[ar95]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering what I can expect my career to look like if I never worked in public accounting (other than a 3 month internship in college, where I learned nothing lol). I started my career in corporate and intend on staying in corporate because I find it more interesting.

What does that mean for my career? Will it slow down my progression? Will I learn accounting more slowly compared to a public accountant?

[Recked]

There is really no wrong way to get there, as far as accounting careers go.
I think the typical path is 2-3 years in public, for the experience and name on the resume, then they leave for a mid-high level in corporate.
If you went straight to corporate, you might stagnate, depending on what you are doing, how large the company is, and how upward mobile your position/department can be and how large the company is.

Public experience (specifically large accounting public experience, heavy emphasis on audit) provides a lot of exposure to different concepts and teaches you how to read an analyze financials. (Tax experience doesn't translate to corporate too well, unless they need an internal tax team.)

It is not unusual to not learn much at an internship, it's usually about padding the resume – and if you were a good fit you would have had an offer waiting for you.

So what are you doing in corporate?
Do you have someone in your organization to sign off on your CPA experience (if your state requires it)?
What do your normal job duties entail?

[Skynet]

I heard that many people who work in Public Accounting have Drinking Problems!

They go through Multiple Pots of Coffee each day!😂

[Author]

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