If you are in college or in the industry and debating whether or not public accounting is for you, read this post.

BUSY SEASON

There are so many horrific stories about never-ending busy seasons that can influence you to never join public accounting. Many of the stories are true. Working late and often is not a rarity. However, it’s not the same as investment banking. You will have periods when you don’t have crazy busy season hours and the flexibility in public accounting is pretty good. If you are ready to make a long-term commitment to your accounting career and accept the reality of busy seasons, then public accounting maybe right for you.

EXPERIENCE & TRAINING

The sheer volume of experience that you will get in one year is incredible. The same goes for training. However, I have to say that planning on spending only 1-2 years in public accounting just for the experience and training is a waste of time. If you do, your experience will be summed up to just that, “time spent in public accounting.” To make it valuable and to make the experience work for you and your future career (if you plan on leaving public accounting), I’d stay put for longer than 2 years. 

EXPECTATIONS

Public accounting firms boast a high-performing culture. Usually and often high performance is an all-encompassing term. It can mean work excellence, teamwork, building relationships, contributing to the firm’s culture, etc. If you are ready to set your bar high and strive to achieve a higher performance, then public accounting maybe right for you.