when can you start applying for summer/winter internships? (1 Viewer)

[seremify007]

Isn't there now CA Achiever stuff open?

 

[Anonymou5]

This seems to be the most active forum and my question is probably applicable to other fields so I'll post it here. From what people have heard and their experience, do the interviewers even care about your competence once you are given an interview? Is it just about your communication skills, personality and other things which aren't directly related to your ability to do the actual job?

I ask this because one of my lecturers said one of his former students called him to get help on an engineering problem that he encountered at work and it turned out that he only needed to apply fundamental fluid mechanics theory to solve it. From what I've been reading and hearing, competence just doesn't seem important anymore.

 

[seremify007]

This seems to be the most active forum and my question is probably applicable to other fields so I'll post it here. From what people have heard and their experience, do the interviewers even care about your competence once you are given an interview? Is it just about your communication skills, personality and other things which aren't directly related to your ability to do the actual job?

I ask this because one of my lecturers said one of his former students called him to get help on an engineering problem that he encountered at work and it turned out that he only needed to apply fundamental fluid mechanics theory to solve it. From what I've been reading and hearing, competence just doesn't seem important anymore.

That's the impression a lot of people have- but I'm under the school of thought whereby once you get to the interview stage, you've proven you've got sufficient qualifications/experience/etc... to have the job, all that's left is to see how well you interact with people and your overall suitability for the job. With regards to your ability to do the actual job- how can you really gauge that without having them on the job itself? The stuff you learn in uni, whilst relevant, will be very different to what you actually do at work. I mean, I sucked at uni, but I like to think I'm quite competent at my job. If you are found to be incompetent, most contracts nowadays have a probation period whereby the contract will come into full force after say a month (some places have it set at 3 months)- and prior to this, either party (ie. employee or employer) can break the contract with no penalty.

 

[turtleface]

This seems to be the most active forum and my question is probably applicable to other fields so I'll post it here. From what people have heard and their experience, do the interviewers even care about your competence once you are given an interview? Is it just about your communication skills, personality and other things which aren't directly related to your ability to do the actual job?

I ask this because one of my lecturers said one of his former students called him to get help on an engineering problem that he encountered at work and it turned out that he only needed to apply fundamental fluid mechanics theory to solve it. From what I've been reading and hearing, competence just doesn't seem important anymore.

Yes I've noticed this a lot too.

Adding onto what seremify said, the firms train u up on techical skills so its becoming not that big an issue how well you did at uni. Also, a lot of the issues we learn at uni aren't useful till we get to high levels, when we are grads its more about mechancial labourous work. For instance, a former auditor lecturer was telling us he didn't touch consolidations till he got to Manager level.

Additionally, uni marks are not the best indicator of how technically competent you are, as so things like luck, exam day conditions, and general laziness is factored in to the marks. Plus the tutors at our uni who mark the exams are so inept, its amazing marks are used to compare academic competence at all.

That said, for some reason Law firms and Investment Banks still seem to avoid touching you if you have sub 80 marks (in my experience), unlike Accounting where 60's and 70's are deemed acceptable in many circumstances

 

[Anonymou5]

Thanks for the response guys. I guess it depends on which area you are working in and you probably don't need 90+ average unless you want to do post graduate stuff. (I know it's 80+ for post grad entrance in most faculties, but I doubt any post grads just scrape in with an 80)

 

[velox]

Usually you need a 2i or 1 for post grad. Nothing like 90+.

A 2i is 75+

 

[Anonymou5]

I should've clarified, I was referring to the requirements in Victorian unis. Yeah and most people don't get 90+ overall but some do. I'm just saying that I doubt many post grads would've just scraped through with an 80 because of the the continually rising cut-off score for the standard post grad scholarship that I've heard about. But that's not really the point of the thread.

 

[velox]

Most post grads dont get scholarships, especially in commerce.

 

[seremify007]

I know of some Honours students who were offered scholarships to finish their Masters/Honours (or something like that). Can't remember exact details because I didn't really understand, but it also required them to continue working in the university as well.

 

[turtleface]

I hear people do masters as a career change, or if they can't get a job

 

[redruM]

Yep.

x 2

If you look at the subjects that they do for Masters of Accounting, they do virtually the same subjects as undergraduates; Corporations Law, Financial Accounting, etc..

 

[seremify007]

There are a few who do it even with offers from Big4... but then when they go out to work, they are still on the same salary as regular grads ><

From what I've seen so far with work- uni is more focussed on definitions and technicalities; but the real world (note: audit) is more based on judgement, ability to document your work and interfacing with clients.

 

[turtleface]

I recall reading a somewhere that the Accounting firms used to recruit all the people with the highest marks, but then found out that didn't work so well for some reason. And I think thats why they now go for the multi-facet approach.

 

[ND]

I recall reading a somewhere that the Accounting firms used to recruit all the people with the highest marks, but then found out that didn't work so well for some reason. And I think thats why they now go for the multi-facet approach.

I'd say it's pretty obvious why that wouldn't work.

 

[Minai]

Mmm, you don't really need much technical expertise in audit, but you do need good people skills (lots of client interaction), a level head (to stand your ground with stubborn clients), and I guess sound logic (to realise why certain things are recorded and if its appropriate)