[Anonymous]

THIS IS LONG I KNOW BUT I NEED SOME GUIDANCE! 🙁

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and am seeking some advice and different points of view.

I am a 21 year old college senior majoring in Accounting, graduating in May with about 125 credit hours or so.. and I am starting to become overwhelmed with what I should do once I graduate.

My school’s career fair is in September and I am thinking about looking for a full time job for when I graduate so I can start working and gaining experience since I have barely any experience at all.

I babysitt my sisters to help out my parents Friday through Monday, then during the week my schedule doesn’t allow me to find a job anywhere else. I did work at a bank this past summer but other than that I am very lacking on experience.

Also, I am not 100% sure whether I want to work in public accounting, private, banking or anywhere else I just know I want it to be accounting related and start making money!! My old plan was to pursue an MBA with a focus in accounting at my school to get my 150 hours, but that was before I came to the conclusion that I need to start working.

I have also considered maybe taking random classes at a community college to get my hours and then take the CPA exam. But another problem is, should I even become a CPA? We are told to become a CPA all the time at my school so it has become a goal of mine but it seems that I can only keep my license if I work in public accounting, so what if I go into private accounting instead? would I lose my license? would it be a waste of time? Should I work in public with a bachelors for a while and if i like it, pursue my mba and then the cpa? or what?

Please help?! Sorry for the long question I am just all over the place at the moment and its stressful because I like to have a set plan, I am also a first generation college student and so I don’t know many people besides my professors that can somewhat guide me…

Also, I am in Illinois, if that helps anyone understand the requirements better since I think there is going to be a change soon in which theyre adding Research and ethics requirements to the CPA exam.

I would also appreciate if you all shared a little of how you all got your hours and to the point of being a CPA or sitting for the CPA exam.

[I love numbers!]

Just want to point out…you do not need to be working in public accounting to be a CPA or maintain your license! Actually, many many CPA's work for ‘other than public accounting'. I work for two CPA's who are private. There are a TON of governmental employees who are CPA's (think IRS!!!). In fact, if you want to work in Industry or even government…you will look BETTER because you have a CPA over someone who does not (and in Govt you will actually be paid more money)….that being said…of course I say GO FOR IT!!

B - 71, 83
A - 85
R - 80
F - 80

[Anonymous]

– l love numbers!

Thank you! well that gives me more of an incentive to find a way to take the exam, but how do you maintain your license? from what Ive read is that you have to report work or experience or soemthing every couple of years or so, so how do you get that if you're not in public? can it just be any accounting experience? Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but thank you for your input 🙂

[Anonymous]

Becoming a CPA can only help your career no matter what you end up doing. It is a big commitment. I think you will regret not doing it right out of college if you change your mind later.

“Taking random classes” is probably not your best idea. I would suggest getting a master's degree. If you are going to go to the trouble of paying for and taking classes you may as well get a degree out of it.

It is a REALLY good idea to get an internship while you are a master's student. If you can't find an internship, look around for part-time work or a volunteer position that is accounting related. If there is a Beta Alpha Psi chapter in your area, join it and get involved. Your college career center should be able to help you with all of this.

CPA's do a variety of jobs. You may end up working in public accounting doing tax or audit, working for the state or government, working for a corporation or maybe even a nonprofit.

Check with your state, but generally you need 150 credit hours, pass the exam and about of year of experience working under a CPA. (this doesn't have to be at a firm) To keep your license you will need to complete continuing professional education every year. (Each state varies, but its not a big deal.)

If you're feeling like you need to start working for a paycheck I would encourage you see if you can get by on part-time work and go back to school. Also, keep in mind that the hiring environment is rough right now. You may be searching for a job for awhile. It would be a shame for you to be unemployed and doing nothing when instead you could be getting some classes under your belt. Even if you decide to get a full-time job, I can't stress the importance of continuing your education enough. Even if you only do a couple of night classes, you be that much closer to a master's degree.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

I am currently working for a publicly held company, and a prerequisite of my job is to have a CPA license. I too felt like I needed to get a job fast (I graduated 12 years ago) and obviously now wish I had gotten all of this taken care of before I had a full (and then some) time job, a wife and two kids.

[jeremyrichman]

I think the “taking random classes” thing is fine. I'm biased because it's what I did myself, but I think it made sense. I almost went for a Masters of Accountancy at my undergrad school which would have been one year and over $20,000. Instead I just finished up 8 summer classes at my community college for less than $4,000, all of which were online and intro courses because it's irrelevant. I got a full time offer after my internship the summer of my junior year (2011) and I start this November, so I have almost half a year between graduation and work, which is plenty of time to work on the CPA Exam and classes.

So basically my advice, admittedly biased, is:

1. Try as hard as you can to get a full time offer this fall from career fairs and such.

2. Finish the credits in the cheapest way possible, since once you have a job offer the advanced degrees aren't really important (for entry-level).

3. Simultaneously work on the CPA Exam during your summer off and try to get at least a couple of sections out of the way before work starts.

FAR: 8/29/12 88
AUD: 10/1/12 79
BEC: 10/23/12 90
REG: 11/21/12

[Anonymous]

Thank you to everyone for your responses, definitely gave me something to think about!!

[Author]

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