Curiosity Getting The Better Of Me

[Raider Nation Fisher]

My brother in law is back in college full time and has been running hi yap lately, and I'm curious if its true or not. Maybe yall can shed some light on this for me.

Question 1. Do FBI accountants really pull down 100 grand a year starting out?

Question 2. Is German really the language of world finance?

I think someone is spreading it pretty deep, but I could be wrong after all my sister in law says I'm just a white trash tradesman, so what do I know.

Oh and none of this will be repeated to him. He's one of my best friends and Im not about to start up with him over his career choices.

[tomustang]

http://www.fbijobs.gov/114.asp

Looks like a starting FBI accountants wage is as bad as a non 4 year degree tradesmans starting salary

Far as language, German isn't even close. Mandarin, English, and Spanish are the biggest players

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I thought 100 grand sounded off to me. The language thing does make since though. I never really gave much thought to financial language before. But yeah German sounded a bit strange to me as well. Heck the boy is majoring in accounting and criminology, least I think that's what its called. And minoring or triple majoring in German. Again at least I think all that is what he said. It may be bad, but I kind of space out when he starts talking about all that.

[tomustang]

Their pay scale is similar to military, they have grades and have to work up from scratch

[Root beer]

IRS agent makes 100 grands. Of course you have to be there for years, so I guess if you been with the FBI long enough you might make close to it. They have a Forensic Accounting License. But you got to have a CPA before you can take that exam and experience in audit related work.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Kind of rough for being thirty one at the earliest when he graduates. But, I think he'll be good at it.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

IRS agent makes 100 grands. Of course you have to be there for years, so I guess if you been with the FBI long enough you might make close to it. They have a Forensic Accounting License. But you got to have a CPA before you can take that exam and experience in audit related work.

How do you go about getting a CPA? More schooling I'm guessing. Forensic Accounting is what he's shooting for. Homies wife is already mad about them living with his mom, while both they are both in school full time, and neither is working. Me thinks a storm might be brewing, if that's the case. They both just started their second year of school.

[Dan:]

I once saw a pay stub for a guy who is under 30 working for the FBI as a translator that showed he was pulling almost 100k per year.

[Root beer]

How do you go about getting a CPA? More schooling I'm guessing. Forensic Accounting is what he's shooting for. Homies wife is already mad about them living with his mom, while both they are both in school full time, and neither is working. Me thinks a storm might be brewing, if that's the case. They both just started their second year of school.

150 hours of education. It takes 120 to get a B.A. Then you need one year of work experience minimum that is signed off by a license CPA. Then you have to pass a monstrous 4 parts exam where each parts has nearly 360 questions plus technical simulations, ethics essays, et cetera. The requirements are the general rule. Each states has their own. In the state of Tennessee you have to be within 200 days of 150 hours to take the first part of the exam. In Colorado you only need a B.A. to take the first part, but should you passed it before your 150th hour, they won't release your license until you do so and meet the work experience. You cannot get a Forensic Accounting license until you get the CPA. It'll probably take him 3-4 years after qualifying for the CPA to get a Cr.FA license. I think there are some work experience required in addition to the CPA license. Those experience can be hard to get. I struggle to get a job interview in public accounting. I found it odd how I left my GPA off my resume and never got an interview, but when I put it on there I got an interview but no offer. Grades are protected under federal privacy law, it shouldn't hurt me in getting a job. Eh, that another matter. But yeah, it'll take long time to get to that point. I graduate in May with 122 hours.

[Bassn Blvd]

I am friends with 2 FBI accountants and neither makes 100k a year. There are many local law enforcement cops who make more than FBI agents.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

150 hours of education. It takes 120 to get a B.A. Then you need one year of work experience minimum that is signed off by a license CPA. Then you have to pass a monstrous 4 parts exam where each parts has nearly 360 questions plus technical simulations, ethics essays, et cetera. The requirements are the general rule. Each states has their own. In the state of Tennessee you have to be within 200 days of 150 hours to take the first part of the exam. In Colorado you only need a B.A. to take the first part, but should you passed it before your 150th hour, they won't release your license until you do so and meet the work experience. You cannot get a Forensic Accounting license until you get the CPA. It'll probably take him 3-4 years after qualifying for the CPA to get a Cr.FA license. I think there are some work experience required in addition to the CPA license. Those experience can be hard to get. I struggle to get a job interview in public accounting. I found it odd how I left my GPA off my resume and never got an interview, but when I put it on there I got an interview but no offer. Grades are protected under federal privacy law, it shouldn't hurt me in getting a job. Eh, that another matter. But yeah, it'll take long time to get to that point. I graduate in May with 122 hours.

That's a long time and a LOT of work. Competely understandable, but still. Sounds about like he's picked a heck of a job field to go into. That's a bunch of education for sure. But hey he knows what he wants to do. I figure its just like everyting else, if it was easy everyone would do it. I spent five years as an apprentice learning the trade, and honestly am still shocked that there was so much to learn about electrical work, and electricity in general. Heck I'm still learning about electricity and I passed my journeyman exam last May. The good thing though is no one will ever no other than myself and a few choice others what my passing grade was. Don't get me wrong I did good on it and passed it my first try, only 25% of electricians pass their first time. Still that grade has no bearing on any future jobs I apply for. Now the welding part as long as I pass whatever welding test a particular company gives me that's the bulk of the certification that I need for it. Oh, and best of luck to ya with that final year of school.

[quanjig]

It's funny how people like to inflate things! I'm sure the potential is there for him to bring sown that kind of money, but unless you lockbox your way into the dream job with a company that has a huge upside in terms of growth and developement, you probably will have to "live and learn" your way to a nice salary. In trade related fields you usually have to put in your time to grow your income. Once you have a firm grip on what it takes to be successful in the field you can command top dollar for your craft. Being a locksmith in a big metropolitan area, I still learn on the job every day. Life safety codes and DHS requirements are always changing and challenging! I make a good living. It also helps to be "where the food is!" with plenty of work for those who can do it correctly!

[Lund Explorer]

Am I the only one that finds it incredibly ironic about your Brother-in-Law's chosen career field? Though the job requires the worker to dig into the financial records of people who should be considered much less than open or honest, the first thing he does is to accept verbatim, everything that a college recruiter (a stranger he has just met) tells him. At this point we can only hope that he pays attention in class!

This leads up to one of the most important lessons of life that a young person must learn. Don't believe everything you are told! It doesn't matter if it's the military recruiter that tells you that the drill instructors will calmly teach you everything you need to know about army life, or a college guidance counselor that tries to explain to you that it will be easy to pay the loans needed for a 4-5 year degree by quoting pay rates. DON'T BELIEVE THEM!

I can't tell you the number of times that the soon to graduate accountants sent me resumes looking for jobs. I finally got to the point where the only three questions I would ask any of them were their name, contact number, and how they expected to get paid. It's hard to imagine that after almost five years of education, perhaps only one in a hundred understood that their pay would be based only the billable work they could generate for their employer.

As far as your Brother-in-Law's future employer pays, he should probably be told to look at the link that Tom D. provided. From discussions I've had with several IRS agents, pay scales are based on GSA levels. A starting employee with no experience can probably look forward to a salary that pays just above the poverty line. Only after a good number of years should he expect to be making a decent wage, which is typical of most governmental jobs.

Another lesson of life. People don't go to work for the government because of the great pay. The primary benefits of government employment, at any level, is the fact that employment is normally more steady than private industry pays, along with comparable or slightly better fringe benefits.

BTW, some people never learn that first lesson and they are fairly easy to spot. It's the middle aged guy sitting next to the cute little blonde at the bar. He's picking up her tab, and she is telling him how much she adores older men. Because they think more clearly!

[Lund Explorer]

150 hours of education. It takes 120 to get a B.A. Then you need one year of work experience minimum that is signed off by a license CPA. Then you have to pass a monstrous 4 parts exam where each parts has nearly 360 questions plus technical simulations, ethics essays, et cetera. The requirements are the general rule. Each states has their own. In the state of Tennessee you have to be within 200 days of 150 hours to take the first part of the exam. In Colorado you only need a B.A. to take the first part, but should you passed it before your 150th hour, they won't release your license until you do so and meet the work experience. You cannot get a Forensic Accounting license until you get the CPA. It'll probably take him 3-4 years after qualifying for the CPA to get a Cr.FA license. I think there are some work experience required in addition to the CPA license. Those experience can be hard to get. I struggle to get a job interview in public accounting. I found it odd how I left my GPA off my resume and never got an interview, but when I put it on there I got an interview but no offer. Grades are protected under federal privacy law, it shouldn't hurt me in getting a job. Eh, that another matter. But yeah, it'll take long time to get to that point. I graduate in May with 122 hours.

It would be interesting to know when you sent out your resumes, and what your cover letter discussed with regards to what you were looking for. I have my own theory that I have discussed with other accountants on how to hire recent graduates, and many have agreed that their approach is quite similar. The problem is that most graduates don't buy into it.

There is quite a wide gulf between the two parties.

[Root beer]

It would be interesting to know when you sent out your resumes, and what your cover letter discussed with regards to what you were looking for. I have my own theory that I have discussed with other accountants on how to hire recent graduates, and many have agreed that their approach is quite similar. The problem is that most graduates don't buy into it.

There is quite a wide gulf between the two parties.

I handed it directly to the firms' "talent acquisition" employees. It amazing how human resource employees change their title to something that sounds more fancy. It was either them or an employee who was at a career fair on behalf of the employer. I actually have an opportunity with a good company, but I won't know anything until March or April. I'll meet with the plant president 6 weeks before graduation. It's a manufacturing company that produces food. So, I'll be doing budgets, forecasting, and preparing statements for one particular bakery. If they offer me it, I'm jump on it for the time being. I'm not ready to bury myself in more debt for graduate school and not to mention the government cut spending on graduate student loan.