<p>I am a Junior ,double major in Acct & FIN at University of Florida( GPA3.87). This year I came across a very interesting opportunity. I was offered a internship with Ernst and Young for this summer. I regrettably turned it down because I'm more concerned with getting a double major and 150 credits(CPA) .Im doing summer classes instead. My logic was that they will hire me in the fall because of my high GPA and good social skills. My friends think that I made a risky or bad decision because getting the internship leads to a full time offer 95% of the time;getting a job through a campus interview is tough. However,I was very lucky and was given an offer to do an externship at KPMG this summer.Its not an internship, but an externship .It will be for one week in July. Is seems promising because, other kids in my class either got an internship or will have to wait for an interview in November. Does any body know anything about this program? I need help reading between the lines. Do you think I the same chance of getting an offer as the summer interns?</p>
<p>Position Description:KPMG EXTERNSHIP
During the externship program, students will have the opportunity to learn about KPMG, our clients, our culture and our people. The Externship Program offers you the opportunity to: Network, Explore Career Opportunities, and Find Mentors. You will meet a variety of people in your chosen profession, allowing you to build powerful relationships to build upon in the future while receiving important information about public accounting and the Firm.
KPMG strongly believes in the importance of an Externship Program. We have created a Program that we believe is an excellent way for students to get an inside look at a professional services career. At KPMG, we view the Externship Program as the start of a career. The KPMG Externship Program is designed to help you become better acquainted with our Firm and provide you with general knowledge of the public accounting profession. You will participate in a number of formal and informal activities throughout the Program, allowing you the opportunity to bond with KPMG professionals in a fun and relaxing environment.</p>
<p>If you are currently a junior and going to be a senior next year...the kpmg externship that you mentioned isn't what you're looking for. That is aimed more at sophmores becoming juniors. There is another leadership program out there that is for Juniors becoming seniors but it might be too late to apply for it.</p>
<p>I had an interview. I am in the correct program because the recruiter understands that I will be a senior.. Although, there probably will be some sophomores there.</p>
<p>The Externship is basically a weeklong fieldtrip and the people in the company know that... where the internship is actually doing functions within the organization that will allow you to "get your feet wet" sorta speak, and serves as a much stronger opportunity.... nevertheless, it's good you're excited, never take any of these opportunities for granted, but do understand that passing up the internship for an externship could prove costly.</p>
<p>Upon passing the test, however in most states you have to have a certain amount of experience working under a CPA to qualify for the exam.... the big 4 is probably the best place to get this experience before sitting for the exam.</p>
<p>Passing the exam doesn't necessarily make you more attractive to firms--if they wanted you, they would have hired you well before you are even elligible to sit.</p>
<p>311Griff:</p>
<p>Although there may be some (most likely the few states that have not yet adopted the 150 credit hour requirement), I don't know of any states that have a work requirement to sit for the exam. The work requirement is to be licensed (allowing you to sign off on an audit) and can be fulfilled after the exam is taken.</p>
<p>On the original topic, I'll agree with most of the comments here stating that this was probably not the best way to go about things (an internship would have guaranteed you a job and they probably would have helped with some of the costs of fulfilling the 150 credit requirement); however, it's water under the bridge at this point--the externship will help and, assuming you make the effort to prepare for the interviews, you should probably be able to get a job in the Fall full-time interviews.</p>
<p>I would recommend, though, that you take this time to do a bit of research into each of the firms--KPMG is certainly not a bad firm for which to work; however, I wouldn't want to work for them right now.</p>
<p>"So, what good is passing the CPA exam if you don't get licensed? Splitting hairs here."</p>
<p>I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean--the point was that it doesn't matter whether or not he gets the experience before or after he sits for the exam and that he doesn't necessarily need experience before working at the Big 4. No one's saying that the OP should take the exam and then not work for another firm--I'm just pointing out that work experience is no longer a prereq for the exam, which is an important distinction since most people are going to want to sit before they start working full-time, which would be impossible to do (internship or not) if that requirement were not changed.</p>