I’m a college student majoring in accounting, and I’m currently in my sophmore year. This semester I’m taking my first accounting class (Principles of Financial Accounting). I’m attending a community college, and will transfer to the local university (UT Arlington) in the fall.
I would like to know how I can go about appyling for or obtaining an internship, either at an accounting firm or maybe with the accounting department of a corporation. Also:
Should I apply for one now, or should I wait until my junior or senior year?
Generally speaking, how many credits do firms want before they’ll take me on as an intern?
Would it be best to go down to the job center at my college, or just call local CPA’s and ask if they’re taking interns?
How much money (if any at all) can I expect to earn?
My reason for wanting an internship is that I feel that if I do well enough at it, and make a good impression on the boss, I could have a job waiting for me when I graduate. Am I correct in this thinking, or totally wrong?
Yes, I realize I could ask the people in the job center all these questions, but I figured it’d be helpful to ask people here who have done this sort of thing.
I wasn’t in accounting, or anywhere near it, but my experience with internships as an undergrad (and now as a masters’ student) suggests the following:
It seemed the trend when I was an undergrad to intern either in the spring of your junior year or the fall of your senior year. The idea was to know enough about what you were doing that it would be useful to you.
Perhaps accounting internships are different from the kind I had then and have now, but don’t count on being paid. If you are, that’s great. If you’re not, chalk it up to experience.
Most schools have things you need to do to get credit for your internship. You will have forms to fill out and all, and you need to talk to your advisor about this (if you’re transferring, then obviously you’ll have to talk to your new advisor once you transfer.) If you do one for credit, you may have to do things like weekly logs and meeting with your advisor regularly to talk about it.
I suggest starting out talking to your career center at school. They may have certain firms they have worked with in the past, or use their alumni network on behalf of their students. They will quite possibly be able to do you better than you can on your own.
And as for getting a job, yeah, sometimes it happens, but the real benefit is for your resume and for references. You may not get a job where you worked, but if you begin a good relationship with that firm it may see you far in other ways.
In short, I highly reccomend interning, but I would suggest that you go through the school (probably preferably once you transfer into the university) and use their resources - they’ve done this a lot and they can help you tremendously.