[philb]

Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster.

A little about me, I graduated with honors from a lesser known school with a bachelor’s in accounting degree a little over three years ago. I’ve also held a part-time job at a small accounting firm since then. My current job can’t give me more hours, so I’ve been looking for F/T work since I graduated. Three years, no offers. I go to job fairs and network with as many people as I can, but a lot of people I talk to are under/unemployed and asking me for leads, and people I talk to at staffing agencies have a tendency to fall off the face of the earth. I get very few interviews or call-backs when applying for jobs, so I thought I would post here for help. It seems a lot of people on this forum are getting multiple job offers or are already gainfully employed. Basically I’m wondering what I’m doing wrong. Maybe my personality sucks? I’m naturally an introvert, but I feel I come across as affable and easy-going when I interview. However, after job-hunting 60-80 hours a week for three years, I am burnt out, frustrated, and ready to throw in the towel.

[CPA soon]

Oh boy! You said a lesser known school, I hope you don't mean like Phoenix or something on that level. If you're not getting calls then it's because your resume is bad. Could be a bad school, low gpa, experience at a small unknown firm, lack of skills, could be many things. There is plenty of jobs out there that's for sure. Just by going on linkedin, I see plenty opportunities everyday. You are going to have to identify why your resume is bad, and enhance those areas. It could be simply poorly written (if so then re-do it), it could be the school or GPA (if so, take the Gmat to get in a good school for a masters and apply for internships through the school), lack of experience is a factor but there's entry level jobs if your resume looks good. CPA is a big enhancement and opens door of course, so that should be on your list too! I graduated fall 2012 and had a job lined up two weeks before graduation after I interned, but I went to a good school and had a 3.33 gpa.

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[CPA soon]

Oh boy! You said a lesser known school, I hope you don't mean like Phoenix or something on that level. If you're not getting calls then it's because your resume is bad. Could be a bad school, low gpa, experience at a small unknown firm, lack of skills, could be many things. There is plenty of jobs out there that's for sure. Just by going on linkedin, I see plenty opportunities everyday. You are going to have to identify why your resume is bad, and enhance those areas. It could be simply poorly written (if so then re-do it), it could be the school or GPA (if so, take the Gmat to get in a good school for a masters and apply for internships through the school), lack of experience is a factor but there's entry level jobs if your resume looks good. CPA is a big enhancement and opens door of course, so that should be on your list too! I graduated fall 2012 and had a job lined up two weeks before graduation after I interned, but I went to a good school and had a 3.33 gpa.

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[Tasia]

How does your resume look? Maybe spice up your resume a little bit or change the style to be something more appealing? Just an idea. Have you been looking at Career Builder? That's where I found my job posted. I'm doing government accounting at my hometown's water and electric facility, and I started 10 days after I graduated from college. I consider myself lucky that I found something right away and in my small hometown (only about 18,000 population), but this job was posted on Career Builder, so you never know what you might find on there!

BEC - 78 (8/30/13)
REG - 73 (1/31/14) - 76 (4/7/14)
***GETTING MARRIED 7/19/14***
FAR - after the wedding
AUD - also after the wedding

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

[Tasia]

How does your resume look? Maybe spice up your resume a little bit or change the style to be something more appealing? Just an idea. Have you been looking at Career Builder? That's where I found my job posted. I'm doing government accounting at my hometown's water and electric facility, and I started 10 days after I graduated from college. I consider myself lucky that I found something right away and in my small hometown (only about 18,000 population), but this job was posted on Career Builder, so you never know what you might find on there!

BEC - 78 (8/30/13)
REG - 73 (1/31/14) - 76 (4/7/14)
***GETTING MARRIED 7/19/14***
FAR - after the wedding
AUD - also after the wedding

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

[CPA soon]

indeed.com is a great website along with linkedin!

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[CPA soon]

indeed.com is a great website along with linkedin!

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[philb]

Thank you for your responses.

CPA soon – Maybe I should have said “smaller school.” Not an online school or anything, but certainly not a feeder or top tier school. However, I have kept up with classmates, some of which were recruited into Big 4 right after graduation (one even worked at my firm). My GPA was 3.6, not stellar, but not bad either I suppose. I've tried posting to jobs on LinkedIn but I'll keep at it. PS love your tagline.

Tasia – I'll try working on my resume. People I've shown it to say it looks professional, but they are not hiring accountants. I try to quantify my tasks and mention unique projects I've worked on. Whenever I work on something I write it down so I can refer to it when updating my resume, but I'll see what I can do to make it better. You mentioned you work for local government; that's one area I have not tried applying to yet. I've seen some postings at municipalities for staff accountants and administrative assistants, maybe I'll give that a try. As for job boards, I scour them all on a daily basis: Monster, Career Builder, Indeed, Money Jobs, LinkedIn, craigslist, higheredjobs.com, usajobs.gov, etc etc.

[philb]

Thank you for your responses.

CPA soon – Maybe I should have said “smaller school.” Not an online school or anything, but certainly not a feeder or top tier school. However, I have kept up with classmates, some of which were recruited into Big 4 right after graduation (one even worked at my firm). My GPA was 3.6, not stellar, but not bad either I suppose. I've tried posting to jobs on LinkedIn but I'll keep at it. PS love your tagline.

Tasia – I'll try working on my resume. People I've shown it to say it looks professional, but they are not hiring accountants. I try to quantify my tasks and mention unique projects I've worked on. Whenever I work on something I write it down so I can refer to it when updating my resume, but I'll see what I can do to make it better. You mentioned you work for local government; that's one area I have not tried applying to yet. I've seen some postings at municipalities for staff accountants and administrative assistants, maybe I'll give that a try. As for job boards, I scour them all on a daily basis: Monster, Career Builder, Indeed, Money Jobs, LinkedIn, craigslist, higheredjobs.com, usajobs.gov, etc etc.

[philb]

Question about LinkedIn: sometimes after speaking to someone at a company about an opening, the recruiter will “connect” with me on LinkedIn. Is it appropriate for me to send requests to connect with recruiters at other companies, if I've never spoken to them before?

[philb]

Question about LinkedIn: sometimes after speaking to someone at a company about an opening, the recruiter will “connect” with me on LinkedIn. Is it appropriate for me to send requests to connect with recruiters at other companies, if I've never spoken to them before?

[Tasia]

If you want, I can send you a template of my resume. I made it up myself and have received several compliments on it. Up to you! Government jobs tend to provide great benefits, and I can't complain about my pay at all, so I would definitely suggest looking into that!

Yes, I would think it's appropriate to connect with recruiters at companies even if you haven't spoken to them before; there are plenty of recruiters that do that to people they have not met before. I think it shows that you are enthusiastic and serious about job seeking.

BEC - 78 (8/30/13)
REG - 73 (1/31/14) - 76 (4/7/14)
***GETTING MARRIED 7/19/14***
FAR - after the wedding
AUD - also after the wedding

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

[Tasia]

If you want, I can send you a template of my resume. I made it up myself and have received several compliments on it. Up to you! Government jobs tend to provide great benefits, and I can't complain about my pay at all, so I would definitely suggest looking into that!

Yes, I would think it's appropriate to connect with recruiters at companies even if you haven't spoken to them before; there are plenty of recruiters that do that to people they have not met before. I think it shows that you are enthusiastic and serious about job seeking.

BEC - 78 (8/30/13)
REG - 73 (1/31/14) - 76 (4/7/14)
***GETTING MARRIED 7/19/14***
FAR - after the wedding
AUD - also after the wedding

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

[r1racer]

Where do you live and how is the job market? Have you ever considered relocating? How are you marketing yourself? Have you had your resume reviewed by peers/professionals? Are you tweaking your resume to match the job description for those jobs that you are applying for? If you are not getting call backs or interviews I would first start with improving my resume as much as possible and then practice my interviewing skills.

In my first year after graduation I had plenty of interviews and interested folks but I just wasn't ready and it showed in my interviews. My interviewing skills/akwardness was so bad that I even took a couple shots of some clear stuff before my interviews to help me relax. I eventually got my “act” together and faked it until I got my foot in the door. Once I was in, my work ethic more than compensated for my introverted personality. It's a shame but the truth ,at least in my experience, is that personality is just as important if not slightly more important than your qualifications. So if you sense this is an issue start working on it. But the best advice I can give you is to never quit and try not and get discouraged. Your time will come eventually.

[r1racer]

Where do you live and how is the job market? Have you ever considered relocating? How are you marketing yourself? Have you had your resume reviewed by peers/professionals? Are you tweaking your resume to match the job description for those jobs that you are applying for? If you are not getting call backs or interviews I would first start with improving my resume as much as possible and then practice my interviewing skills.

In my first year after graduation I had plenty of interviews and interested folks but I just wasn't ready and it showed in my interviews. My interviewing skills/akwardness was so bad that I even took a couple shots of some clear stuff before my interviews to help me relax. I eventually got my “act” together and faked it until I got my foot in the door. Once I was in, my work ethic more than compensated for my introverted personality. It's a shame but the truth ,at least in my experience, is that personality is just as important if not slightly more important than your qualifications. So if you sense this is an issue start working on it. But the best advice I can give you is to never quit and try not and get discouraged. Your time will come eventually.

[philb]

Tasia – Thank you! That would be great. My email is philb4550@gmail.com

[Author]

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