[slpierce]

Hello all, I will be graduating in December with my BA in Accounting. Since I will only be 10 credit hours from my 150 to be eligible to sit for the CPA exam, I plan on taking the remaining 10 credit hours during the spring semester online through a local community college. My question though is when I go into Fall recruiting at my university would it be best to look for a full time position or a winter internship? I would prefer to work for a big 4 firm. I have a 3.5 accounting GPA and an internship with a local company for the Fall semester.

[thechapman]

If it were me, I'd be looking for a winter internship. In a conversation with the head recruiter for my region of the Big 4 I'm starting with in a couple months, she happened to mention that the firm is trying to switch over to only hiring people that have interned with them. Having an internship with whichever Big 4 firm would (in my opinion) dramatically increase your chances of landing a full time job with them, as I think they prefer not to hire unknown quantities.

By the way, I would definitely check with the state board you plan to apply through to make sure that the 10 hours you plan on taking at a community college fit their requirements for hours that count towards the 150 hours. Good luck.

Passed - 2014

[fuzyfro89]

If you're asked during recruiting this fall when you are graduating, what will you say?

This fall, they will be looking to hire interns for spring/summer 2015 who will then start working full time (hopefully) in January 2016 or Fall 2016. It would be odd to have a spring/summer intern in 2015 who then begins full time right after they intern. They typically say they want interns to have at least one semester remaining AFTER the end of their internship.

The exception to this is if you finish your 150 credits by the time you finish your internship while listing on your resume “Pursuing Masters of Accounting expected graduation December 2015”. Then, they extend you a full time offer, and you tell them you are already CPA-eligible and would prefer to go ahead and start full time if they have an opening. Best case, they have a need and will bring you in a few months early. Worst case, they'll make you wait until your start date which could be almost a year away.

I was a spring/winter intern and knew a guy who I interned with that did just that and started full time in June (few months after internship ended). I will say this is the exception, not the norm.

If you apply for an internship, maybe put on your resume expected graduation date December 2015 (not 2014) if you want to go for an internship?

[slpierce]

Thank you for the advice. First off I have already checked and yes my state does all community college credits to count for the 150. I plan on telling recruiters that I am graduating in December and will be CPA eligible May 2015. I can pursue my MAcc at my university, but wasn't sure if it was worth the extra money and extra semester. I could begin the Masters program Spring 2015 and do a summer internship or start my Masters Fall 2015 and do a spring and/or summer internship. I guess I'm really not sure what route to go, but need to decide ASAP because I need to take my GMAT to apply for graduate school. All advice is welcomed.

[Anonymous]

*You graduate with your BA in December

*You plan to take online community college courses during spring semester to get the necessary credits

Your question is if you should apply for an internship or a full-time position? Honestly since you are graduating, what you want is a full-time position starting in the summer or fall after graduating. So, I'd apply for those jobs, but also let the recruiter/interviewer know that you'll only be going to school online part time during spring semester to get the credits, so would be available to do a winter internship stint too.

[impska]

The advantage of a Winter internship is that the offer that follows will likely start in the Fall. This gives you the Summer to study full time for the CPA exam and possibly pass before starting work full time.

On the other hand, a full time job in January means more money, but less time. In essence, you'd be paying for time off by going for the internship.

I was in your situation (sort of) – I graduated in December and was CPA eligible. I made a decision to go for a full time job. I think it made me seem more serious. I did get several offers – but only one from Big 4 (the others only wanted interns and I was less interested in Big 4, so I did not apply).

That said, I could have applied to both – I could have applied to internships at 3 of the Big 4 and gunned it for full time at 1. The full time offer would be the obvious winner, in that case, but the internship fallback exists.

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