[sh617]

Hi! I’m a recent grad who’s currently working as a fund accountant. I have absolutely no experience in public accounting, as my first (and only) internship was in the same company, where I eventually received my full-time offer. After a whole lot of consideration, I’ve decided to start applying elsewhere. There were many factors that contributed to this decision, but the main two being that: (1) the exit opps in FA are limited (2) I’ll personally need more time to set aside to study for the CPA exam.

I currently live at home with my parents, and have very minimal expenses…so I’m starting to think that starting from the bottom as an intern in public accounting might be the best way to go. That way, I’ll be getting the experience I need in public while setting aside more time to study. What do you guys think? Has anyone been in this situation before? I’ve come across so many internship applications that specifically call for undergrads…would they still consider me if I applied?

[jbergmann1]

I would not do this because

a. They probably will not hire you as an intern.

b. I live at home as well. You shouldn't use it as an excuse to do something irrational. Albeit, I have recently quit a job, but I have a CPA and my excuse is that I live with a mental illness. I also got a new job within 4 weeks. Wait until you have some thing lined up. Don't follow my bad example.

They might hire you as a recent graduate, but from what I have heard it is alot harder to get into big4 after graduation without public accounting experience.

Long story short, don't do what I do even if you find excuses.

Passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam!
License application in progress

[OnmywaytoCPA]

If you are not married or have any kids, I say go for it. When I was working on my MBA, I was offered a internship in the internal audit department at a large university. I spoke with the director of the internal audit department and she was super nice and really wanted me to come on board. I decided not to take it because I had just got married and my wife was also a full-time student. All of the interns that came into that internal audit department during that time period was hired and most of them have been promoted to senior auditor or audit manager over the last seven or eight years. Looking back on that opportunity even if I was not offered a full-time position, the experience would have been worth it. My career could have been jump started much sooner. You have nothing to lose.

REG - 74, Retook 6/10/16, scored a 72 (Hate this exam)
BEC - 69, 79, 8/1/15
AUD - 83, 4/4/15
FAR - 77, 2/27/16

[ellejay]

I thought most companies hire interns as students? Can you get an internship even though you aren't in school? I could be wrong, but that is what I have always thought.

[Bourne]

Yeah, I'm not so sure you can get an internship if you're out of school. The whole idea of an internship is to see if you perform well and then the possibility of a job after graduation. I can see where some companies would reserve internships for students only. However, I can also see where companies may give internships to students just out of college if they're truly trying to obtain top talent. I guess it just depends on the company, but in general I would think that most are reserved for students.

I'm 4 months out of college and can safely say I've never heard of a non-student obtaining an internship.

As for quitting the job and obtaining the internship. I'd advise as the above.. I would not flat out quit until I had something lined up. It's too risky taking a gamble on an internship when companies may only hire actual students as interns.

[OnmywaytoCPA]

Wait a second. I reread sh617's first post. I just noticed that you actually are already out of school. I would only advise going into another internship if you are in some type of Grad program (MSA or MBA). It is going to be very difficult to secure an internship when you're not in school.

If you go back to school and you are offered an internship, definitely take it, if you don't have any major responsibilities/expenses.

REG - 74, Retook 6/10/16, scored a 72 (Hate this exam)
BEC - 69, 79, 8/1/15
AUD - 83, 4/4/15
FAR - 77, 2/27/16

[Pete]

I would NOT recommend you do this, at all. See if you can do both the internship and your current job, perhaps.

An internship does not equal full-time employment, afterwords. Repeat, an internship does not guarantee full-time employment, nor will they pay for your benefits. I recently interned at a firm because I wanted to get into public accounting (I'm out of school, but I was taking classes at community college for the credit hours). I got great feedback from the internship, but unfortunately was told “the firm isn't currently hiring.” They ended up hiring someone, who had been interning for years and people related to the partners. From what I see, the firm I was at typically has a tendency to over-hire interns for tax season, then not have the openings for them at the end. Other people have similar stories. It's also very common to hire interns if the firm isn't sure of hiring needs, then when those needs are not met, not offer the interns full-time positions.

Unfortunately, they use internships as their primary means of entry level hiring; this is why it's almost (not completely, but almost) impossible to get into a large firm, once you graduate college.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[hasy]

Greetings!

I read some of the stuff on top. But this is my two cents. However, broken record: don't quit until you've landed something else.

NONETHELESS, I think you may be approaching this whole public accounting incorrectly. I'm not sure what company you work for, but SURELY they have auditors, no? I work in investment accounting for a mutual fund and I interact with the auditors YEARLY, maybe even quarterly basis, unfortunately. More than once, I believed they've commented on my ability to do good work and prepare workpapers for them well. Use your company's resources to help you secure a job in public accounting. I know it may take a while but surely some people in your company know and STILL speak with their friends in public accounting. Talk to some of the tax people, I'm pretty sure any one of them has to have a background in public accounting.

Also, use LINKEDIN. Reach out to certain recruiters and see what's the criteria they're looking for. Do you qualify as an intern or a professional? I would search around this forum for some of these questions, since they've already been asked. Good luck!

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Author]

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