[Anonymous]

Hi all!

I recently graduated college this May and I’ve been job searching. I am currently doing a contract gig for a small firm. I have graduated with a 3.0 and it’s making me depressed. I felt like my GPA is too low for a lot of positions in the market. I have done a couple of internships in college (I have two years in A/P and managed to work two summer internships as a staff accountant.) During my junior/senior year, I landed a big 4 internship but did not received a full time offer. People in the office told me that they slightly overhired this year as there was no work to pass around. However I know I didn’t do that great of a job and I do not blame them for not giving me any offer. I am currently studying for the CPA and I am feeling very discouraged. I have two ways to play this out:

1. Stick with perm position and study for the CPA, then apply to the big 4/mid sized firms again.

2. Just find a full time position and stick with staff accounting, then switch to a public firm later (this might be hard if I do staff accountant since I will be pigeon holed into doing that).

I do want to get back to public accounting (maybe the big 4s) since I really liked the environment and opportunities there.

Few questions:

1. How likely will I get back into public accounting (in tax/audit) if I don’t have much experience (except for the big 4 internship?) and a low GPA (3.0 with a few bad grades in upper level accounting classes?) I know most people get into big 4s with their internships. Will passing the CPA help?

2. Should I apply to the big 4 firm that didn’t give me a full time offer? (I didn’t do a good job and my manager mentioned that to me before)

3. Will it raise a red flag to other firms when they see that I did an internship but did not receive any offer?

4. Is it too late to apply to the big 4s this fall? I’ve seen people submitting applications already.

I’m sorry for the long post but I’m getting depressed and feeling useless. I have depression before and I can feel it coming back. Thank you so much for reading this.

[win2bet]

did you just get an undergraduate degree? If not go to graduate school & go to as many career events while there, network & get top grades and you'll be fine. Oh and continue studying the CPA.

REG 68,87
BEC 85
FAR 75
AUD 64,64, 86!

[Anonymous]

Win2betmore, I graduate May but I stayed until after the summer doing two classes at some extension program offered in my school to finish the credits. Unfortunately I don't have the money to go to grad school.

[win2bet]

of course you have money, student loan, they approve everybody. You can even get more cash than you really need, which you should buy some 2019 SPY put options with and 3x+ your money while also getting a graduate degree & being able to network with companies that are visiting the school to recruit new employees.

REG 68,87
BEC 85
FAR 75
AUD 64,64, 86!

[Anthony]

Don't do this OP. Unless someone else is paying for it, taking a loan just to get back into recruitment and potentially setting your life back isn't a smart idea IMO. A master degree in accounting is essential worthless if you can get your CPA.

OP, have you thought on trying finding work at a small/local CPA firm? If you have an internship at B4 you should be somewhat easy picking. Your gonna have to work hard to get to the top. I'm sure once you get your CPA and some experience under your belt it shouldn't be to hard to move from a small/local > regional/midsize > Big 4.

Also, have you thought about networking back on campus? You should look into your career centers. They might be a good resource to you.

[Hank Scorpio]

Try to get as much of your CPA done before you get a public job. It is hard to study while working especially during busy season. As far as jobs, start going to events in the area and take your business card and copies of your resume to give out. Let people know you are looking for work. Smaller local firms do great work and offer awesome experience. Don't overlook these places.

FAR - 10/3/16
BEC - 69 - 10/31/16
AUD - November 2016
REG - December 2016

[Author]

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