Hello everyone, this is Global CPA ✨✨
Welcome back to the “10 Questions by Profession” series.
I think one of the things people preparing for different careers are most curious about is hearing honest stories directly from professionals currently working in the field.
So I decided to start this interview series.
For the very first interview, I invited a CPA currently working in the Audit Division at PwC Korea — one of the Big 4 accounting firms and arguably the most traditional “flower path” within the accounting profession.
1. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Hello, and thank you for inviting me to this interview.
I am currently a fifth-year Senior Associate in the Audit Division at PwC Korea.
I passed the Korean CPA exam at age 26 and joined PwC Korea’s audit practice at 27. Since then, I have continued working within the audit division.
My MBTI used to be ESTP, but recently changed to ESFJ 🙂
2. Could you briefly explain your firm and division?
PwC Korea is one of the Big 4 accounting firms, with approximately 4,100 professionals currently working across various service lines.
It is also the Korean member firm of the global PwC network.
I currently work within the audit line of service, mainly handling companies in:
- construction/project-based industries
- and B2B industries.
Within PwC Korea, audit divisions are separated by industry specialization, and there are also dedicated valuation teams and other specialized support groups that assist the audit practice.
3. What are your main responsibilities right now?
As an auditor, my primary responsibilities are:
- statutory audit work
- and PA (Purchase Price Allocation / advisory-related) work.
Global CPA already organized the basic explanation of audit and PA work in another post 🙂
To add a bit more detail:
during 2023 alone, I participated in:
- 9 audit engagements
- and 3 PA projects.
Compared to my peers and colleagues at my level, I think my workload is fairly average.
4. What made you choose this profession?
I majored in Business Administration.
Back then, I enjoyed mathematics and struggled between choosing a science-oriented or humanities-oriented path.
Within business school, accounting and finance were the subjects that used numbers the most, so I naturally became interested in them.
Later, during a mandatory Cost Accounting class, several practicing CPAs visited as guest speakers.
I think that was the moment I first seriously became interested in the accounting profession.
At the same time, I also heard:
“If you want to become good at investing in stocks, you need to understand financial statements.”
That idea pushed me even further toward becoming a CPA.
5. What do you enjoy most about your current job?
Overall, I’m very satisfied with my current career.
One of the most rewarding parts is visiting companies across various industries and directly interviewing operational teams during audit engagements.
Those opportunities to communicate with professionals from completely different industries are actually quite rare.
Through those interactions:
- I gain a broader understanding of different businesses
- and the work itself rarely becomes repetitive.
Originally, one reason I chose accounting was because:
- I liked working with numbers
- and I wanted to understand financial statements better for investing purposes.
The “working with numbers” part definitely still satisfies me…although I have to admit that stock investing still feels difficult.
Maybe I still don’t understand financial statements as deeply as I thought.
6. What do you think are your personal strengths in this profession?
I think there are three strengths that fit well with audit work.
First:
I’m someone who can work intensely and then properly rest afterward.
Although non-busy season has become shorter recently, audit divisions still generally allow meaningful vacation time once busy season ends.
Even during difficult periods, I can usually endure by looking forward to future travel plans during the off-season 🙂
Second:
I genuinely enjoy conversations.
Audit work fundamentally involves listening.
In fact, the word “audit” itself historically carries that meaning.
Since the profession requires constant communication and interviews with clients, enjoying conversations becomes a major advantage.
Third:
I genuinely enjoy traveling.
Auditors spend much more time outside the office compared to many other professions.
Business trips and client visits are frequent, so I think enjoying movement and travel is also a strong personality fit for audit work.
7. How did you prepare for this career?
Naturally, the most important preparation was studying for the CPA exam itself.
I first started Intermediate Accounting lectures during the first semester of my sophomore year in university.
About two and a half years later, I eventually passed the CPA exam as a deferred candidate.
Since I passed relatively early — during the second semester of my junior year — I was still able to continue normal university life afterward.
At that time, accounting firms did not seem overly focused on GPA during recruiting.
So instead of obsessing over school grades, I focused more on:
- studying English
- and maintaining physical fitness.
I had heard repeatedly that physical stamina is one of the most important virtues for auditors, so I exercised very consistently until graduation.
8. If you could return to your freshman year of university, would you choose the same career path again?
Yes, I absolutely would.
I’m still highly satisfied with audit work itself.
And even if I eventually decide audit is not the perfect long-term fit, there are still many possible paths afterward:
- Tax
- Deal Advisory
- industry roles
- and many other opportunities.
So even if I returned to freshman year, I think I would still go through the audit path first.
That said, there is one thing I would probably change.
Instead of taking easy GPA-focused electives that did not really help professionally, I wish I had spent more time learning coding and technical skills that could be applied directly in practice today.
9. What direction do you envision for your future career?
I still want to continue working as an auditor.
More specifically, I want to become a CPA who helps Korean companies expand globally.
PwC Korea has international secondment programs that allow employees to work temporarily in overseas PwC offices, and I would love to apply for one of those opportunities in the future.
Ideally, I would love to work in the United States.
But even if that becomes difficult, I would still seriously consider:
- Europe
- or Southeast Asia.
To prepare for that future, I’m currently:
- attending English conversation classes on weekends
- and preparing to study for the USCPA over the next two years.
10. What would you like to say to students currently considering this profession?
I think accounting is still a profession that many people do not fully understand.
Most people simply think:
- accountants deal with financial statements
- perform audits
- handle taxes
- and make good money.
That is not completely wrong.
But personally, I believe the accounting profession is much broader than that.
CPAs can:
- advise companies
- record business activities
- analyze operations
- and audit those records.
As auditors especially, we gain opportunities to understand the entire operational process of a company almost like becoming the company’s physician.
So for students who want to:
- understand how companies truly operate
- communicate with many industries
- and continuously learn from real businesses
I would definitely recommend audit work 🙂
That concludes the very first interview in the “10 Questions by Profession” series with a CPA from PwC Korea’s Audit Division 🙂
Some parts of the interview felt very similar to my own thoughts, while other perspectives were completely different.
Honestly, I think I personally learned a lot through this conversation as well.
Once again, thank you sincerely to the interviewee for taking the time to participate.
I’ll return soon with another career interview in the next “10 Questions by Profession” post 🙂
Global CPA 
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