting requires way more math than I have. Stuff like financial modeling/engineering, which would require a more radical shift than I want to make. I definitely don't care enough, and honestly might not be smart enough to do that stuff well. Having a job that I'm good at is important to me. Of the finance jobs I might be able to get, it seems like it's mostly analyst jobs (fundamental analysis stock-picking, etc.). Since I paid attention in my finance classes, I know that kind of trading either a) logically cannot beat the market on an expected, risk-adjusted basis, or b) overwhelmingly fails to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis. I don't want a job that's basically gambling, but with long hours and high stress. Or, since I'm a pretty good salesman, I could do "wealth management," which would either be helping rich people avoid taxes (I'd rather help BP kill baby seals and ruin Nigeria), or convincing little old ladies to buy expensive actively-managed securities that cannot beat the market.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2014 09:12
|
|
|
What's the best order to do the CPA sections in if I want to do hardest to easiest? FAR > AUD> ??
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2014 18:59
|
|
|
SarutosZero posted:What's the best order to do the CPA sections in if I want to do hardest to easiest? FAR > AUD> ?? FAR > AUD or REG (do whichever is harder for you first. Like if you got an MTax do REG third because it's probably easier for you) > BEC
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2014 22:19
|
|
|
I was under the assumption AUD wasn't too bad... is one month enough time to study? both of those things are good to hear - thanks! VVVVV abagofcheetos fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Jul 28, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2014 22:34
|
|
|
abagofcheetos posted:I was under the assumption AUD wasn't too bad... is one month enough time to study? AUD isn't that bad; it just has a lot of overlap with FAR so it's beneficial to take them back to back. One month is enough time to study for it. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Jul 28, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2014 22:40
|
|
|
Might as well throw a post in here I am currently about to head into my junior year of college... I am currently attending the University of Portland and am double majoring in accounting and finance. I generally shat the bed my freshmen year I started out in engineering and did pretty badly :/ so far I spent my sophomore year rebuilding my GPA to a flat 3.0 :/ which was like a "oh thank Jesus I am at least at this point". Mostly I am not sure if I really want to go into accounting or finance these were mostly my backup majors. However I found accounting really easy like... no effort in studying etc. However I haven't done anything beyond joining any of the accounting/finance associations due to my general confusion if I even want to do this in retrospect and my general "meh" attitude to these things. However going into my junior year I am sort of at a well... poo poo moment for things. Half the people I know our proclaiming your doomed if you dont have a 3.5 and the school seems to expect you to land a job with a Big 4. Essentially I have heard I am pretty much excluded from even applying due to my sub 3.5 GPA so was wondering if there are any goons in Portland or Seattle or hell the PNW who might direct me to some smaller regional companies. Also due to the fact I am double majoring and have an AA that I earned in high school from community college I think I will meet the 150 credit threshold to take the CPA Exam so that should help. In general I guess this was just a bit of a rant, and I sort of just wanted to get it off my chest.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2014 09:25
|
|
|
Jack2142 posted:Might as well throw a post in here Try and do at least one internship before you graduate. In my experience the only people who managed to get jobs in the field after school were those who did. Even smaller places are going to want that. Doesn't help solve your problem but hopefully its useful advice if you plan to continue! Also I had a worse GPA than that and have a perfectly fine accounting job. It's not big 4 or anything but it pays my bills and is teaching me plenty of good job skills.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2014 13:22
|
|
|
Jack2142 posted:Might as well throw a post in here Not sure about your locality, but nationwide there is a serious lack of accounting grads. I know people who have gotten into Big 4 with a 3.2. Now that was with a more prestigious school (now idea how UoP ranks) I wouldn't fret. You can always start your career at McGladrey or BDO and move to the big 4 later if that's what you want. What you should fret about, however is getting an internship offer in the upcoming recruiting season. Start doing research now. If you apply in November you're too late as most interns have been selected for the summer by then.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2014 14:06
|
|
|
You need to get your GPA up as high as possible. If your campus does any sort of "meet the firms" night, career networking, or open door interview you will need to go to those. If you have a strong Accounting Major GPA >3.5-3.7 you should be able to talk your way out of your slightly lower overall GPA. Just explain that you thought you wanted to be an engineer, it wasn't working out, and accounting was always your backup plan. If you try and just blind apply to company websites there is a good chance you will be excluded on your GPA alone. Overall I would say not to despair too much as a >3.0 GPA should net you a job. As others have mentioned getting a good internship and building business connections is going to be the most important part. I graduated with a <2.5 GPA, 0 internships, and I was still able to land an accounting job before I graduated. I was stuck there for about 2.5 years (and they knew it), but was eventually able to get a much better job when other companies stop asking about my GPA.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2014 15:15
|
|
|
Bloody Queef posted:Not sure about your locality, but nationwide there is a serious lack of accounting grads. I know people who have gotten into Big 4 with a 3.2. Now that was with a more prestigious school (now idea how UoP ranks) I wouldn't fret. You can always start your career at McGladrey or BDO and move to the big 4 later if that's what you want. What you should fret about, however is getting an internship offer in the upcoming recruiting season. Start doing research now. If you apply in November you're too late as most interns have been selected for the summer by then. Oh of course I am shooting for an internship, its actually a requirement to graduate at my school that we secure one for our summer leading into our senior year. I think the day school starts we have a meet the firms open house which I definitely intend to look into at least. So yeah while I will still look into the Big 4 I think I am going to focus on some of the smaller ,but still national firms as my primary goal for an internship.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2014 19:04
|
|
|
According to the IMA (the CMA organization), you have a 7/10 chance of being hired by the firm with whom you intern: http://imaleadership.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/summer-vacation-rest-relaxation-and-reaching-your-goals/
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2014 21:52
|
|
|
Jack2142 posted:Oh of course I am shooting for an internship, its actually a requirement to graduate at my school that we secure one for our summer leading into our senior year. I think the day school starts we have a meet the firms open house which I definitely intend to look into at least. So yeah while I will still look into the Big 4 I think I am going to focus on some of the smaller ,but still national firms as my primary goal for an internship. If that's your focus ( mid size national firms) tell them that you're looking for a firm with Big 4 resources, but a small firm feel. Typically HR people attend those events to pre-screen and they eat that poo poo up.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 01:35
|
|
|
Here's a bit of a niche question for anyone in public accounting audit or that is subject to independence requirements: I'll be starting in October in public audit, and I'm starting to think about retirement saving. I've been in the Long-Term Investing thread in BFC, but I'm concerned my options will be limited due to the stringent independence requirements I'll be subject to. Will I be able to open a Roth IRA at, say Vanguard, or will independence prevent me from doing that since the funds are self-directed and investments known to me? My main concern is I'm going to have poo poo fund selection in the blind 401(k) and have no way to have decent investments if I can't open a Roth or have an outside HSA without compromising independence. Any feedback on this is appreciated, I may just be psyching myself out a bit, too.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 06:45
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:You need to get your GPA up as high as possible. If your campus does any sort of "meet the firms" night, career networking, or open door interview you will need to go to those. If you have a strong Accounting Major GPA >3.5-3.7 you should be able to talk your way out of your slightly lower overall GPA. Just explain that you thought you wanted to be an engineer, it wasn't working out, and accounting was always your backup plan. If you try and just blind apply to company websites there is a good chance you will be excluded on your GPA alone. I think this is solid advice. Get an internship, get your grades higher and start making connections. I think that the number of jobs will continue to outpace the number of qualified applicants for the foreseeable future.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 07:01
|
|
|
Mandalay posted:According to the IMA (the CMA organization), you have a 7/10 chance of being hired by the firm with whom you intern: http://imaleadership.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/summer-vacation-rest-relaxation-and-reaching-your-goals/ ...according to the marketing officer of internships.com Anyway, I'm going into the Fall recruiting season with a 3.33 GPA and two semesters to graduate. The only reason my GPA is so "low" is I've only taken 39 credits at my school (State University), and 6 of those credits are Fs due to my stupid teenage self (the rest of my credits are transferred, so they don't count towards my university GPA). How much will that hurt me in interviewing with a Big Four firm? My last two semesters have been 4.0 (and my ACC GPA is 4.0)? I finish an auditing internship in a few weeks with a very large local firm (used to be a Big Four firm 10 years ago). Another question: If this firm I'm interning with gives me an offer, I'll sign, but I'd like to move to the mainland once I grad. Would already having an offer help getting my foot in with a Big Four, or should I not mention that while I'm interviewing (if I get an offer/sign)? Euphoriaphone fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Jul 30, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 08:29
|
|
|
Banzai 3 posted:Here's a bit of a niche question for anyone in public accounting audit or that is subject to independence requirements: Your firm will have very clear guidelines about what company's stock you can't own, who you can't have an bank account/loan with, etc. They'll publish a list that is constantly updated. The requirements for an A1 are a hell of a lot less stringent than a manager or above, since you have absolutely no impact on the audit report's outcome.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 11:34
|
|
|
Euphoriaphone posted:...according to the marketing officer of internships.com You'll be fine. Emphasize your major GPA on resumes and in conversations but be prepared with a good response when they ask about your overall. 3.3 isn't even that unreasonably low. Your biggest concern will be if a firm uses a minimum GPA on their supplemental online application as a way to cut down the number of applicants. Also, like with most jobs, being known by people at the firm can get you through a lot of problems that could otherwise sink you. Meet the firms events help, but knowing classmates that already got offers and are volunteering at the event is even better, since they can direct you to the right people and put in a good word.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 13:17
|
|
|
Took FAR today... didn't feel nearly as bad afterwards as I did with REG, but considering how I ended up doing with REG maybe that is a bad thing  I'm just glad it is over with, on to AUD!
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 00:51
|
|
|
BEC score should be released tomorrow. I came out of the exam not feeling bad but also not feeling like I hit a home run, so here's hoping the curve was kind to me. Has anyone else felt this way?
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 01:38
|
|
|
Sy Borg posted:BEC score should be released tomorrow. I came out of the exam not feeling bad but also not feeling like I hit a home run, so here's hoping the curve was kind to me. Has anyone else felt this way? Yes, everyone, on every CPA test ever. Besides the ones people knew they failed.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 01:45
|
|
|
Sy Borg posted:BEC score should be released tomorrow. I came out of the exam not feeling bad but also not feeling like I hit a home run, so here's hoping the curve was kind to me. Has anyone else felt this way? BEC especially - it's just such a random grab bag of topics it's hard to say for sure until you get the score back. I hate being a non-NASBA state, I've gotta wait until Monday to get FAR. I also take REG on Monday and it sounds like it's pretty brutal, so that could be a really, really bad day if all goes awry.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 01:50
|
|
|
Why do you guys think scores are coming out tomorrow? It says August 4th on the NASBA email.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 02:26
|
|
|
Sy Borg posted:BEC score should be released tomorrow. I came out of the exam not feeling bad but also not feeling like I hit a home run, so here's hoping the curve was kind to me. Has anyone else felt this way? I came out of ( the old three day ) exam knowing I had failed. When I was informed that I had passed I then spent the next year waiting for the inevitable retraction letter informing me that they had made a mistake in grading.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 03:06
|
|
|
Harry posted:Why do you guys think scores are coming out tomorrow? It says August 4th on the NASBA email. Almost without fail, if you're a NASBA state, this link will show your score tomorrow at some point. https://ncd.nasba.org/gwprdv2/servlet/hgwcs01 It's normally a business day earlier than what the email says.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 03:37
|
|
|
Remember how I was taking FAR 9 days after REG? Passed both
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 15:59
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:Remember how I was taking FAR 9 days after REG? Passed both Congratulations !
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 16:41
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:Remember how I was taking FAR 9 days after REG? Passed both Congratulations. Want to do mine now? I've been studying for 2 months for FAR and feel like I'm going to forget how to do accounting as soon as I sit down.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 18:37
|
|
|
himurak posted:Congratulations. Want to do mine now? I've been studying for 2 months for FAR and feel like I'm going to forget how to do accounting as soon as I sit down. I'm sure you'll be fine if you've spent that much time. The only stuff on there that you might not have seen in undergrad would be gov/nonprofits and maybe some pension stuff. That said, I was absolutely sure I failed until I logged in today and saw my scores. Now to just finish up BEC so I've got the whole group of 4 done before I start my new job.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 18:57
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:Remember how I was taking FAR 9 days after REG? Passed both Congrats!
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 20:37
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:I'm sure you'll be fine if you've spent that much time. The only stuff on there that you might not have seen in undergrad would be gov/nonprofits and maybe some pension stuff.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 22:25
|
|
|
I passed BEC. Now I can focus on REG with a confidence boost.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2014 18:02
|
|
|
Sy Borg posted:I passed BEC. Now I can focus on REG with a confidence boost. Congrats! How many parts are left?
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2014 20:31
|
|
|
It was my first section, so three to go.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2014 23:06
|
|
|
So I have gotten in contact through my schools career services department with a couple of recruiters, I have sent Glen Thorton recruiter my resume and an unofficial transcript, while in two weeks when I get back to Portland I will have coffee with a recruiter from Ernst and Young. However I did find out that my GPA isn't a 3.0 like it said on my last transcript apparently it is down to a 2.97  seriously just round up. On the plus side I have since my freshman year brought up my GPA from a 2.4 to the 2.97 and this year if I keep on track I should get it up to a 3.2 - 3.3 or so maybe 3.5-3.6 by the time I graduate.
Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Aug 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 19:21
|
|
|
Jack2142 posted:So I have gotten in contact through my schools career services department with a couple of recruiters, I have sent Glen Thorton recruiter my resume and an unofficial transcript, while in two weeks when I get back to Portland I will have coffee with a recruiter from Ernst and Young. So you are looking for an internship ?
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 20:47
|
|
|
Jack2142 posted:So I have gotten in contact through my schools career services department with a couple of recruiters, I have sent Glen Thorton recruiter my resume and an unofficial transcript, while in two weeks when I get back to Portland I will have coffee with a recruiter from Ernst and Young. I assume you mean Grant Thornton? Good people at that company but good luck navigating their recruiting. At my school they screwed up and auto rejected the entire applicant pool and when they corrected that they let accepted candidates know 4 days late. After being approved for second round interviews they finally got back to me weeks after I already accepted a big 4 offer to let me know that they set me up for a second interview in the city I wanted to move to, but I'd need to pay for the travel and hotel myself. Ha. Still not as funny as KPMG (I think) that accidentally sent every single applicant an invite to the pre-interview dinner/drinks gathering, whether or not they were accepted. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 21:58
|
|
|
seymore posted:So you are looking for an internship ? Yes I am currently looking for an internship. Good Citizen posted:I assume you mean Grant Thornton? Dammit... yeah I don't know why I said Glen Thornton. Thats also an interesting set of failures especially the one by KPMG that must have been drat awkward. I also have sent out emails to recruiters for Moss Adams, KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC because those our the recruiters my school had contact info for. However haven't heard back or got a "not in the office atm, currently traveling etc. auto message".
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2014 08:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 14:59 |
|
|
One question is if you're heavily recruited at those schools. Like does your school get visited by all the firms looking for people? If yes you're probably just ahead of the curve on recruitment season which in my experience doesn't start until fall gets into full swing. If no, you'll probably want to be aggressive in making sure you stand out to recruiters in some (positive) way.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2014 12:15
|
|