I would highly recommend talking to others who currently work in auditing, and make sure it's really what you want to do. Public accounting is VERY different that working in the private industry, and the experience working at a small, medium, or big 4 firm is also going to be very different.
I was in public accounting for two years right out of college, and personally it really wasn't for me. I was at a smaller regional firm, which was good because you got to work on different accounts and different clients every week. (At a big 4 firm, you can spend a month just auditing cash at one client. And you will be stuck just auditing cash at other clients too. At a smaller firm, you get more opportunities to work on different accounts. You also get to work directly on the report.)
Some of the biggest things I DIDN'T know going into it:
1) Being out of town is terrible. I didn't really know what “10% travel required” meant, and it turned out to be more like 50% travel. Imagine being out of town 2 weeks out of every month, and sometimes it was 12 weeks or more in a row. I know others who were out of town 80% or more of the time. It just depended on where your clients were at. Also, all those out of town expenses are put on your personal credit card! So if you are already carrying a balance, then you will accrue interest charges until the firm reimburses you, which could be several weeks. And the hotels they put you in aren't always the nicest…
2) Sure they give you some training, but its really trial under fire. I dont care what the recruiters say, in real life, they give you a week or two of training, then expect you to be out there and perform like all the other staff. It doesnt matter if its ur first time auditing fixed assets, or that you've never worked on a not for profit client before. Its all about being under budget, getting billable hours,etc. You feel like “i was smart in college, im good at accounting, and i passed the CPA, so I can totally do this…WRONG! you will still be sitting there at the client's trying to audit internal controls over accounts payable, and even though its the tenth time you've done this, you will still feel a little uncomfortable and not totally know what you are doing. It really does take a year before you get the hang of it and start feeling more comfortable.
3) Its highly competitive. At my firm, every Jan and Dec they would fire the bottom 2% and hire 4-6 new people. You were given a 5 page evaluation EVERY WEEK, and every month they would rank you against each other and publish it for everyone in the firm to see. there was also alot of favoritism, and more than once I had someone throw me under the bus for something that was actually their mistake.
So that was my experience in public accounting. And from what my friends who work at one of the big-4 firms have told me, its not any different. I thought working for a smaller regional firm that I could avoid some of that drama, but it didn't seem to matter.
I know everyone's experience is going to be different, so talk to alot of people about how they feel about their jobs and try to imagine yourself in that same position. I will say that public accounting experience is highly desirable in the private industry. After my two years of public accounting I got a job as an project manager in the private industry.
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