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I am in the process of beginning the hunt for my first job for after I finish my Masters in May and I attended my university's job fair yesterday. The number of accounting firms that showed up was disappointing; only around 10 or so, even less than the number of firms that attended when the economy was at rock bottom. While there is a chance I might land an interview from the companies I talked to yesterday, I am starting to realize that I might need to find interviews on my own without the benefits of meeting recruiters in person. Of course, there is one more fair in the Spring and I am also keeping an eye out for events at school where I can mingle with recruiters. However, if it comes down to it, would applications on the company's website be any better/worse than sites like Monster.com or CareerBuilder? I am not very familiar with HR practices, so I don't know if one gets more attention than the other.
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Oct 8, 2010 03:47
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Are you two planning on preparing/taking the CPA exam right after graduating? I am in a similar position (fall job fair resulted in 0 interviews since only a small number of firms showed up this time), but try to make myself feel better by telling myself I'll have better luck after passing the exam since it'll set me apart from many other applicants (oh god, I hope). I've been applying like crazy on websites, but have a feeling online applications are just for the amusement of the company as they get autodeleted and never get read. I guess one bright spot is that I graduate in the spring instead of next month, so I can hope the spring job fair has more firms than the fall. It just sucks that I had a ton of internship interviews back when I was horrible at interviewing, but now that I have improved my skills I can't land an interview to save my life  edit - I've also had professors recommend attending state CPA society events, so I've been keeping an eye out for those. It might be worth checking into if you aren't already. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Nov 9, 2010 |
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Nov 9, 2010 05:37
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hellboundburrito posted:Not to mention once you have a job, studying for the exam on top of work sucks a lot. Two other things to think about that makes taking the exam ASAP a good idea: 1. After a few months/years away from school, your study skills are going to be poo poo. I took a few years off after high school and it was a rough transition for my first semester in college since I forgot so many of the techniques I used in high school. Eventually I picked it back up, but the point is that you will be much better at studying for the exam right out of college than you will be a year or two from now. 2. Think about an advanced math class you took in your freshman or sophomore year, think you can do half the problems now that you were able to do then? As one of my professors is so fond of saying, knowledge has a short half life. According to him, there will be a large number of questions on the exam that deal with matters you might not experience frequently on the job. If you have been out of school for a while, there is a good chance you will have forgotten many of the minor details I can understand cost being an issue (since I am dreading the bill for Becker/exam registrations), but there's got to be some way to swing it. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Nov 10, 2010 |
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Nov 10, 2010 05:13
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I have an interview scheduled with a firm in two weeks regarding a possible position for the fall (hurray!). While studying the firm's website, I noticed that it mentions how employees generally stick to a single area of specialization (such as healthcare, construction, pension plans, governmental, etc) rather than a broader approach where employees work in multiple industries/fields. The idea of specialization is interesting, but do firms generally expect you to know which industry you want to specialize in straight out of college? Or will they typically let you sample various industries before expecting a decision? Just wondering since there are several industries handled by the firm that interest me and it would be tough to choose one without actually experiencing them first.
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Dec 25, 2010 18:38
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Do any of you guys have experience with governmental accounting jobs? More specifically, auditing state agencies. I had a 2nd interview today for a state auditor gig and since it went really well and there are only a few other candidates, I am thinking I have a really good chance of getting an offer. I love my governmental accounting class I am taking this semester and find the idea of auditing state agencies interesting, so I don't mind taking the pay cut compared to what I would get elsewhere. However, I am a bit concerned that I might be limiting myself to nothing but governmental work if I do it straight out of college without paying my dues at a typical CPA firm first. Would the governmental auditing skills I gain translate to typical business audits? Or are there enough differences where I might be at a disadvantage if I start with governmental first and decide to move elsewhere at a later date? Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Mar 23, 2011 |
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Mar 23, 2011 03:41
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abagofcheetos posted:I need some advice. I am already taking classes and on the path to enroll next fall for a second bachelors degree in accounting. However, every single person at the university I want to attend (Temple) treats me like I'm telling them the world is flat when I say I don't want to do their masters program, I want to do undergrad. My question is, why? You've got the right idea; as long as you meet the various requirements to sit for the CPA exam, there really isn't a huge benefit to getting a masters instead of a bachelors. If you are more interested in an undergrad degree so you can get exposure to other business areas, go for it. Just make sure to check out the CPA exam requirements for your state to make sure you have the required accounting/other business class hours.
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Aug 6, 2011 03:35
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There's nothing wrong with getting a Masters if you feel like it, but employers don't really care about it other than the fact that it shows you have 150 hours and can sit for the exam.
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Dec 21, 2011 04:59
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SirPhoebos posted:I recently took the Auditing Section of the CPA test. Though I don't know the results yet, I feel as though I did a pretty good job. Most tend to say FAR or REG. Personally I lean toward FAR; no single topic is difficult or anything, there is just a RIDICULOUS amount of material that could be tested. In addition you have to deal with all the IFRS poo poo being phased in (that we will probably never wind up using, but oh well). Edit - We've also got a CPA exam thread if you ever want to ask questions or contemplate suicide. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Apr 12, 2012 |
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Apr 12, 2012 00:14
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Harry posted:I'm surprised anything remotely related to auditing doesn't require a drug test, especially a Big 4. Don't most large corporations and all government audits require it? I'm in governmental auditing (state level) and I've never had to take a drug test.
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Oct 5, 2012 00:06
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Borgonderbee posted:I last posted in this thread asking for advice in August as I was interviewing with a private audit firm. It went well, and I all but had the job when at the last minute the person I was replacing cancelled their plans to move out of state I'm a state auditor; it's a good job if you are at all interested in how states operate. You'll see a wide variety of environments ranging from typical offices to universities to maximum security prisons and mental health centers. The pay usually is usually lower than public accounting in most states, but the benefits are great and you won't have to deal with the ridiculous hours people complain about with public firms. The downside is that the experience you gain is pretty much only going to be useful if you plan on transferring to another state/federal agency or a firm that has contracts to perform governmental audits. Do you know whether the position is for financial/compliance/performance/IS audits? There are some pretty big differences in the work you'll do depending on which one you'll be assigned to. As for your lack of knowledge about governmental accounting, don't worry about it. Governmental accounting can be confusing at first since most people never take Gov/NFP classes in school, but you'll pick it up pretty fast as you go. You might want to read a bit about the interaction between different fund types (governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary) just to get a basic understanding for your interview. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Nov 21, 2012 |
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Nov 21, 2012 07:41
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hellboundburrito posted:May I ask why you became a state auditor? I'm in public but have occasionally looked at state postings. Did you choose state over public? If so, why? Regardless, where do you see yourself in five years? I chose state over public since I've always been really interested in how governments operate. It was a tough decision at the time since I was worried about hurting my future opportunities by not having public experience, but spending some time talking with the Auditor General during my office visits convinced me to go for it. As for where I see myself in five years, it's kind of tough to say right now. I'm planning on moving to Colorado in the next year or so, but I am undecided whether I will stick with state auditing after I move or go for an internal role with a state/fed agency. Luckily I have a bit of time to figure out which path to take.
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Nov 21, 2012 17:40
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I used Yaeger, which included the Wiley books and test bank. The questions were pretty close to the real exam (not too easy, not too hard), but I don't know if I would recommend using Wiley alone since the books tend to go into too much detail instead of focusing on the most important parts. The test bank is awesome for supplementing whatever other review program you use, though. (I think CPA Excel uses Wiley also) Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 15:19 on Mar 20, 2014 |
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Mar 20, 2014 15:08
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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 |
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Jul 28, 2014 22:40
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SarutosZero posted:I passed FAR. It was my first section. Which section should I take next? AUD has a lot of overlap with FAR and would be a good choice before you dump everything out of your brain
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Dec 19, 2014 03:44
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