[Anonymous]

Hello guys(girls) from Another71,

I have been a member from this site for some time(even thought I had to make a new account), but I usually only lurke and not post.

Anyways for some time I have thought about posting here for some clarification/advice regarding my

career. Since this is the only site I know that is about taking the CPA exam and general advice

for accountants I thought about posting here.

I live in Puerto Rico (We are a territory of USA for those of you that don’t know) and Im im

finishing college in december. I honestly have no idea what Im going to do after I graduate except

from attempting the CPA and getting a job.

About the CPA i’m not even sure. From what i’ve read the CPA is more useful when you’re working in

Public Accounting and i’m not interested in either Big 4 or Public in general. I wanna have a job

that provides me with good work-life balance and, hopefully, have the possibility of working part

time. Again, from what i’ve read, Public Acconting isn’t known for that. Also I’m not really

looking to get a manager or above position(or anything that would involve spending more time at

work) So I guess that I would be shooting to work for private or government?

So, okay, I wanna work in public or government, but doing what? Auditing? Staff Acountant? Tax?

Consulting? I don’t know. I already passed the Audit class and, well, we didn’t actually audit so

I have no idea what it’s like to audit. I passed the Federal Income Taxes class and it seems like

something a high school graduate with a little accounting could do. So basically the classes I

have gotten in college haven’t helped me decide which way to go.

After that big rant, I just wanted to ask a few questions:

TL;DR – I have 2 questions:

1) Should I go try to get the cPA considering I”m not going to work Public, and I dont want a

manager+ position?

2) When and how did you find what area of accounting did you like? What would you recommend I do

to find my passion(if that even exists)?

I may ask more questions later, those are just the more important for me at this moment

Thanks in advance to all you guys(girls)

[Mayo]

double post

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

1. I'd say you really don't need it from the goals you mentioned. However, just having a degree itself will not secure you a job FYI. So start thinking about your approach to finding your ideal job. Don't know? I'd do some research by joining an accounting club on campus or do some research on the internet. Both are valuable sources of information.

2. I chose public accounting, audit specifically, because I wasn't a fan of tax. Also, I'm fairly ambitious and wanted to fast track my way to an Assistant Controller job with very little risk. So I joined a Big 4 firm, and really enjoy my work. The deadlines and the hours?….meh, not so much. Finally, audit and the skills you'd gain from a client serving role, part of an audit team, etc. appealed to me.

In terms of finding your passion? I don't know. If you're looking to work in a field in which you're passionate about, I think based on your posts it's hard to say that accounting is that field. Regardless, I think participating in as many internships as possible is anyone's best bet to figure out what role in accounting they'd like to be involved in.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

double post

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

1. I'd say you really don't need it from the goals you mentioned. However, just having a degree itself will not secure you a job FYI. So start thinking about your approach to finding your ideal job. Don't know? I'd do some research by joining an accounting club on campus or do some research on the internet. Both are valuable sources of information.

2. I chose public accounting, audit specifically, because I wasn't a fan of tax. Also, I'm fairly ambitious and wanted to fast track my way to an Assistant Controller job with very little risk. So I joined a Big 4 firm, and really enjoy my work. The deadlines and the hours?….meh, not so much. Finally, audit and the skills you'd gain from a client serving role, part of an audit team, etc. appealed to me.

In terms of finding your passion? I don't know. If you're looking to work in a field in which you're passionate about, I think based on your posts it's hard to say that accounting is that field. Regardless, I think participating in as many internships as possible is anyone's best bet to figure out what role in accounting they'd like to be involved in.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Study Monk]

If you don't plan to spend anytime in public accounting than skip it. It may be hard to find an entry level position that has a CPA to sign off your work experience to even qualify for a license if you are in private accounting. If you do end up working under a CPA I would start studying for the exam, because your goals may change down the line and it would be nice to get the experience sign off as well as the license when you have the chance. If you don't end up working under a CPA you can always study for the CMA or CIA down the line. Based on your ambitions I would try to find a job as a staff accountant.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

If you don't plan to spend anytime in public accounting than skip it. It may be hard to find an entry level position that has a CPA to sign off your work experience to even qualify for a license if you are in private accounting. If you do end up working under a CPA I would start studying for the exam, because your goals may change down the line and it would be nice to get the experience sign off as well as the license when you have the chance. If you don't end up working under a CPA you can always study for the CMA or CIA down the line. Based on your ambitions I would try to find a job as a staff accountant.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Anonymous]

@mayo

Well I first started college in a major that is close to computer science and that was what I really wanted to do. The problem was that for various reasons I never developed good study skills and so when I started getting the more harder classes I started doing bad and decided to change the major. While I dont think that it was the best decision I took it and that's all that matter. So I didnt chose Accounting because I had passion or something, just because it was my second option. Now that doesn't mean that I dont like it.

@studymonk

Thanks for the advice.

I think that I will end up taking it (I didnt mention that I'm already taking the extra courses to be able to sit for the exam). If not for having the license at least to get a review of the stuff I have learned at college, plus the whole other information that would be new.

[Anonymous]

@mayo

Well I first started college in a major that is close to computer science and that was what I really wanted to do. The problem was that for various reasons I never developed good study skills and so when I started getting the more harder classes I started doing bad and decided to change the major. While I dont think that it was the best decision I took it and that's all that matter. So I didnt chose Accounting because I had passion or something, just because it was my second option. Now that doesn't mean that I dont like it.

@studymonk

Thanks for the advice.

I think that I will end up taking it (I didnt mention that I'm already taking the extra courses to be able to sit for the exam). If not for having the license at least to get a review of the stuff I have learned at college, plus the whole other information that would be new.

[Author]

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