What to do, and when to do it, if you want an accounting internship or a full-time offer.
Accounting recruiting runs far earlier than most industries. Firms make internship decisions well before the semester most students expect. If you wait until you feel ready, you have already missed the cycle.
Show up to events. Meet the Board and the faculty. Consider running for Freshman Representative in the fall. You are not expected to know anything yet.
Get a working resume. Start attending firm panels and networking nights seriously — recruiters remember faces they've seen more than once.
This is the year. Internship recruiting happens now. Attend Meet the Accountants Night and both firm panels, and follow up with every contact.
Convert the internship to a full-time offer, and plan the 150-hour requirement and CPA exam timeline.
New York requires 150 semester hours of education for CPA licensure — more than a standard bachelor's degree — plus passing the CPA exam and a supervised experience requirement. The extra hours are why many accounting students plan for a graduate degree or additional coursework.
Plan this early. It changes your course sequencing, and it is far cheaper to plan for in your sophomore year than to solve in your senior year.
The Society runs CPA exam and certification information sessions each spring. Bring your questions; faculty who are licensed CPAs attend.
We run resume and interview workshops during the academic year, timed ahead of the recruiting cycle rather than after it. Watch your email.
For one-on-one help, the Society's Board members have been through this process recently and are glad to look at a resume. Email us.
The Accounting Department runs the VITA Program — free IRS-certified tax preparation for the Buffalo community, staffed by Canisius students. It is genuine hands-on tax experience, it serves people who need it, and it looks like exactly what it is on a resume.