CPA/CMA certifications, and should I work for a private company?

I'm a senior in a top 25 accounting firm, 3.3 GPA, have no desire to work for a big 4 firm (they recruit here constantly but I'm not interested), and I'm just starting my job search. I didn't attempt to find a job before now because my spouse is in a field where he has to be willing to go wherever he could get a job; turns out, the bad economy means that his prospects are nil. So, I'm talking to a few people.





The job that I want the most and am the best "fit" for as far as qualifications go is at a regional corporation. The pay is good, the location is ideal, they're small enough (4 states) that they can't transfer or promote me out of my preferred region, and the benefits are superior to everything else.





Typically, however, accounting graduates go to work for public accounting firms for 1-2 years, and this experience (plus their CPA certification) gets them higher pay at private companies. Two questions:





1) Would starting at a private company and getting raises put me at a major monetary disadvantage from starting at a public accounting firm and then moving - in 5 years, would the pay be drastically different?





2) I don't know if I'll be able to get a CPA cert if I work at a private company, as the person who can sign off on my work requirement is in a different state. Is the CMA certification inferior to the CPA certification? I know it's not nearly as versatile, but I'm talking specifically in terms of professionalism and being able to get a better salary.|||It's better to go with the big company for the first 5 year then you have the CPA and them on your resume and you can go anywhere.





Depending on the state depends on the rules for the CPA who can sign off.





My husbands military so I have not been able to get it. But most states it is just a CPA that has to sign off. But each state is different and most want Auditing Hours. They are the hardest to get. Some states want auditing hours in difference areas of the financial or other audit areas. The only one that can usually give these to you are the big companies.





Or go IRS, 5 year and you can work any time and any where.