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db729
Major Contributor

Joined: 22 Apr 2010
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Posts: 256

Posted: 19 Jun 2011 at 17:04 \| IP Logged

ddlszxcv wrote:

Obviously a summer internship is the best option. From what I've seen
during my process, there really isn't a specific number that these offices
need to fill. If you meet what they are looking for, they will extend an offer.
I think doing a winter internship will "mess up" your graduation/CPA testing
schedule. My friends that did winter internship actually had to work 60-70
hour weeks so that kind of sucked.

That's not true at all. Doing a winter internship does not "suck." Yes you're working more hours than your summer intern counterparts, but you also get paid a ton better. If you work over 8hrs, it's 1.5x your salary. If you work over 12hrs, it's 2x your salary. If you're going to be in public accounting, you're going to work those hours. Why would you not get paid OT for that. I agree with bird that it's a lot more "fun" as a summer intern. You get to participate in ton of intern activities and get to know everyone in your interning (and potentially FT class). It's more about you getting to know the firm and the firm getting to know you.

If you want to do a summer internship because you want to experience of building a network with your peers and seeing the firm from a cultural perspective, by all means do it. But if you don't want to do a winter internship because of the hours, you might as well get the hell out of public accounting/finance/consulting now and take a mediocre job somewhere else. Interns are treated best next to partners. If you can't stand those hours as an intern, you're not going to stand them as a first year associate when expectations are a lot higher.

GeorgiaEA
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Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 172

Posted: 19 Jun 2011 at 20:41 \| IP Logged

Ideally, get a BIG4 internship in the winter and a mid-tier
firm internship in the summer. Compare the two experiences
to see where you would be a better fit in the long-run.

ddlszxcv
Contributor

Joined: 17 Nov 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 93

Posted: 21 Jun 2011 at 20:30 \| IP Logged

db729 wrote:

ddlszxcv wrote:

Obviously a summer internship is the best option.
From what I've seen
during my process, there really isn't a specific number that these offices
need to fill. If you meet what they are looking for, they will extend an
offer.
I think doing a winter internship will "mess up" your graduation/CPA
testing
schedule. My friends that did winter internship actually had to work 60-
70
hour weeks so that kind of sucked.

That's not true at all. Doing a
winter internship does not "suck." Yes you're working more hours than
your summer intern counterparts, but you also get paid a ton better. If
you work over 8hrs, it's 1.5x your salary. If you work over 12hrs, it's 2x
your salary. If you're going to be in public accounting, you're going to
work those hours. Why would you not get paid OT for that. I agree with
bird that it's a lot more "fun" as a summer intern. You get to participate in
ton of intern activities and get to know everyone in your interning (and
potentially FT class). It's more about you getting to know the firm and the
firm getting to know you. If you want to do a summer internship because
you want to experience of building a network with your peers and seeing
the firm from a cultural perspective, by all means do it. But if you don't
want to do a winter internship because of the hours, you might as well
get the hell out of public accounting/finance/consulting now and take a
mediocre job somewhere else. Interns are treated best next to partners.
If you can't stand those hours as an intern, you're not going to stand
them as a first year associate when expectations are a lot higher.

2x your salary if you work more than 12 hours? Please tell me what big
4/metro you are in so I can jump ship.

bird
Regular
Regular

Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 208

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 at 13:07 \| IP Logged

cant speak for all the big 4 firms, but at mine, the winter interns were not allowed to work more than 8 hours a day. the firm did not want to pay OT.

at the end of the day, take whatever you can get. the best way to go about things is through a summer internship. you will not have to delay graduation, you will have a sweet summer job, and you can spend your senior year of college with an offer in-hand. if you can't land a summer internship, but can do the winter internship, then obviously go for that. it's not going to be a bad experience, and chances are you won't even be working busy season hours, but it will be less "play" and more work.

CanadianCPA
Major Contributor

Joined: 19 May 2010
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 554

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 at 20:52 \| IP Logged

The Big 4 firm I work for has required 55 hours a week for winter interns.

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