Internship??
 

Hello,

The dad of one of my brother's friend is a partner in an accounting here in NYC. He knows that my major is accounting and that I'll b graduating within a year. So he offered to submit my resume to the head of the recruitment process in his firm... That was last week. Now the recruiter wantsto meet with me to discuss a possible internship or an entre level position in the auditing dept in the firm... what should I do? As most of you imagine I'm in the same
cituation that most of the ppl here are.. I don't have a legal status in the country and I was told that I can't apply to a working visa bc my I-94 expired 6 months after I came into the country..

Are we allow to take internship offers? I do have an itin number.. Aka tax id number... Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Thank you for your time all.

Re: Internship??
 

If it's a paid internship, no. The people will probably ask you for documentation to see if you can work legally. Might be a different story if it's an unpaid position... but from the looks of it, it doesn't seem so.

Oh and have you read what's on the ITIN card? It clearly says it's not for work at all......

Re: Internship??
 

yea I am aware that the itin card says not for working purposes.. Wat is funny about that tho is that they issue so that you can pay taxes on the money you earned throughout the year.. Yet you shouldn't b working on the first place...

Has anyone ever "worked" under an unpaid internship? If so can you give me your personnal expirience.

Btw thanks for your feedback.

Re: Internship??
 

Hey Unknown09,

I'm also an accounting student, and my professor who knows my situation very well had tried to talk to the HR people within the Big 4's...unfortunately there's no way anybody can sponsor us...

I'd suggest you to be extra careful about who you tell your status to, because there had been known cases that people get deported while trying to get a job with a big firm. You know how important ethics is for accountants, they go through a series of background checks before they hire someone.

Hopefully I didn't sound too harsh, but trust me, I've tried everything I could to work within the big 4...(the only way is to work with a small, local CPA firm who doesn't mind paying you in cash, but their pay is minimum...although it's good for experience...)

Re: Internship??
 

Thank you for your answer gko1982. The firm that i applied to is not one of the big 4 but it is in the top 15 firms in nyc. Do you know if we would be able to take an unpaid internship?

Again thank youu

Re: Internship??
 

It depends on the company and how far they go in their background check. Usually even if you are not paid, they still need to gather your information for HR purposes, and in that case, they will ask you for your SSN, etc.

I'd suggest you to ask around, use your judgment to determine how much you can trust this company and the person hiring you. If you are close enough, see if they are willing to give you this chance to experience (because the accounting field is all about experiences...) If you are not too tight with finances and a chance strikes, take this chance so you can actually apply what you learn at school, even if you are not getting paid. ;)

I really hope this works out for you. I've been dying to get some kind of experience...but I never succeeded. I get really worried sometimes, because even if the DREAM Act passes, I've already wasted so many years doing non-accounting related jobs. It'll be very difficult for me to get an entry-level job while everybody else my age are already somewhat of a senior-level accountant. :cry:

Re: Internship??
 

I'll defenitely that your advice into consideration. Idk if this helps or not but there is an IRS program called VITA.. In which they look for volunteers to help prepare tax returns for low income individuals to can't afford to pay accountants to prepare their tax returns.. I volunteered last tax season.. although the amount of expirience is limited to certain tax forms... You still get a feeling of what it's like to work with tax forms and stuff like that... since it is a volunteer program there is no paperwork required.. I know it is not much but at least you get to put it down on your resume... in my area the Bethpage bank was sponsoring it.. You may want to look into that..

Again thank you!!

Re: Internship??
 

Thanks for the info unknown09 ;) I'll definitely keep that in mind...right now I'm working 7 days a week trying to help my family get out of debt...once that is done, then I can do whatever I want...hopefully the DREAM Act passes before then. Otherwise I'm going back to my home country. :cry:

Re: Internship??
 

YAY FOR ACCOUNTING MAJORS!!!

To the OP, another thing that you could possibly volunteer for a student organization in your school. Depending on how big the school is, there will be student-run organizations with finance positions you can apply for. It's a good thing to put on your resume and it's technically leadership AND work experience, even it's volunteer.


Actually, the fact that it's a student organization and it's a volunteer position kinda shelters you from too many questions. That's what I've managed to do. I'm the finance director of one the largest student organization at my university. They somehow decided that it was a good idea to give a Mexican control over about $75,000 ahahaha. In all seriousness, consider volunteer positions within the safety of school if you have time. I know you'll be cutting close because of graduation, but it's worth a shot.

Also, from personal experience, people are always willing to give you a shot if you're an exceptional, personable, responsible student. Especially if you'll do work for free. Just saying.