icycloud said:
Ah OK this answers my question. I was under the impression you had to do a SINGLE major in Accounting. So it's still OK to do double major? (e.g. Accounting + Finance?). And also are you allowed to choose your own uni, because I want to goto UNSW not Macquarie or UTS.
I go to UNSW along with 13 other cadets (from my year). Does that answer your question?
EDIT: Forgot to mention, I'm doing Acct/Fin. Some people are doing Acct/Biz Law, and some doing Acct/HR. Problem with UNSW is it requires quite a bit of effort to organise your degree to fit in your major(s), your gen eds, and the CA-prerequisites. But if you plan ahead, it's possible.
icycloud said:
Well I am actually genuinely interested in Accounting. However, I do still want to keep my options open for later on in my career (e.g. after the traineeship, I might want to change occupations to something law-based?). And anyway having a Law degree is an advantage even if you're just an accountant. My aunt who used to work at the higher rungs of PwC did tell me that they used to (still do?) have a policy of hiring ONLY double degree graduates (into their tax division) so I guess I'm a little bit confused why they wouldn't let trainees do double degrees.
There's a huge difference when it comes to Tax compared to other divisions I've noticed. Basically, Tax people tend to do double degrees (in general- not necessarily PwC) and aren't required to undertake CA (although alot of them do) but need to do a Masters of Tax instead. If you're in Assurance, you'll be much better off just doing Commerce and getting your CA, after all, the point of a cadetship is to fast track your career in accounting. That being said, I can see why you'd want to keep your options open and most employers will look quite favourably on work experience in Big4 environments.
Remember, a double degree takes
a lot longer to complete- and also, it means it'll take longer before you reach CA, and thus, even longer before the firm will get to reap the rewards of training you up... not to mention the risk you might just jump ship after all this! Unless you're in tax, I don't think many people do double degrees on a cadetship.
EDIT: So that being said, I'm not really sure why they don't allow/encourage you to do a double degree. My only guess is they want you to hurry up and finish the CA program (and any other training/post-grad qualifications for Tax) rather than waste time doing law when you won't be making full use of it. This is purely speculation and you'll have to ask your contact for more info.
icycloud said:
What would happen if I did this? Wouldn't I get a major kick in the ass and get my name blacklisted with the company? Lol, I don't want that to happen!
I'm not in a position to officially make a comment on this, but from the friends I have who did that... I wouldn't want to be in their position.
=candii= said:
your allowed to do that?
hmm... i thought once you signed the contract for the cadetship your legally not allowed to cancel the cadetship at the end of the year just because you were offered a coop/scholarship or smth =S
so if i accept this cadetship...and later on say i get offered the unsw coop, i can cancel the cadetship?
dunno i'll probably keep the cadetship though coz it if i wanted to get a graduate position at PwC it would probably be alot harder to get in wouldnt it (becasue of limited positions/luck might not be as good the second time round
)?
Technically you are breaking the terms of your contract by cancelling it- but then they probably won't sue you because they haven't really suffered financially (ie. they haven't paid you any grants or subsidies yet)- but that's not to say they definitely won't. You're not supposed to apply for coops (there's actually a warning) if you've already signed a cadetship; even worse, the firms that sponsor the coops tend to be cadetship firms as well (in the industry stream).
As you pointed out, and as they emphasise all the time-
TALK TO SOMEONE if you're not happy with the terms. And I think you're on the right track in the sense that even if you didn't get the cadetship, you would still pursue Accounting- after all, cadetships require dedication to the career.
Btw, your reasoning is one of the things which I thought of when applying for cadetships. At least "now" (ie. last year) i'm only competing with a few dedicated people... in a few years time, I'll have to compete with pretty much every graduate (there's 1000 ppl per year at B Comm in UNSW alone) for a spot- sounds tough eh?
Hope this helps you guys out in making your decisions
Just remember, a little over a year ago, I was in the same situation as you lot were in- I know the feelings!
