[CPA10101]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice. So, I am currently doing a public-sector internship at a Big 4 (don’t want to get specific for anonymity purposes). I know how fortunate I am to be in this position but I’m not crazy about the public sector (state level). The recruiting team told me that I basically have to stick with the public sector with my internship.

Can someone correct my logic if I’m wrong-When it comes to auditing the exit opportunities are usually limited in the industry you are practicing in (ex: someone in Financial services (F/S) could get a job working in F/S while it would be much harder for an auditor working in the public sector to work in F/S and vice versa). So far, I’ve been told how inefficient government is and I’m starting to see firsthand how true that is. Someone on my engagement team told me that the public sector is the hardest auditing field because of all the bureaucracy that’s associated with government and my thought process was-fantastic so this is the hardest auditing field with the least lucrative exit opportunities. Is my logic correct in this or I am wrong (hopefully)?

[CPA10101]

Anyone?

[NebCPA]

Short answer is it depends. Moving from one industry in public to another in private is not difficult, but it depends on some items.

First, when do you plan on moving? If you plan on moving from public to private after two years, when you’re a senior, then you can move to any industry you want. You’re only going to be expected to know how to audit and a little about accounting, not necessarily about the industry. However, if you become a manager in public accounting and want to laterally move to a manager in private industry, your options are going to narrow. At this point, the hiring director will want you to know more about the industry.

Second, are you planning on moving from audit to audit or audit to something else? If you are planning on moving laterally from public audit to internal audit, again, industry knowledge is not as important as your auditing knowledge – given the about answer. However, if you’re trying to move from public auditing to hedge fund manager in the F/S area, you’re going to be expected to know a lot more about the industry.

Finally, it also depends on where you are working. If you are working in a larger city, specialization becomes more common as there are large groups that meet each industry specification. If you are working in a smaller population area, people tend to have a more generalized knowledge base.

Bottom line, if you are good at what you do, there's never a job limitation. You may have to work a bit harder, but I know a guy with a history under-grad degree and one with a Spanish under-grad who are working at the Big 4 – they were just better than the people around them.

Right now, you’re only in an internship, so while it is good to be thinking about your future, I wouldn’t stress too much about it at this point. Once you are full-time and get to know the different managers, you’ll have more flexibility to leverage them and get on the audits you want.

Best of luck.

[CPA10101]

Thank you for the detailed response!

[Author]

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