I’m in a CPA review program at a local CC. I have a 4.0 now with only a few classes left. Basically all this program does is give you the credits needed for eligibility to sit for the CPA exam.
Lately I’ve been going out more and doing more social things; but I’m no genius so if I don’t study the majority of my waking hours I’m gonna slip a few points. Part of me takes a little pride in having a 4.0, but I really see that as a bit of a weakness I should overcome or not pay attention to. I’m 38, so I need to take a practical approach to things; I’m starting to meet a lot more people lately and I think this networking might pay off more than a few GPA points. What do you careerist dopers think?
Because I am not sure there is a material difference. Employers seem to care whether you have passed the CPA exam or not. Once that box is checked, I don’t know if they even look at GPA, but only care about work experience etc. Good networking is more likely to open doors.
I think Mr. Nylock’s point here is that all things aren’t going to be equal - if he puts in the time to maintain his 4.0 GPA, he’s not spending that time establishing a professional network. As somebody who’s hired people in the past (even if I don’t now), I wouldn’t consider a 3.9 GPA to be substantially different from a 4.0… but an applicant with more professional connections and a wider network is definitely substantially better than an applicant who nobody knows.
Ultimately, the value of a 4.0 GPA is going be much greater to the OP than to potential employers. OP, remember what your overall goal is: you want to take the CPA exam and (presumably) work as a CPA. IMO, you’ll be better served by networking than by devoting extra time to your studies.
I’m going to say no. I mean, it’s not going to hurt anything if you have a 4.0, but in the three jobs I’ve had since graduating, the subject of my GPA has never come up. Hell, the subject of my degrees has never come up. Plus, you’ve carried your 4.0 this long, so you know you can do it. What more is there to prove? I can see if you were 20 and never held a job before, people would go by your GPA to gauge your work ethic. They still might look at it for your first CPA job, but after that no one is ever going to care about your GPA again.
At the same time, you only have to tough it out a little while longer. Are you going to look back and regret it if you don’t? That’s up to you.
For what it’s worth, I carried a 4.0 for a couple years and then decided it didn’t matter. In my case it seems I was correct.
It’s also easier to get a job through people you know than it is to brute force it with sweet stats on your resume.
I dunno. I work in software engineering and have interviewed and hired dozens and dozens of people, including tons of new graduates. We also hired lots of undergrads for summer software engineering internships. We never cared about GPA, and never looked. (I don’t know if transcripts were ever submitted for these positions, we always just looked at people’s resumes.)
But I suppose professional engineering fields are a lot more academically-focused.
Personally I don’t care what one’s GPA is. But if HR was tasked to find 5 suitable candidates for a fresh-out-of-college position, we’re probably going to get the 5 resumes with the highest GPAs.
If studying hard for that 4.0 means that you are learning more, it’s not just points – it’s being better prepared for the career you are trying to build.
Those picky details that you are slogging through (and that your socializing competition isn’t) may be the critical difference in best handling your future clients’ needs.
Granted, that means little to the “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” crowd, but I regard cronyism as a bug, not a feature.
I think what you are saying could easily be true for engineering, and the fields of engineering and accounting are similar in a lot of ways, but I think employers and HR do view the GPA metric differently. I can see how someone hiring an engineer might want someone with a 4.0 rather than a 3.8, and that difference in ability would have a material effect on profitability.
Accounting is a little different though, from what I can tell. It seems as if there are basically 2 piles - CPA or no CPA. Once that’s sorted, they will look at work history, references etc., and if they know you that is also important. Without the CPA, GPA would play a bigger factor I imagine; but with the CPA the GPA kind of doesn’t really get heavily scrutinized.
It’s not about cronyism really. Accounting involves a lot of judgement decisions and also the ability to work well with others. It is hard to explain, if you have the basic skills, splitting hairs over the types of things that GPA would measure is not really of interest to an employer; they want someone who has demonstrated ability - the CPA covers that, and once they are satisfied of that they want someone with the right personality. That is what the people in the profession have been telling me so far anyway.
I was in school a few years ago and I didn’t go overboard with getting all 4.0s. My feeling was that if I did the best I could then good grades would follow. Generally, they did. I got my degree with my head held high because I knew I’d done the best I could (and while I didn’t pull straight 4.0s I did manage to receive at least one 4.0 every quarter I was in school which, to me, was reward enough).
So your experience working and interviewing candidates in a field unrelated to the OP’s gives you a rough understanding of how a different functional area of someone else’s company works?
A little perspective here. The OP is in a CPA prep class at a community college. Not getting his degree from an accredited university accounting program. I wouldn’t think you would even put a course like that on your resume.
I’ve actually worked for two of the largest accounting firms during the course of my career. Once as a new MBA hire and later as a manager (where I participated in the hiring process) at a different Big-4 firm. Consulting though. Not accounting. But the hiring principle is the same.
GPA is certainly important. So is the choice of school. Employee referrals are probably more important and give you a bit more flexibility with the other criteria.
Once you get past the resume screeners, then it all comes down to interviews and “fit”. This is important because accounting is a people business. You aren’t just sitting in a room crunching numbers wearing a green visor on your head. You often work in teams and you work with clients.
Is the OP’s socializing with the sort of people who can get him in front hiring managers at good companies? Then I would say that it’s worthwhile to spend time on that. I landed my first job out of business school through a college fraternity brother who was a manager in a Big-4 accounting firm. But I also had the credentials and experience for the job.
It is accredited - it has to be for the state I am in; otherwise I would not be able to sit for the exam. The way it works now - and this is different than the way it was several years ago - you need a total of 150 credits to sit for the exam and a certain number have to be in specific accounting classes from an accredited university. So, basically I have the 120 undergraduate credits from a four year school, and these are just the extra ones to be able to sit for the exam. They actually model the test after the CPA exam; so 75 and above would indicate that you are on the right track to being able to pass the exam; but an A is 90 or above.
So, yeah, I think you’re assessing the situation pretty accurately except for some minor details. I am too old for big four anyway, so that wouldn’t factor in; and even if I was the right age I don’t think I would be what they are looking for. Mostly I would be looking at smaller firms and nonprofits - I think your experience is more in the big leagues - I’m just hoping for a spot on a AA team for a few years.
I’m sure it is. What I meant was I don’t think it’s the sort of thing one puts on the “Education” section of their resume. It’s the accounting degree and CPA that matters. Not the course that you used to prepare for the CPA.
Plus I assume to sit for the CPA you need prior relevant work experience?
I wouldn’t say “too old”. Not everyone joins Deloitte or EY right out of college. I just use them as examples because that’s my experience.
They’re good companies to work for, even if only for a few years. Sort of like going to college. It’s like you have an instant connection with any alumni from the firm.
