Advice to a potential accounting intern

Here is a thread of an email exchanged between an student and me earlier today.  I thought some students, especially accounting majors, might find this instructive.

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Dear Professor Griffin,

I am an upcoming graduate(January 2013) in the Charlton College of Business. I only need two courses to graduate so I will be a part time student for the Fall 2012 semester. On my job search most corporate employers and employment agencies require degree. I believe that is because a so many applicants on file already have degrees. I am reaching out for some advice on internships. I seek internship as an alternative to employment, plus, I'm only interested in becoming a CPA.

I have a compiled of CPA 50 firms. Before I call the CPA firms and getting the "No" from the secretary, I wanted some tips. What did you market most for UMassD students? What lessons did you learn from the firms that said no? What pitfalls should I avoid when seeking the internship opportunity? Have you ever convinced a firm to hire interns when they were not seeking interns? Finally why don't some firms hire interns or the reason they give?

Dear Student:

Your questions are excellent.  Unfortunately, I am not sure I have the answers.  If you want to work for a CPA firm, you are doing the right thing in compiling a list and going after those "leads".  You should try other approaches too.  I have attached a booklet that I updated this summer on how to land an excellent internship and their may be some ideas in there.  Networking is big and don't ignore that.  I have never convince a company to hire an intern unless they were already leaning that way.  But the good news is that many enlighten firms want interns.  The spring is better than the fall because of tax season and more work but I would push for the fall too.  Sometimes firms (especially the smaller ones) don't want interns because they either can't be bothered to guide them or they don't have enough work to keep them busy.  The accounting profession as a whole believes in internships and many firms use internships as their feeder system - like the sports analogy of minor leagues.

Good luck.

Professor Griffin