LinzRoss

Hi,


I am a Uk CIMA qualified accountant (2008), I am coming to the USA on an L2 visa which was approved on Friday.

For my first year as my children are just staring school I was thinking of perhaps sitting some exams which would make me more employable.

Can you suggest what courses or exams to take to increase employability. Realise the tax system is different so thinking that might be an area.

Many thanks
Lindsay

N1cky

Congratulations on the visa.

Look into doing the CPA exams. Each state is different so you'll need to search for which ever state you are moving to. There are 4 exams that make up the CPA exam, from what I can tell, very similar to final level CIMA exams.

You could also look at an MBA but that is much more expensive.

First step whichever you do, is you'll need to get your qualifications converted into US format, CIMA isn't recognized over here. If you have a UK university degree you should be good to go straight to CPA or MBA. If not, like me, you might have to do some units to get a US Bachelors Degree first. That was fun, I had tons of extra Finance and Business credits, but had to do basic courses such as English Language, Environmental Studies and a Math course to get my degree.

Pulaski

The only MBAs that are worth anything (from a perspective of attracting a job offer) are eye-wateringly expensive.

When hiring for my team a few years ago, I was scratching around in the absense of candidates with relevant experience, I decided to try interviewing candidates with "potential". I called three candidates with MBAs from local colleges. The quality was poor, very poor, and I vowed never again to be tricked into interviewing a candidate whose primary qualification for the role was an MBA from an unremarkable college.

N1cky

I would normally agree, and I can't justify the cost personally. However, looking at jobs that CIMA qualified would be good enough in the UK, often ask for an MBA to get an interview, in my part of the world.

Pulaski

If it gets a foot in the door that is sad. ..... Maybe I had inadvertently just attracted the unhireable dregs.

Eggx

Lindsay, with your 7 years of experience and the CGMA designation (your CIMA qualification entitles you this title) your resume should be good to go for management account type roles.

LinzRoss

Thanks guys

Good info, will update the cv and see what out there

Linz

Hiro11

To me, this is very true. An MBA from a school outside of the top twenty isn't worth much. This isn't necessarily fair as the education quality at some of the lesser known schools can be excellent. Regardless, many smaller MBA programs are struggling to attract students as the cost/benefit just isn't there. Some are folding.

I'm currently attending Kellogg, total program cost: $130K+. Each credit is currently ~$6.6K and you need 20.5 credits for the degree. Add books, case packs, student activity funds, transportation costs etc and it's an absurdly expensive proposition. To me, that's ridiculous pricing. My employer is paying for it, thankfully.

Also, heads up that the CPA exam is no joke. It's two and half days long, fairly comprehensive and difficult. Most people study for years.

LinzRoss

Thanks for the details. Think with time constraints and affordability that the MBA would be out anyway.

Suppose depends more on the variety of experience you have. Shame there not such a call for House Building Accountants in recent times. Think will do some additional study in the tax system and legislation as believe they are the areas of greatest variance.

Linz

JohnnyFox

I would definitely recommend sitting the CPA. It's what most employers look for in the accounting field.

I moved to the US with an accounting degree from a British university which was enough to qualify to sit for it. I did a course on tax and business law, but the rest I just bought some good CPA review books and studied on my own. I didn't pass all 4 parts of the exam in the first sitting (not many do), but from start to finish probably took me 18 months. Hard work, but well worth it.

Here's a link to the company I used for my review study. They've got some good online review and exam practice resources as well as good information about the overall CPA process. CPA Exam - Bisk CPA Review