When studying at college, an international student should seize every opportunity to explore different professional fields as well as a host country. One of the ways to do it is to apply for internships, which are the best method to test certain profession for suitability, probe own degree, and gain new practical and cultural knowledge. If an internship is what you need and accounting is your passion, this article is for you.
An accounting internship is a chance to merge into the atmosphere of complicated financial operations and take part in auditing. It is a challenging but very rewarding experience that will help you obtain not only invaluable skills but also class credits necessary to graduate. There are a number of internship options that may contribute to your educational growth and improve career prospects. Numerous companies in different geographical areas offer them. You may choose to work for a local CPA, accounting or auditing companies, and even consulting groups. Considering the number of accountant companies and CPAs in big cities, every international student may find a suitable internship job to spend summer at.
Which Accounting Internships Are Available?
There are different types of accounting internships available for international students. First, there are those functioning near top colleges. It might be difficult for you to find out much information about them or get the position; however, it is worth trying. Second, you can search for internships depending on a career field in which you are the most interested. If, for example, you think about working in a consulting sphere, search for the consulting companies in a specific area. Some of the most famous consulting groups offering accounting internships are Accenture, Deloitte, and KPMG. For sure, the experience of cooperation with them will be challenging. Nevertheless, you will be able to work on a great variety of projects as well as participate in financial reporting and auditing. Moreover, you will have a chance to meet different clients ranging from small companies to governmental entities.
Where May an Internship Be Found?
Accounting internships are numerous, but sometimes, it is quite a complicated task to find them. The first place to begin the searches from is a company’s website. Usually, those organizations that do offer such opportunities post the descriptions of the position there. The advertisements are usually in a format that allows objectively assessing whether you qualify for the vacancy. Therefore, you just need to regularly check the websites of the companies that interest you. One thing that you should remember is that the competition for such positions is quite intense. Since the description of the internship is in open access, there is quite high likelihood that other students found and applied for them, too.
Another approach to finding a suitable accounting internship is to look for positions in a specific field rather than a company. For this purpose, you can use job search platforms, for instance, Monster.com or Indeed.com. They work as a usual search engine. All you need to do is to type in the keywords, for example, ‘consulting internship’ or ‘accounting internship’ and then look through the results to find what suits you. These platforms constantly gather the information about internship vacancies around the Internet. Basically, all important for you information is stored in one place, which makes this search method the most effective one.
Can the University Help?
Colleges and universities, and yours is unlikely to be an exception, usually have a career-related department, the aim of which is to assist students who are still studying or have just graduated to find a job or an internship. Educational establishments cooperate with companies and invite their representatives to visit career fairs, which are held once a semester. Various organizations, including accounting and consulting companies, willingly attend such event with a goal to find talented and eager to study young minds from a specific university. Students, in turn, have a possibility to meet and communicate with employers and, thus, understand whether an internship in a specific firm is worth trying. Moreover, to visit the fair is a good way to find out more about internships, requirements to interns, and potential duties. It is also a chance to learn about full-time employment opportunities.
Therefore, the options of accounting internships for international students are plentiful and diverse. Everyone can find something that corresponds to his/her interests and qualification. Choose a field or a company, start to search, and enjoy the summer full of exciting events and unexpected discoveries in the world of real professionals.
