Accounting Cadetships 2009 (4 Viewers)

[lyounamu]

Sorry I still have no idea what you're talking about in the first two lines above...?

Keep in mind there is a difference between 'course', 'subject' and 'major'. Accounting in itself is a major not a course (at least at UNSW, USYD and UTS; exception again being the UTS Accounting coop/scholarship program).

I think what you may have been referring to is the different divisions within an accounting/professional services firm?

Well isn't commerce course 4 year course? (which comprises of 2 majors)

On the other hand, in other uni like macquarie they have a single uni course dedicated just for accounting which takes about 3 years or so.

If accounting cadetship is only beneficial for accounting major, is there any need to do other major?

 

[seremify007]

Well isn't commerce course 4 year course? (which comprises of 2 majors)

On the other hand, in other uni like macquarie they have a single uni course dedicated just for accounting which takes about 3 years or so.

If accounting cadetship is only beneficial for accounting major, is there any need to do other major?

1. No, Commerce is normally a 3 year course. It's only 4 years if you are doing a cadetship because your 1st year of full-time uni is converted into part time. That is, normally you would do 4 subjects per semeser, and over two semesters that's 8 subjects per year. Under a cadetship you are doing part time studies of 2 subjects per semester spread over four semesters (two years).

2. Because that's a very narrow minded approach and both within professional services firms and beyond, there are definitely benefits of having knowledge beyond accounting. For example I work in financial services accounting and if I didn't understand what the various financial instruments were, I would have no idea how to audit them properly.

For someone who seemed very confident before, you really don't know much about what you're getting yourself into when it comes to coops and cadetships... I highly suggest you do a LOT more research before you even think of applying.

 

[lyounamu]

1. No, Commerce is normally a 3 year course. It's only 4 years if you are doing a cadetship because your 1st year of full-time uni is converted into part time. That is, normally you would do 4 subjects per semeser, and over two semesters that's 8 subjects per year. Under a cadetship you are doing part time studies of 2 subjects per semester spread over four semesters (two years).

2. Because that's a very narrow minded approach and both within professional services firms and beyond, there are definitely benefits of having knowledge beyond accounting. For example I work in financial services accounting and if I didn't understand what the various financial instruments were, I would have no idea how to audit them properly.

For someone who seemed very confident before, you really don't know much about what you're getting yourself into when it comes to coops and cadetships... I highly suggest you do a LOT more research before you even think of applying.

I am fairly sure that I said that I don't know much about what I want to do...(except the fact that I want do to Business-related course).

I also said that I am leaving my options open since I don't have much information in hand atm.

Then why do you think that I am asking all these questions for?

 

[seremify007]

I am fairly sure that I said that I don't know much about what I want to do...(except the fact that I want do to Business-related course).

I also said that I am leaving my options open since I don't have much information in hand atm.

Then why do you think that I am asking all these questions for?

Maybe it's my misunderstanding but whether it was in this thread or another, you gave off the vibe that you were reasonably confident in having a lot of options in terms of cadetships/scholarships to choose from.

Either way, I take back any offensiveness you may have received from this as it's possibly my misperception. However, I think the point about making sure you do your research before you apply for things still stands. The last thing you want is to sign up for something you won't enjoy. Or worse yet, get contractually bound to a scholarship which you don't want to fulfill.

 

[lyounamu]

Maybe it's my misunderstanding but whether it was in this thread or another, you gave off the vibe that you were reasonably confident in having a lot of options in terms of cadetships/scholarships to choose from.

Either way, I take back any offensiveness you may have received from this as it's possibly my misperception. However, I think the point about making sure you do your research before you apply for things still stands. The last thing you want is to sign up for something you won't enjoy. Or worse yet, get contractually bound to a scholarship which you don't want to fulfill.

Doesn't everyone have a lot of options in terms of cadetships/scholarships to choose from anyway? I mean, if they have such a broad interest like I do (which is business), there is a whole range of courses/cadetships/scholarship/co-op opportunities that they can access.

 

[seremify007]

Doesn't everyone have a lot of options in terms of cadetships/scholarships to choose from anyway? I mean, if they have such a broad interest like I do (which is business), there is a whole range of courses/cadetships/scholarship/co-op opportunities that they can access.

Maybe you didn't realise this but the way you/your peers spoke of you made it sound like you were reasonably confident that you would be OFFERED such cadetships/scholarships and hence have the option to pick and choose.

I know it's not something you can actively manage/control but just the feeling I got when I read through the various threads.

ps. I'm dropping this but if you wish to keep going, keep it to PM's because I think it's clogging up an otherwise useful and informative thread.

 

[Bacchus]

By default no. It is presumed that you are going to be returning to the same division you started off in because they are the ones who paid for your grant and any additional training costs. That being said if you want to do a transfer, you'll need to speak to your counsellor within the firm who can advise and help you get where you want to be.

That being said, have you done much research on accounting firms which offer cadetships? AFAIK none have a banking division per se- there are corporate finance roles, and audit divisions which specialise in banking, etc... but none where you'll actually be a banker. Actuary on the other hand is a possibility but again you'll need to discuss this- it's not automatic nor is it presumed.

Also note, at least where I work, transferring between business units is one thing (i.e. Within the same line of service such as Assurance or Tax & Legal) whereby the skills are easily transferrable. Changing line of service from say Assurance to a Tax or Advisory/Consulting role requires a totally different set of skills and you'll need to be retrained (essentially you will be joining as a fresh grad then). Usually people who transfer divisions do it before they finish their cadetship (i.e. before they go back to full time uni) because it is the division you finish and plan to return to which will pay for any additional costs (such as your full time study allowance/grant).

coming back to this post again

so is there anyway that u can use the actuarial knowledge for accounting job?

 

[omniscience]

coming back to this post again

so is there anyway that u can use the actuarial knowledge for accounting job?

u do cadetship to suck up all the money from the company and never come back

 

[roadcone]

u do cadetship to suck up all the money from the company and never come back

you don't really do a cadetship for the money (because, lets face it, whilst you will never go hungry - you are not exactly raking in the big bucks!) rather, the most useful aspect of a cadetship is the experience you obtain. something that is pretty vital in the current market.

 

[seremify007]

Sorry I'm a bit annoyed now because I spent quite a bit of time replying and my internet explorer lost my post! Grr!

coming back to this post again

so is there anyway that u can use the actuarial knowledge for accounting job?

An example would be if you worked in Audit: Financial Services, you could choose to specialise in Insurance companies/funds which are heavily reliant on actuarial models for their business. Being knowledgable in both accounting and actuarial studies will give you the advantage of being able to understand actuarial reports (as well as know what to ask the client) and also better understand the linkage between an actuarial report and the financial statement items such as provisioning and risk models. This would be different to a normal accountant graduate who would just see a report, look for numbers which look familiar, and require the client (or seniors) to assist greatly in interpretting it. Studying actuarial will make life a bit easier for you since understanding the reports and client responses to audit queries will come a lot more naturally/smoother.

Another area where actuarial reports is sometimes used are private equity firms- maybe not in the current climate, but in the past there was a lot of valuation models which relied on actuarial assumptions which required us to read through and understand. If you have an actuarial background, even without practicing it, at least you can understand the reports and how they work alot easier than we can!

Pretty much every field can be combined with accounting in some form to create an advantage- the usual example is engineering/mining because most accountants like myself have no idea how it works or where the inherent risks really are.

 

[seremify007]

you don't really do a cadetship for the money (because, lets face it, whilst you will never go hungry - you are not exactly raking in the big bucks!) rather, the most useful aspect of a cadetship is the experience you obtain. something that is pretty vital in the current market.

Agreed, but I have to admit over the past few years, the remuneration/conditions/benefits AND flexibility have improved considerably. When you consider a cadet is an HSC-graduate, they are getting a pretty good deal with very flexible and lenient work conditions for a FTE (full time employee).

That being said, for the loss of what is really just 1 year full time uni equivalent, there are a lot of intangible non-monetary benefits for anyone who's genuinely interested in the career path whether it be the education/training, or just being able to experience a work environment and see if they want to continue along that career path (or switch to commercial/private sector accounting, or whether they want to do accounting at all!).

 

[Timelord09]

anyone recieved tickets or an email ticket from icaa for thursday night.... i reged ages ago

 

[Bacchus]

^Um, you should have printed out the form when you finished registering it...That's the ticket

BTW

Thanks seremify, I really really appreciate it.

But another question, you said that it's possible to arrange a deal with the sponsor in regards to double-degree and etc...

Is it possible with any double-degree as long as it has an accounting degree?

 

[Bacchus]

SAME

Does anyone know where I can print my electronic version off?

You should have printed your page when you registered.

I don't know now...because the page would have been lost or gone. I reckon you should re-register.

 

[Bacchus]

I can't re-register ... You can only do it once

Oh right. I am not so sure then.

But do you need a registration confirmation? I doubt they will check if you got one or not..

 

[Timelord09]

Oh right. I am not so sure then.

But do you need a registration confirmation? I doubt they will check if you got one or not..

i agree....

we have registered, they should have some sort of electronic record there.

 

[Bacchus]

I've found the place where you can get the electronic copy of it, but the print button won't work :burn:

Don't worry, they cannot expect every single person to have the damn confirmation paper. Think about it, people DO FORGET and cadetship camp wants as many people as they want really, they CANNOT AFFORD to kick people off...especially the ones who actually registered (meaning that they are interested in this).

I am fairly sure that they would have all your names recorded down there. All you gotta do is to confirm that your name is down and stuff.

 

[seremify007]

Based on past experience (which may not apply this year), registration beforehand was only so you would get a personalised nametag and help give the ICAA a better idea of numbers/turnout. Everyone still gets a showbag and enters the big room where all the firms are and can get more and more promotional material & merchandise (aka freebies)- even if you rock up on the day and register.

 

[Timelord09]

okay sweet =]

anyone else training it there and/or back?

 

[electrolysis]

I've found the place where you can get the electronic copy of it, but the print button won't work :burn:

The print button leads to it being saved onto the computer as a pdf file, you gotta open it and then print it off from there...

But as Bacchus said, I doubt they would kick you out for not having the registration confirmation thingy