Accounting Cadetships

[pennypacker]

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What do people think of doing an accounting cadetship, compared to a coop scholarship program such as Bacc at UTS?

Or should i not do any form of cadetship/coop program, and just do a commerce degree?

[Eagles]

you in for money?
you in for indepth experience in a single field or many experience in many fields?

if you answered money, go for cadetship, if not, coop
if you answered indepth experience in single field, go for cadetship, if not, coop

if you wanna get thru a plain commerce degree, be sure to get really good marks. thats the only compensation for not having experience.

now, for me. I woke up one morning after one year of full time studying commerce (d average).. and decided.. f*ck it, i'm gonna get some accounting work experience!

and thats that!

[ishq]

both are excellent. and better than the normal commerce degree - out of the 2000+ graduates each year - its gonna be the cadetship/coop that differentiates you.

[turtleface]

both are excellent. and better than the normal commerce degree - out of the 2000+ graduates each year - its gonna be the cadetship/coop that differentiates you.

-you have to be really bad to not be offered a job when you come out of cadetship of co-op, so I don't think the grad recruitment consideration is an issue. You look much better as a fresh BCom grad with good grads, rather than a Cadet with experience who was not offered a job with his/her former firm

um whether co-op/cadetship is better is debatable, I've found experience is overrated. The problem with Cadet and Co-op experience is that its mainly low level clerical work. True, when you start off as a grad, you automatically are a Accountant level 2, but thats the same as a 3 yr bcom'er with 1 yr experience as an accountant 1, which you achieve in the same amount of time

I believe its better to focus on doing the best you can for a BCom, which allows you to assess your options as you go through it and apply for Vac work, which generally leads to a grad position as long as you don't go stuff around at the firm.

[seremify007]

Originally Posted by turtleface

-you have to be really bad to not be offered a job when you come out of cadetship of co-op, so I don't think the grad recruitment consideration is an issue. You look much better as a fresh BCom grad with good grads, rather than a Cadet with experience who was not offered a job with his/her former firm

Have to be pretty shate not to get offered a grad spot IMO. Alot of cadets leave before they even commence CA to pursue careers in IB and consulting I've seen.

Originally Posted by turtleface

um whether co-op/cadetship is better is debatable, I've found experience is overrated. The problem with Cadet and Co-op experience is that its mainly low level clerical work. True, when you start off as a grad, you automatically are a Accountant level 2, but thats the same as a 3 yr bcom'er with 1 yr experience as an accountant 1, which you achieve in the same amount of time

Are you speaking that from experience? It depends on your firm I'd say- different firms place different priorities on the work they expect from cadets and coops.

The UTS coop program is great- it has some good sponsors and excellent work experience, but I think the benefits of a cadetship program whereby you get really into working at a firm with proper training and build proper relationships with staff/clients are what will be the things which help you later on- and cadets also earn more (at graduate level) than equivilent graduates. However, the UTS coop program I believe will facilitate a much more normal university social life and if you prefer to enjoy uni rather than only going at night to study, then that's probably the way to go.

I'm speaking this from what I know both from my friends who are cadets, my friends who are coops, and my sister who was a cadet starting out back in 1999 (and now lives in London on secondment). I personally haven't started my cadetship (no points for guessing which firm it is...) but I've done quite a bit of research regarding this in the past; so feel free to contact me if you have any Q's regarding this.

[Raginsheep]

Which firm is it? Are you starting in the second half of the year?

[The_Apprentice]

My friend is doing a cadetship with PWC and attends Macquarie uni part time. She likes it, but she gets abit worn out at times. She works full time at PWC, so 8:30am-5pm everyday and on top of that she goes to uni three nights a week...straigh from work to be at uni at 6pm for another 3 hours..
I dunno, I couldn't handle that much accounting i dont think. Plus she goes out a lot too. It's definately been a change of lifestyle for her, so thats something you might want to take into account.

[seremify007]

You gotta be willing to give up your social life... and then take it back slowly I was talking to my mate today about it (he's from another Big4 firm) and he has a pretty good social life. But don't go expecting to be a full socialite once you start a cadetship because it just ain't gonna happen.

And I'm starting 2nd half of the year; also at PwC.

[pennypacker]

Thanks for all the helpful advice!
A cadetship sounds really hectic, so I think I'll just apply at
UTS and hope I get in to Bacc...

[seremify007]

Yeh I think it's pretty hectic- you have to have your heart in it if you wanna go well; and I know a lot of people won't last the entire length of the program without dropping out (for a variety of reasons).

All the best with your coop application. But as a tip, maybe you might wanna check out the flyhigher/cadetship evenings and ask some of them how they find it with their work/social commitments, etc... it might change your opinions Just whatever you do, don't double dip (that is, apply for multiple firms/coops/scholarships and sign for more than one).

[ishq]

Originally Posted by pennypacker

Thanks for all the helpful advice!
A cadetship sounds really hectic, so I think I'll just apply at
UTS and hope I get in to Bacc...

good choice (haha...)

and like seremify said - come to the cadetship evening..bacc represents will be there also..to lure you! (including ME)

and just so you dont have to double dip, first round of bacc scholarship applications is on the same time as cadetships!

BAcc's amazing...for more info, check up the UTS Bus/Law section

[seremify007]

Originally Posted by ishq

good choice (haha...)

and like seremify said - come to the cadetship evening..bacc represents will be there also..to lure you! (including ME)

and just so you dont have to double dip, first round of bacc scholarship applications is on the same time as cadetships!

BAcc's amazing...for more info, check up the UTS Bus/Law section

AHAHA you guys go to the ICAA evening too? Free food...~

Btw I thought BAcc apps weren't due until like.. much later in the year? At least that's what I thought it was like for my year- and then the interviews occur right at the end of the year as well? *shrugs*

[Eagles]

Who cares? Just apply for everything.

Its not like you know what you're getting yourself into.

You can choose not to enter doors that are open, but you can't walk through a closed door.

[seremify007]

Originally Posted by Eagles

You can choose not to enter doors that are open, but you can't walk through a closed door.

Nice phrasing D.

[roadcone]

Originally Posted by turtleface

um whether co-op/cadetship is better is debatable, I've found experience is overrated. The problem with Cadet and Co-op experience is that its mainly low level clerical work. True, when you start off as a grad, you automatically are a Accountant level 2, but thats the same as a 3 yr bcom'er with 1 yr experience as an accountant 1, which you achieve in the same amount of time

I believe its better to focus on doing the best you can for a BCom, which allows you to assess your options as you go through it and apply for Vac work, which generally leads to a grad position as long as you don't go stuff around at the firm.

i disagree, my partner has told me that a cadet after 6 months is more valuable than a graduate. the reason - picking someone up with no experience in the field means that they will have a more open approach to the situation.

the problem with grads is that they come in with a degree, but have no (or very limited) practical application of what is going on and as such start right from the bottom as well, albeit on a higher salary.

being a cadet is great. yeah you can pick up some shit jobs at time because you are the gofer, but the majority of the time you are doing the same stuff as everyone else just on a slightly easier level. it helps your uni incredibly because you are doing the stuff everyday, helping you to see the bigger picture and most importantly stay motivated (i've found that some of my friends who don't work have had trouble at uni because they can't see where it is heading)

another plus is that when you come back from full time uni you can start CA straight away (don't have to wait 8months like the other grads) and will have at least 2 years work experience up on them.

i would reccommend at least applying (you can always say no). if its the area that you want to get into you can't go wrong.

feel free to ask any questions (stupid as you think they may be) on cadetships and the interviews because i know that there are a fair few of us floating around.