The Shrine

So, not only am i awesome, but certifiably awesome!

Essentially everything i learned in college crammed into a 4 part 16 hour exam, sweet jesus it is good to be done with it.

Flip wrote:So, not only am i awesome, but certifiably awesome!

Essentially everything i learned in college crammed into a 4 part 16 hour exam, sweet jesus it is good to be done with it.

Sweet! Congrats, man! Now what?

(throws green eyeshade party)

Lox wrote:

Flip wrote:So, not only am i awesome, but certifiably awesome!

Essentially everything i learned in college crammed into a 4 part 16 hour exam, sweet jesus it is good to be done with it.

Sweet! Congrats, man! Now what?

It means i now sign all posts (letters, e-mails, etc) as Flip Fantastic, CPA and get paid a bunch more money for doing the same stuff.

Congrats, man.

Seriously, though, you can think of it like a law clerk vs a staff lawyer. They might be doing the same thing, but only one is a certified professional (passed his bar exam), thus more doors are open to him in the future and he probably gets paid more currently.

The bar, the CPA and the medical are supposedly the hardest certification examinations, its a recognized achievement in the business/financial/accounting world and i'm so glad to be done with it. Woooo!

On Wednesday, I write the second of three professional exams, the same one I failed last year. It's a 4-hour exam. Then, if I pass that, i get the priviledge or writing a 3-day, 13 hour exam in September, which is everything we learned in university applied in the most unrealistic situations. If I pass that, I'll be certified around May of next year (we need 30 months experience first).

So I feel your pain and can say "Good Goddamn work!" :-)

Good job. Does this change your job situation at the moment? (Promotions, maybe look to go somewhere else.)

Good job. Does this change your job situation at the moment? (Promotions, maybe look to go somewhere else.)

It may. Once it is all official and i get my certificate in the mail i may seek some assistant controller position for a private company and get out of public accoutning. I've also thought a lot about it and think i will toss in an application to the FBI as an agent, white collar crime division. I hear they look highly on CPA's, although my college grades may not be good enough, we'll see.

Coincidentally, my yearly review comes up next week so i will be interested to hear what the partner who goes over my review with me will have to say on the subject when i let work know, if they do have plans to get me some management experience i think that would be great.

Oh, wow. If you go the FBI route let me know how it goes. I've always wondered what the agency is really like...

Yeah, getting out of public accounting is the first thing about 85% of the people up here do the second they can. We have such a shortage of public accountants it's easy as hell to get a job and to start out your career as an accountant.

FBI route sounds quite cool. Hopefully it's not too stressful and takes you away from your woman too much

Zeus wrote:Yeah, getting out of public accounting is the first thing about 85% of the people up here do the second they can. We have such a shortage of public accountants it's easy as hell to get a job and to start out your career as an accountant.

FBI route sounds quite cool. Hopefully it's not too stressful and takes you away from your woman too much

Its really hard to get in as an agent, though. The process takes a while. If your initial application is accepted, you then go through 2 tests, one IQ (which i do well in) and one essay test evaluating your writing skills. If you pass those you get interviewed by a panel of hardasses who will ask some tough questions. Then you have to pass a physical test (which i already know i can pass) and a lie detector test and a thorough background investigation. The whole thing could take a year. I'm going to give it my best because i think it would be an awesome job that would use the full potential of my analytical and problem solving skills.

Flip wrote:

Zeus wrote:Yeah, getting out of public accounting is the first thing about 85% of the people up here do the second they can. We have such a shortage of public accountants it's easy as hell to get a job and to start out your career as an accountant.

FBI route sounds quite cool. Hopefully it's not too stressful and takes you away from your woman too much

Its really hard to get in as an agent, though. The process takes a while. If your initial application is accepted, you then go through 2 tests, one IQ (which i do well in) and one essay test evaluating your writing skills. If you pass those you get interviewed by a panel of hardasses who will ask some tough questions. Then you have to pass a physical test (which i already know i can pass) and a lie detector test and a thorough background investigation. The whole thing could take a year. I'm going to give it my best because i think it would be an awesome job that would use the full potential of my analytical and problem solving skills.

Potentially one of the most enjoyable and challenging jobs, that's for sure. But could easily go the other way. I say try it and if you don't like it get out. Never hurts to try....

That and if you go back into the private sector after a FBI tenure (with requisite security clearances and such), you're damn near set for life.

Congrats man! To celebrate, I'll agree to let you do my taxes for free! How does that sound?!

You also need to make sure you can even get the security clearance. I hear it's the type of deal where they don't just talk to your friends, but your friend's friends and anybody you've ever associated with, to get a good idea on what your personality is like.

That's overstating it somewhat, but yes, they're reasonably thorough.

Flip wrote:Its really hard to get in as an agent, though. The process takes a while. If your initial application is accepted, you then go through 2 tests, one IQ (which i do well in) and one essay test evaluating your writing skills. If you pass those you get interviewed by a panel of hardasses who will ask some tough questions. Then you have to pass a physical test (which i already know i can pass) and a lie detector test and a thorough background investigation. The whole thing could take a year. I'm going to give it my best because i think it would be an awesome job that would use the full potential of my analytical and problem solving skills.

I looked into that a bit. I spoke with some of the people from the FBI and the general thing there is that it's highly unlikely to become an agent if you're under 30 because they want people with more life experience. That's what I was told at least. I'm sure exceptions happen though too.

Lox wrote:

Flip wrote:Its really hard to get in as an agent, though. The process takes a while. If your initial application is accepted, you then go through 2 tests, one IQ (which i do well in) and one essay test evaluating your writing skills. If you pass those you get interviewed by a panel of hardasses who will ask some tough questions. Then you have to pass a physical test (which i already know i can pass) and a lie detector test and a thorough background investigation. The whole thing could take a year. I'm going to give it my best because i think it would be an awesome job that would use the full potential of my analytical and problem solving skills.

I looked into that a bit. I spoke with some of the people from the FBI and the general thing there is that it's highly unlikely to become an agent if you're under 30 because they want people with more life experience. That's what I was told at least. I'm sure exceptions happen though too.

Interesting, considering they dont even accept application of people above 37. Thats a pretty small window.

I know some people i need to contact as well, and will, before i sit down and fully apply.

Well, the window for enlisting in the navy for nuclear propulsion engineering training (like I did once upon a dream) is like 18-25...maybe they have a carefully calculated window where you're more susceptible to brainwashing...