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Let me start off with some background…I knew by my junior year in undergrad that public accounting wasn’t for me. But I felt that because I didn’t want to go into public accounting I was almost ostracized by professors and other students, and would get backhanded compliments like “well just make sure you aren’t selling yourself short”. It was made clear to me that supposedly anyone who wants to be anybody will start out in public accounting.
Fast forward…I got a job in a mid-sized manufacturing company right out of college working in A/P and overseeing our corporate credit card and expense reimbursement program. I transitioned into a staff accountant role 9 months later. In June I will have been here 3 years and I LOVE MY JOB! Working in a mid-sized company, I have gotten so many opportunities because our department isn’t all that big. Plus, I rarely work over 40 hours/week and the culture is amazing here. Our President (former CFO), CFO, and Controller all have ZERO public accounting experience. Our former Controller and Assistant Controller both did and will tell you that they don’t think it’s necessary to your career to start out in public. In fact, in interviewing for a new Assistant Controller, we were looking more for someone with industry experience over public experience because working in public is nothing like working in a mid-sized company.
That being said…I’m genuinely curious about what makes working in public so great, what doors it opens, why it’s worth going through busy seasons, etc. I obviously have a one-sided opinion and I want to understand the other side! If you know in the long run you aren’t on the partner track, is it really so great to have public experience on your resume?
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