USA Newbie question about Accounting Jobs

[Riess]

Hello everyone!

My question today is about internships and jobs in my field of study (accounting obviously). I am currently a junior in college from a good business school. I have several jobs on my resume and good references. What I don't have is any accounting experience. How should I go about starting to find a position that would garner experience? I know of internships, but they are rare at my school and very competitive. I was thinking of walking into some establishments and asking if I could do some basic things around the office in return for some experience. I would show them I'm motivated and willing to learn. Is this a foolish way to look for an internship or an entry level position while I am in school? I just want to know how to get started and serious about my resume so when I graduate I have already hit the ground running.

Thank you in advance for the help and I look forward to contributing here.

 

[David Bolenbaugh CPA]

Riess,

That may work, business owners like to see drive in possible candidates. And if they say no, just move on to the next one. On your resume, focus on your personal qualities & customer service traits. Accounting is a service industry, so don't forget that and potential employers love when you realize that fact. I graduated a few years ago and was worried about getting a job as I really didn't have much experience. I applied at some jobs through my college's online job board, Careerbuilder, and pretty much any website I could think of. Luckily I found my first job through my college's job board. You can try Craigslist too, just be careful (that's where I found my current firm). Also, before I moved to Colorado, I Googled accounting firms near where I was moving (Denver) and went to their websites. If they had positions open, I would apply in whatever manner they wanted (usually email). I also emailed other firms that were not advertising for jobs on their site. Needless to say, during my week long trip to scout out Denver before moving, I had 6 job interviews lined up. I did have a pretty strong resume as I worked at a firm specializing in International Tax.

Biggest tips are to create a good-looking resume, I used a color for my name at the top to stand out and don't give up. Triple check your resume for aesthetic appeal (Does the layout make it easy to read/scan) and accuracy, and cut out wordy stuff that nobody really cares about (consider bullet points). Employers spend roughly 8-10 seconds looking at your resume before deciding to dump it or keep looking. So try to make yours stand out (in a good way).

 

[Riess]

Great answer thank you! I knew persistence would be my best bet. I'm in the process of finding an internship and the competition is steep and this is great advice. Thanks again