[Pete]

Anyone else in my shoes?

I passed the CPA exam a few years ago; however, I still haven’t met the work experience requirements. Granted, I do have an accounting job and haven’t been searching the whole time. Before getting my current job, I was looking pretty darn hard to get into a firm, but ended up settling for another role. At one point, I even took an internship, but was told the firm “wasn’t hiring” at the end of it. I just couldn’t land at a firm to fill the requirement. I thought my current boss had the license; however he did not (he never said he had it, but was a former cpa).

I’m back to searching for a new position as I’ve been at my current position for 2 years (a resonable amount of time); however, i’m in the same spot. I’m attempting to get into a CPA firm to no avail. I got a little excited, since the firm I interned at in the past recently reached out to me with a potential para-professional job. Unfortunately, (as seems to be the case with all audit jobs) the position was filled months prior with another intern and the firm was merely posting the position. Someone at the firm reached out, unaware it had already been filled.

I’ve been trying to network like crazy, coffee meetings etc. (where I don’t ask about jobs, but other connections). I also plan to get involved with my local CPA society again as well. Am I going about things the right way or should I change my strategies? It seems the only way you can land at a medium/large CPA firm is through campus recruiting. I am targeting small cpa firms as well, but I get nervous that most only have enough work to retain people through tax season. Also, to be clear, my state doesn’t have the NASBA work experience thing people have suggested in the past and the work appeals are very rare. Overall, just very frustrating, since few industry people maintain there license.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Pete]

I haven't been applying per-se as much as I was in the past, I use another method to find positions. I reach out to the partners of CPA firms of all sizes and attempt to get coffee with them, asking for advice. I've managed to find interview that way and have landed an offer at a small CPA firm and a large firm in the past (granted, it was just an internship). All the jobs i'm seeing require about 2+ years audit/tax experience. It's incredibly rare to find anything less than that; I have about 6 months public accounting experience. The problem i'm finding is that a few CPA firms in the area control everything and they are relatively structured (mostly hiring entirely via campus interns).

I've tried outright applying to positions on LinkedIn, but that wasn't working well. Of the 40+ positions I've applied, I've gotten one employer to schedule a phone interview, then later decline due to the position being cancelled. I'm not even looking into just public accounting jobs; i'm looking into whatever I can find in accounting. I'll probably add-in using indeed as well. I also use a few headhunters; they typically meet with me, tell me how great a candidate I am, then never get me any interviews. I follow up with them occasionally (not overly frequently) as well.

If it's this hard to find a job while i'm EMPLOYED right now, i'm terrified how difficult it will be once my employer goes under within a year. I was looking 1 hour out for positions, but I may need to expand that radius further out. Crazy how little having the CPA matters to a lot of employers; might actually hurt you for a few positions.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Author]

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