[jdavis33]

Hello,

I am a 34 year old male who has currently taken a leave from the workforce to pursue my Masters in Accounting in order to pursue the CPA designation. Prior to grad school I worked at two different hedge fund administrators as a hedge fund accountant for a total of 6 years. I also worked at both Deloitte & Touche and Ernst & Young on the advisory side performing investment accounting system implementations for both hedge fund administrators and hedge funds. I made it to the Manager level in consulting. Since I was burnt out working 12-16 hours days plus some weekends in consulting I decided to pursue grad school. I graduate in 2018 from my MSA program. Let’s assume I pass the CPA. Based on my experience could I still land a senior accountant or assistant controller role at a hedge fund? Am I too old? Since I am lacking Big 4 audit experience will this hurt my chances? Any thoughts, opinions, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

[Anonymous]

Your chances are almost zero. Just kidding.

You think 34 is old?

This makes me feel infinitely better about my own chances of ever earning more than I do or ever landing a dream job in this lifetime. I'm a ways older than you are.

[Anonymous]

Not having big 4 (Or at least too 10) experience will always hurt to some degree. I know this as a person who lacks it.

I wish I could become a hedge fund accountant. That could give you a chance at interview opportunities imo.

[Missy]

I think you have the right credentials but an employment gap is going to make it a bit challenging,

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[jdavis33]

mla11692,

I understand what you mean regarding an employment gap. However wouldn't this be the case for any working professional who takes time off to pursue a masters degree? For example, if someone gets into a top ten MBA program and takes two years off does this hurt their chances of returning to work because of an employment gap? I think not. I believe it would be quite the opposite.

[Missy]

It depends and especially depends on “prejudices” of the hiring manager. Few working professionals are fortunate enough to be in a position to take time off to pursue a masters degree to be honest. Sure I would have if I could have but had no choice. So if I am reviewing a resume and see someone took time off to go back to school I am going to be unimpressed. Someone else who was able to take time off to get their masters might relate to it and find it more understandible.

Problem is to be honest (I say this as an HR professional as well) there are so many applicants to a position that you're quickly scanning dozens if not hundreds of resumes and seeing an “end date” on the most recent job experience, even for someone coming out of a top 10 MBA program pushes the resume lower in the pile. They barely skim the cover letters if they read them at all (yes we should still send them but doesn't mean anything in them is considered)

Its awful but I can honestly say with decades of experience its about who you're up against instead of what you've accomplished. If HR is looking at a resume of someone with an MBA who is currently working (maybe they got their degree years earlier) and someone with an MBA who's been out of the game for 12 mos they are more likely to want to talk to the person who's currently employed.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Trele6]

I agree with mla's comments. Yes it is great you can take off to earn your MBA but that will definitely be more of a con against you than a pro. Most hiring managers would wonder why you didn't just do it while working at the same time as many people go that route (Me and many of my co-workers did it that way). Granted, mine wasn't a top 10 school which I imagine requires more time and effort but still I bet some of your classmates are working while doing the MBA.

Good luck, I would say it is unfair that the time off will be a negative for you, but I've seen it also. Hopefully you find a manager that is sympathetic to it and rewards you for doing it.

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[Anonymous]

Yup, agreed about the employment gap thing. Personally if I were a hiring manager I wouldn't care if someone took a year or more off to pursue an MS/MBA or something and then got back to work. But I have found that even a few MONTHS of no employment is grounds for some questioning from interviewers nowadays. Some time ago, I applied for a job and they looked at the dates on my resume and asked me, “About 6 years ago you were jumping around an awful lot between jobs…why was that?” I gave them a polite answer but I was thinking “Sheesh, just let bygones be bygones! That was six years ago, who the hell cares?” Or maybe that was their way of seeing how I'd react to their pointless question.

BTW, not to make any waves here but are MBA degrees still as highly thought of now as they were in the 80s and 90s? I know a few people who are complete idiots who have MBAs. They don't know accounting, that's for sure! As one of my old accounting professors (who had MS in taxation and CPA) said, “These days, any Joe Blow can get an MBA from a Fully Accredited Online University”. I think he was mainly talking about University of Phoenix LOL.

[Missy]

Just to give an example, the job I'm at now which I LOVE, I was hired to replace a retiring bookkeeper/office manager for a VERY small company (~5M revenue with 8 employees). Trust me my combination of experience as an accounting manager for small companies, Masters in accounting from the same university as the company president, CPA license was overkill for the job. I was more than overqualified just with my credentials.

Their first choice was another candidate who had similar credentials to mine except she ALSO had Big 4 experience. Complete overkill considering this company doesn't even have an annual review let alone an audit annually. The fact that I was their second choice didn't mean I wasn't perfect for the job (I am) but she simply had “more”.

Fortunately she was damn near offended by the salary offer, and declined the offer. (I only know this because I'm also responsible for HR and was reorganizing the files)

So the gap isn't a complete dealbreaker, but if its down to you and someone with very similar credentials as far as experience, education and licensing, it could be just enough to swing an offer their way instead of yours. On the other hand maybe for a particular position nobody has the experience you do and despite the gap the experience is what they're after.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

$5 million a year generated by 8 employees? Impressive!

Yup, “getting experience” at age 40 is no picnic. I've also gotten the snide comments like “Well, YOU wanted to do it, so it must not be coming as a complete surprise to you…”
But, once I have the CPA…maybe by age 45 I will finally start earning a lot more money. Very difficult to compete for stuff with millenials, as most employers want the fresh young faces who have not done much or anything. But, some hiring managers are smart enough to hire people who are older. Maturity is a big factor.

[Missy]

Yeah its a cool gig, 8 employees but dozens of sales distributors I spend more time on commissions than anything else but it gets it done. Pay was mediocre but series of events that have fallen into place better than planned big raise and promotion due to a few acquisitions and its exactly where I hoped I'd be.

And yes I think maturity is a big factor (moreso in smaller companies IMHO which was part of my attraction to this company. At 47 years old I am still the “baby”)

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

Yes, 47 is young nowadays. I don't know when you wish to retire but if you went to 77, that would not be shocking. I work at a law firm and we have attorneys there who are in their 70s and still getting up every morning and coming to work, although they usually do 4 day weeks and they do take a good amount of vacation time – such is partnership accounting (your draw paycheck is the same every 2 or 4 weeks, regardless of amount of time you're actually in the office, if you're a partner in the firm!) Myself, I think my last day of work will be the day before I die. It's all I can do to save enough for retirement. I'm 41 this year, and although I have a retirement account, it should have far more than it does right now. I have come to the conclusion that getting the CPA will be the only way I can put serious money into it…hopefully before it's too late.

[Want2BeCPAsoBad]

Unfortunately, I think your best best is going back to public accounting for about 2 years and then apply to a hedge fund. In reality. It's nice that you have an MSA but gap on employment will speak louder than your degree. But once you are working in public you become a hot hire again. Good luck!

[Author]

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