thecfawannabe

can a monkey go into the audit industry is the more appropriate title to this thread

ap0258

I'm not an L2 candidate yet (waiting to hear about L1), but I've done an internship in audit, and I don't know a single person on the audit side that had a CFA. I would see taking the CFA exams as a way to move out of audit, not into it.

Do you want to move into audit just to get some experience or because you actually want to do audit?

Pegasus2008

Go into internal audit. They'll take anyone that has a pulse and generally understands accounting concepts...

tobeornottobe

Big 4 audit here. CFA is useless to them and hardly anyone knows what it is. While passing L1/L2 might be impressive to some, the real credential needed in the field is the CPA. Period.

Their typical recruit is still in their Junior/Senior year of undergrad and show interest in taking the CPA exam. Those undergrads then do either Spring or Summer internships with the respective firms. After graduation, they start in the Fall. Otherwise, they do direct hires from accounting grads who did not have an internship.

CFA can help raise some eyebrows and set you apart. But at this point networking is most likely your best option. The recruiting process is pretty standard unless you have an in. Shame really. Some firms are having a recruiting shortage because they cut jobs too deep during 08-09. Anyone from a ranked accounting program is getting an offer.

But like someone mentioned, the longer you stay in, the more typecast you become. But a job's a job I guess.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, June 24, 2011 at 05:35PM by el duque.