[kauffe9a]

I am considering an entry level tax auditor position with the Florida department of revenue. I sat for a skills verification test today and anticipate an interview in the coming week. I have heard that State employees salaries are not paid very well. I really want to get some solid accounting experience, but I have heard that working for the government can hurt your career if you want to work in industry or with a CPA firm later.

Does anybody have any experience working for the government? Any positive experiences? Negative?

Any advice is welcome

[Excel14]

@mystical:

Thanks. Where were you 24 years ago, when I needed that plan laid out for me? Just kidding

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Anonymous]

@kauffe9a I think the starting pay is just over $36k.

[Anonymous]

Depending on where in state government you work, the wages sometimes are good. I know with my state job we get paid on par with auditors at similar positions for our area. A kid straight out of college that is CPA eligible gets 42-44k starting pay. We also get paid overtime or can add that to our leave balance despite being salaried. I'd be sure to ask how overtime is treated. Our office at times gets poached by other state agencies for higher paying director/manager type jobs and there are many times they would rather hire us than from within. Therefore, I'd also consider looking into your state's state auditors.

[Anonymous]

I'm starting a job with the Federal Government on Monday. The starting pay is decent and I'm pretty much guaranteed a sizable increase after 1 year.

Nothing wrong with public service (as opposed to public accounting). It's nice to be able to give back to the U.S. and get paid at the same time.

[stamata]

If you don't mind staying in government for a while then you should be okay.. but if you want to move to public/private, it's not the best career move from what I've heard. Like someone else said, you get pigeonholed in government work and are MUCH less marketable to public/private companies.

AUD - 76
BEC - 86
FAR - 78
REG -73, 69, 86! DONE

[MzTeel]

@kauffe9a – Can you or anyone else who have worked for Florida Department of Revenue as a Tax Auditor give me an idea of what is on the Skills Verification Test? It's been a while since I have taking an accounting course and I would like to be prepared especially since this is my first accounting interview. Thank you in advance

[Anonymous]

I'd pass.

Public accounting generally views government employees as generally being bottom of the barrel.

The few governmental employees that I have worked with that actually care and/or apply themselves really stand out, though.

[Author]

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