<p>I'm going to school for business administration right at a community college right now. I will be able to transfer to LSU next Fall. Many have told me this is the best business school in the state. I want to be an accountant and plan on taking my CPA after I get my degree. Here's the thing I know I need at least a years experience to even get looked at. Where I life, it's very difficult getting a job. I'm hoping a degree will be enough but a lot of jobs don't hire without any kind of experience. I have no problem starting off with an entry level job but it seems they're looking for someone with experience also. What are my possible options?</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster. It can be annoying but, while you are in school, think about the option of getting an internship or part-time job in the area you are interested in. That way, even if you don’t have a year of experience, at least you have something to show work experience wise.</p>
<p>What I’ve found in my experience is that experience doesn’t necessarily equate to PAID experience. Therefore, you may need to work for free (i.e. intern or volunteer) before you can land a paid gig - if they are in fact requiring experience. Paid is always nice, but sometimes you need to prove yourself before others put their investment into you.</p>
<p>The more the better too. If unpaid internship or volunteer work is for you, then take every chance at it. Talk to the professors at the community college you will go to, they usually know more about their professional fields than the “helper” in the career services office. The good ones even ask for student’s email addresses so they can let them all know about new job openings in their field so the students can apply for them as they may be otherwise obscure to find.</p>
<p>And just remember that networking is underrated. Say you meet a friend in class and you hit it off and start hanging out a lot. You talk to them about your future job prospects and they say “Hey, You wanna be a CPA? My uncle is a CPA at a local firm (or better yet Big 4). Maybe I can talk to him to see if you can shadow him sometime or maybe he can just sit and talk with you a few minutes to give you pointers on the profession?” Now 9 times out of 10 this may not land you an actual job, but I think the more you do it, the more likely it is eventually to pay off.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>