[kb24]

I’m looking for a job and would appreciate any advice as to the best way to go about it.

Here’s my situation. I’m 53 years old. I graduated in 1979 with a BA in applied mathematics and worked in the network engineering department of the local phone company for 14 years then quit to be a stay-at-home mom. I went back to school in 1/04 and graduated with a MS Accy in 12/05. My original plan was to start working immediately after graduation. However, my mother was diagnosed with dementia during my last year of school, and I had to delay my plans. I didn’t expect it to take this long, but things are now settled enough with her situation that I can get a job. In order to make myself a more attractive candidate I decided to delay my job search for a few months and take the CPA exam. I took all 4 exams this test window so I don’t yet know which, if any, sections I passed.

It’s been over 30 years since I last looked for a job so I know very little about the best way to conduct a job search these days. Negatives: I’m older, and it’s a crummy job market. I don’t have any accounting experience, and I’m not sure that I have any professional references available anymore. I’m sure that my supervisor and his boss from my previous job are now retired. Some of my accounting professors were going to provide references, but I don’t even know if they’re still teaching at the school I attended let alone if they remember me. Positives: I’m smart and have a great GPA. I have a strong work ethic, good communication skills, and decent computer skills. I’m flexible as far as travel and work hours. Taking the CPA exam shows that I’m highly motivated.

I’d prefer tax or financial accounting over auditing, but my only firm requirement is that I am able to work under a CPA in order to get the required work experience for my CPA license. I currently live in Houston but am willing to go elsewhere. My husband wouldn’t mind moving and is easily employable as long as it’s in a larger city. Somewhere in Florida or the Pacific Northwest would work best for him.

One of the things I’ve considered is contacting a professional temp agency such as Accountemps. Does anyone in TX know if this would count towards my experience needs for my license? I am also going to contact my university because they provide employment assistance for alumni. However, it’s hard to get in touch with the right people now because it’s summer, plus the job recruitment on campus takes place during the school year.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Anonymous]

I think going through a recruiter is one way to do it. It doesn't have to be a temporary position like Accountemps, Robert Half also does direct hire for accountants through their Robert Half Finance group. I think you can still use the experience towards licensure, so long as you are working under a CPA with an active license. careerbuilder.com, monster.com, etc. are also very popular job search websites.

If I were you, I would pursue a staff level or entry level accounting position. Having passed the CPA exam will be a big plus, as will the MS Accy. But the lack of actual accounting experience may preclude you from getting anything other than an entry level position.

[kb24]

I'd looked at Robert Half but they only do temporary accounting work through Accountemps which is a subsidiary of theirs. Their full time job categories are financial, legal, administrative, etc. but not accounting.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[kb24]

I forgot to add to my previous post that I'm looking for an entry level position. I realize that a degree and the CPA exam are not a substitute for experience. However, I'm not seeing entry level positions advertised on sites such as careerbuilder.com. Is there somewhere else I should be looking?

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Last_First_MI]

In Houston I would try to go with Oil and Gas entry level you will more than likely have a CPA boss as in the industry we love to hire out of Big 4 that are looking to get into private. Oil and Gas in my experience pays higher than a lot of other industries and Houston is a great market for it when I was with one of the fully integrated giants that has a huge Houston office I worked out of Houston some and the market there is great.

[Anonymous]

Robert Half Finance is their subsidiary for recruiting full-time accountants, it's not just for financial analysts or anything. I know because I used Robert Half Finance to help place me in a full-time accounting position. Other national staffing agencies for full-time positions include Ledgent and MRI.

[kb24]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll be looking into these possibilities next week. Our vacation got delayed by a couple of days so I decided to work on my job search while I still had internet but was getting very discouraged by the lack of options for someone with no experience. CalCPASoon, thanks for the explanation about Robert Half. Their current job listings for Houston all require experience, but maybe if I'm able to speak to someone in their office rather than doing everything online I can find something. Last_First_MI, I'd thought about oil and gas given what a major industry it is here in Houston, but I wasn't sure about the CPA supervision. I'm glad to hear that that isn't likely to be a problem. If anyone else has any suggestions, let me know. Thanks again.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Last_First_MI]

Also remember with Robert Half and most recruiters most of the job postings they have are fake to collect resumes. When i was in the market I would find the perfect jobs posted on their website send a resume go through all the crap they have you do and then them tell me that one is already filled but I have this opportunity available, with less pay and really isn't what you were looking for, then 2 weeks later you happen to see that same job pop up again and low and behold they tell you its filled and not down yet.

[Anonymous]

Try your college to see if they have any job listings or it the professors know anyone looking for interns.

[T-rex]

T-rex's job finding tips:

1. Take a temp position. Oftentimes, temp assignments lead to permanent positions. An employer may be so impressed with you that it opens a permanent position where there wasn't one previously.

2. http://www.indeed.com

3. Run a list of top 10 (top 50, top 100) employers in your city. Then go directly to the websites of those employers to peruse the list of job openings.

4. Consider starting as a bookkeeper at a small CPA firm or law firm. You can work your way up in time.

5. Unfortunately, age discrimination is alive and well. The best way to fight it is to keep your appearance up as best as possible. Look sharp for your interviews–nice outfit, nice hairstyle, manicure/pedicure, and light makeup. Keep yourself as fit as possible. And remember, not everyone will see your age as a negative.

Best of luck to you!

AUD - 95, BEC - 85
REG - 85, Rawrrrrrr FAR - 88
Used Becker for all sections.
CA candidate not residing in CA

[tulip]

I concur with Last_First_MI – Oil and Gas would be a good focus in Houston.

Search each oil, power, and oilfield services company's web site for their job openings. The bigger ones may not use recruiters. There are so many of these companies – you may want to focus first on the ones close to where you live and then widen your search.

I would also sign up with Accountemps. I used them back in late 2005, and they placed me at a company where I was converted to a full-time employee within 2 months. I was there for 5 years before Robert Half placed me at another company in my industry (not oil and gas).

Industry is a pigeonhole right now for accountants – and given how many oil and gas jobs there are in Houston, that is the industry you'd likely want to be pigeonholed into.

BEC - 10/18/2010 - 79
FAR - 10/28/2010 - 82
AUD - 11/04/2010 - 73; 02/18/2011 - 86 - IT'S OVER!!!!!!
REG - 11/21/2010 - 83

[kb24]

thanks tulip. That's exactly what I'm doing right now.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[JustPlugIt]

kb,

I agree with what everyone here is saying. But in addition to that I would suggest getting on LinkedIn. Recruiters tend to scour the site. If you get a couple of contacts at accounting firms (which you don't even need to know) you'll have recruiters contacting you in no time. I'm a first year associate at a Houston firm and even with such a small amount of experience I get at least a couple of recruiters contacting me every week. They've even gone so far as to call me at work. Interestingly enough, I was contacted last week by someone at UHY that places entry level accountants with their clients which I never knew they did… but those kinds of contacts are the best to have if you're looking for those “unadvertised” jobs.

The fact that you are actively working on your CPA and that you are more mature than other job seekers can be a big plus if you play it right. I'm in a similar situation starting a second career and I've found that my maturity is an asset for the most part. Smart people will realize that your attitude is different than someone in their 20's and that you're more likely to be a long term hire.

Since you're also in Houston, I imagine we probably went to the same school. I would urge you to contact the career center in the business school. Their job site is good (not wonderful) but their other services such as interview prep and resume reviews can do wonders for you. I don't consider myself a great interviewer and get very nervous in those situations, but I ended up with 6 offers out of 7 office visits when I went through recruiting and I attribute that success to the great staff there.

Best of luck to you. Hope you go 4 for 4 on your tests!

AUD (Aug-10) 87
FAR (Oct-10) 90
REG (Jan-11) 84
BEC (May-11) ???

[mla1169]

Have to echo JustPlugIts advice about LinkedIn….a professional recruiter told me that it is one of the best ways to land a CPA job because she wasnt able to help me.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[kgirl]

Try Linked-In, indeed.com, local companies websites, send resumes to CPA firms, hospital's websites, etc. Check your state jobs website also.

I love indeed because it includes postings from Yahoo HotJobs, Careerbuilder, and some companies sites, too.

[Author]

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