In A Dilemma, Need Advice.

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>I'm currently a sophomore at the University of Illinois, and majoring in Finance and Accounting. I just found out that i was selected for a winter internship at a Big4 firm in NYC (in audit). I'm incredibly confused. and don't know whether or not I should take the offer. Here are some of the pros and cons that I have :-</p>

<p>Pros
1) If I do the internship, there's a strong chance I'd get a full time offer.
1) I'm not a US citizen, so finding any other internship at all would be difficult. I'm looking to work in the US for a few years, and they're willing to sponsor my visa.
3) It's in NYC and the office generally audits leading financial services firms (Private Equity/Venture Capital, Hedge Funds, I-Banks....) which is really appealing to me.
4) General benefits of being an accountant for the Big4</p>

<p>Cons
1) I'm not sure if accounting is the best career path for me. I started off with a big interest in finance. I really enjoyed the two introductory accounting courses I've taken so far but I'm not detail-oriented at all though, and honestly, details bore me.
2) I will have to take a semester off school to intern. If I do choose to be be an accountant, I'd have to take the CPA and need 150 hours to do so. I came to college with no credits at all so taking a semester off will put me back. It's still possible for me to graduate on time (with 20 hours of online courses). But is it worth it? Would i be diluting the quality of my education?</p>

<p>What do you guys think i should do? or rather, what would you do in my position?
Also, If I declined the offer, would that put me at a disadvantage if I applied to intern for the summer in a different department (consulting)?</p>

2

<p>Quite honestly, international students have the hardest time job-wise. Feel very lucky that you found one :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Just a few comments: There’s always a few people who graduate in December instead of May for this exactly reason. It’s not like you’re adding a semester, so you’d be paying the same amount of money. </p>

<p>If you’re not sure about accounting, try to find a finance internship for that summer. That way you can see which you prefer? </p>

<p>Quite honestly, I would think declining puts you at a disadvantage for future opportunities in a different service line. Your best bet might be to intern, and then try to switch your job offer to consulting if you decide that’s what you want. I successfully switched service lines myself.</p>

<p>I was in your position, kind of, and I ended up doing internships both during the Spring semester and over the summer. In my market, many schools have programs that allow you to intern during busy season, and then take a condensed course load when busy season is over, which is basically what I did so that I wasn’t behind.</p>

3

<p>I would take it. Even if it turns out you don’t like it, audit experience with big 4 looks good when applying for finance internships.</p>

4

<p>Ditto. Take the internship, it’s harder to get than attending school. In business, experience counts a lot.</p>