Big 4 internship questions.

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  • #186959
    TobyU
    Participant

    I’m 19 going to be a sophomore in the fall, I have been researching a lot this summer about careers in the future. My biggest issue is the internships at places like the big 4. I will be graduating in 2017, and you need 150 hours for the CPA and that could even change by then. When I graduate in 4 years I will most likely have 120 hours, what some professors told me is to get my masters(they offer a masters pretty much to fulfill the 150). I have seen different answers when researching, such as most students get internships between their junior and senior year. Or students get internships between their senior and MAcc year. The Masters at my school is 15 months (July-Sept) So I don’t know if that will conflict with a summer internship. So which option do you think is best for me. Do I intern after my junior year, try and get offered when I graduate and work while i’m doing my masters. Or do I intern after my senior year, and probably get offered when I’m close to finishing up my masters. Thank you.

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  • #580953
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Why don't you find a master's program that has internships built into the program? Don't know where you are in the country, but Northeastern University offers programs like this.

    #580954
    zakahracw
    Participant

    Depending on what city you are in you may have the opportunity for a fall/winter internship. Then complete your masters. They hire a year out anyway.

    If a fall/winter one isn't available at a Big 4 get one somewhere else. If these two don't seem plausible I say double major or minor to get the credits. Firms don't care that much about the masters. All they care about is you passing the exam.

    I would show interest in the firms every year until you graduate. Don't wait until you're a masters student or ready for an internship to talk to them. Keep them in the loop as you move forward. Especially since it is possible you won't get an internship.

    Hope this helps

    ~Z

    "Live your Best Life"

    #580955
    fuzyfro89
    Participant

    You should go for an internship 1 year before you are completely done (probably your Master's since you'll need the extra year to get to 150 credits).

    With that said, the firms are targeting students as early as sophomore year for the summer leadership programs and even offer internships to some juniors in administrative areas… with the intent to offer a second internship the following summer in a functional area (audit/tax/advisory) assuming you are not a jackass and don't flirt with the lady partners and tell dirty jokes to the male partners (vice versa if you're a girl…?).

    Kidding… sort of. 🙂

    #580956
    TobyU
    Participant
    #580957
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @TobyU – My thought for you would be that I'd almost guarantee the Master's will cost a lot more than an additional 30 undergrad credits, so my initial instinct would be to get the additional undergrad credits and hold off on a Master's till you have some real-life experience and maybe even an employer that will pay for it. From what I've gathered, the MAcc programs usually are only useful for being eligible to sit for the exam, and don't make much difference to employers. After you've been in the workforce for a few years, then a Master's related to what you end up doing might be useful for advancement (MBA, Masters in Tax, etc.). Since you're still relatively early in your college years, you could probably do a 2nd major within business and just add an extra year to your degree, and then have your 150. Maybe Finance?

    However….I know CA has recently changed their CPA requirements and it's much more strict now, so check and make sure they don't require graduate-level work. I don't think they did, but I just saw comments in passing, since I moved away from CA about 15 years ago so it didn't matter to me anymore. 😉

    #580958
    Vlakmir
    Member

    My masters was maybe $1000 more than my undergrad tuition – (both in-state, same school), and I got a scholarship. So I can't really agree with the idea that it is more expensive.

    Most students intern the year before they are eligible to sit for the exam. If you are doing a masters, intern the summer before your program starts, start the following august or later. This means interviews in Nov/Oct of senior year.

    If you have enough credits and am not doing the masters, intern between JR and SR year. Study on your own and sit for the exam prior to starting (ideally).

    A masters will give you a leg up on many topics, and most courses are designed towards the CPA exam, so it will help.

    If you don't need the credits, I personally suggest just trying to intern and study in your own, as a masters in accounting by itself does not give you much except for credit for the CPA exam (may help in the future on your resume to non-accounting firms, like in-house somewhere).

    Good luck

    and by the way, when you're a junior, join beta alpha psi. You will meet the recruiters many times, have opportunities to ask questions, and be explained everything.

    Don't worry about your GPA too much, unless you are from a competitive school.

    My rural school in a rural state far away gave me a job with a 3.2 or something. Everyone here works + goes to school + it's not horribly competitive, so your metrics all depend on where you are from. You can easily explain a GPA if you practice well. Do lots of practice interviews, etc….

    Bust your ass networking during undergrad and you will feel the results later on.

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    #580959
    TobyU
    Participant

    @Vlakimir What do you mean by “start the following august or later”, sorry i'm a bit confused there, do you mean intern during the summer and start full time while doing my masters?

    #580960
    Vlakmir
    Member

    You can really start whenever after your internship. I knew some people not getting their masters, but taking fall off for the CPA exam and starting in the following January. Some even started 3 weeks later!

    People doing their masters, though, will usually start the following august, as in, one year later, after their masters / admist their CPA exam studying.

    I ended an internship there last August, 2013. I start late August 2014.

    By the way, join beta alpha psi when you have enough credits to become considered a jr. Go to all of the events, and become an officer when you are a senior. I swear to god that if you do that, your chances of going Big 4 will be considerably higher.

    Unless you have kids + a part time job, you can't get into big 4 without being in beta alpha psi (okay, maybe there are some people, but…they are rare).

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    DONE! /Happydance

    #580961
    Vlakmir
    Member

    Let me explain why beta alpha psi is important

    1. You meet recruiters multiple times before interviewing with them. they already know your story/who you are.

    2. You show you are dedicated to something other than your own concerns/needs

    3. You meet tons of recruiters in non-big 4 places. Actually, my first interships (which came after my SOPHMORE year, BEFORE audit and tax, I was doing audit and tax!) because I met a partner at a firm who's daughter used to be my sisters good friend about 12+years ago, so he met me as a little kid. Invited me to interview, and I got the job ( I had heard they offered it to one other person who declined before to me). Shit really starts to come together when you throw yourself out there. Even without practical accounting experience or classes they let me intern just at a CHANCE of developing some young accounant that could stay with them (I didn't. They were great, horrible town to live in, though).

    4. Recruiters will forgive your mistakes. If they have met you, they will be nice. I actually signed up for the wrong interview per our school interview system, and interviewed for an MIS spot. I talked to the recruiter and apologized for being a moron. She laughed and said it didn't matter, it was all behavioral anyway. I got an offer. They won't forgive people unless you've met them 5+ times and had friendly chats over the last 2 years before interviewing.

    With a 3.2, interviewing for the wrong job, I got a Big 4 offer. Why? BAP + BAP Officer + VITA + Working while going to school. All much greater points to highlight with them BEFORE your interview than their silly metrics.

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    DONE! /Happydance

    #580962
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @TobyU The best advice I could give you is to forget the masters program. Think about staying an extra year (or just one semester if possible) at your university and double major in something like Economics, Finance, Information Systems etc. At my school if you were a double major and graduated with 150+ credits then you received a double degree. So I got not one, but TWO diplomas :D. I also have had an incredible gap of time to take CPA exam sections (and travel) between graduation in December and the start of my full-time big 4 career one week from today (ahhh).

    I was able to accomplish the 150 by staying only one extra semester in undergrad. This stategy saved me a buttload of money that could have gone towards a pointless masters program (unless you're interested in tax, than a masters in taxation is beneficial). The big 4 absolutely do not care how you get your 150 credits. As long as you have a concrete plan for it that you can communicate during the interview process, you're golden.

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