Did I ruin my chances of getting a good job? I’m an accounting major with one year left and my gpa as of this Spring is a 3.26. The reason it is so low is because I was originally an Electircal Engineering major and ended up with 2 Ds on my transript. I asked about retaking them, but my counselor told me it is too late to so I feel like i wasted the past 4 years with nothing to show for except a lot of debt.
And on top of this, switching majors pushed me back a year so im not even able to graduate in four years.
I just feel like I really screwed up and I don’t know what to do anymore. If I pull all As from here on I can still finish with a 3.4 but even that isn’t good enough cause the cut off for the Big Four is a 3.5. Has anyone been in a similar situation or have any advice.
I am not an expert in the accounting field by any means, but I am fairly familiar with it. While going to work for one of the Big Four is definitely the best thing you can do to build your professional resume (there’s no way to deny it), there are other options out their to gain valuable experience in public accounting that will look impressive an legitimate on future job applications. I would suggest seeking out firms that are big enough to be well-regarded but are small enough to be more willing to take a look at you as an actual applicant as opposed to a number. I know of at least a few firms that currently have around 300 employees, which falls into the category of not being to big to ignore your low GPA or to small to be respectable on a resume. Also, from the people that I have talked to, working at a mid-size firm proves to be much more enjoyable than spending time at one of the Big Four.
Bottom line: There are other options outside of the Big Four, and you will be able to find a good job. That’s one of the benefits of going into accounting right? There are always jobs for accountants.