There's not much tips I can give for the exam as the last 6 pages outline everything you need to know. One very important thing to keep in mind is that you should buy a prep course that fits your learning style. Don't just get Becker because it's the most common one, take a look ar Roger or Yaeger as well.
Now advice to someone starting their career. I'm about 4 years into mine so I guess I have a little bit of a legit opinion now. I've had to relocate several times in the past few years and each move came with a new job, so I've interviewed quite a bit and I've had some many interviews that I don't even get nervous anymore. The following advice will be specifically to someone looking to work in audit:
1. Dress for success. Girls typically get this. Guys, take the time to make yourself look presentable. Check a few recent issues of GQ or Esquire for some tips. I've noticed most men in the Accounting profession dress like slobs and often wear dress clothes that are too large on them or are horribly mismatched. When you walk into an interview and wearing a suit that fits you, a belt and shoes that match in color, a shirt and tie that match, YOU WILL LOOK LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR to the people interviewing you. When you look good, you feel good and thus you will have much more confidence once you walk into an interview. I get a lot of my dress clothes from H&M or Express, it looks great, fits well, and it's very affordable.
2. 9 out of 10 interviews I've been to never brought up in great detail what classes I took in college. And none of them ever quizzed me on what I know about accounting. Maybe I just got lucky or maybe this is very common.
3. Half the interviews I've been to asked about my GPA (mine is around 3.0), and I would explain to them that I had to work full time while I was in school full time so it was impossible for me to get a perfect GPA, thus I took an average GPA and put a positive spin on it. So if you have a lower GPA be prepared to give a good (and truthful!) reason why and try to spin it in your favor.
4. Do research on the company and be prepared to ask questions about them at the end of the interview. Google ideas on what good questions are to ask. By asking questions you express a strong interest in working there. 99% of interviews I've had asked me if I had any questions about the job or the company. Once I started asking questions it opened up some interesting conversations and it was a great way to chat with the interviewer(s).
There's much more to know. If you like what I have up there so far, email me at alexasha@gmail.com and I'll try to tell you more.
Good luck, recent grad!
p.s. I currently live/work in Washington DC and there is a TON TON TON of jobs here for folks with accounting degrees. I'm seeing kids fresh out of college coming into salaries around $50-$60k (non-gov't jobs).
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