[wilbcham]

I was let go recently from a position because I sent an email to the wrong person (it was supposed to go to managers but went to executives). Before this I accidentally scanned in some invoices but caught them before they were processed. The system was setup as such that I could not delete them myself. I am halfway through the CPA exam and was wondering if this will hinder me too much from getting a job again. I am not looking for employment while I continue my exam because I want to relocate when I finish. Will this probably hurt me too much or will completing my certification make up for my termination?

[highlightnumb]

And just clarify i never said anything about quiting your job but nevertheless, if thats what you choose to do then that shouldnt be held against you. Plenty of people take a month or two leave of absence to knock out cpa exams even my old boss did it, matter fact she took 3 months to knock out the rest of her exams. So to each its own. Why is it so hard for you to believe that some people dont work in order to pass. So i guess college students and grad students should work full time as well right? I have done more hours of studying for the cpa exam then i have done in my 4 years of college.

Mario Marcel, CPA

FAR. Feb 2014 76
REG. Jan 2015 79 half way there!!
BEC. Feb 2015 79 thank you God!!
AUD. Apr 20, 2015 and will be done. Hold that thought 65, 7/14/15 85!
Ok where was I? Oh thats right now I'm Done!!!!!!!!!
Ethics 92!!

"You down wit SEC?, yeah you know me!!!"

Cali Candidate

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[acamp]

The point is, most people work and complete the exams and therefore most interviewers will have done both.

So sure, some people choose not to work in order to finish the exams, however this won't be held as some noble pursuit to the people who managed to accomplish both at the same time. Rather it will create the question on why the applicant wasn't able to handle both.

College is significantly more structured with specific time commitments in comparison to CPA studies; which is why working full time and going to school full time often clash.

Self proclaimed: Highest ratio of Replies to Others v. Posts Created on A71

California CPA - Big4 Aud Manager Alum - Private Accounting at Startups

FAR, REG and BEC with Ninja Notes + WTB Only

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[Herbieherb]

Right …the world isn't fair… The application/resume will be rejected at some places just because the applicant is unemployed, has a funny name, gaps in employment, low gpa, etc. They will generalize that you cannot multi task, manage time, quit under pressure, don't need a job etc…

For most of us bills and loans have to be paid, so work is good.

NEW YORK- DONE

[mla1169]

Its easy to understand people taking time off to pass the exams, thats not even the question.

The question is this, even though some seem to believe having those three letters after your name makes you somehow invincible in the job market, usually you are competing against others with a CPA when vying for a job. So if I have 12 candidates, and two have a gap in employment for WHATEVER reason, I am going to go with a pool of 10 people who have no gaps in employment and have their CPA unless one of the people with a gap in employment has some job experience that is more relevant than the others.

When youre looking for a job everything that a hiring manager has time to see and evaluate is surface level only. You could be the hardest worker who puts in the most effort and that will not even be a factor in a hiring decision because they're not spending 40 hours per candidate getting to know them.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[highlightnumb]

@Mla1169 good point!

Mario Marcel, CPA

FAR. Feb 2014 76
REG. Jan 2015 79 half way there!!
BEC. Feb 2015 79 thank you God!!
AUD. Apr 20, 2015 and will be done. Hold that thought 65, 7/14/15 85!
Ok where was I? Oh thats right now I'm Done!!!!!!!!!
Ethics 92!!

"You down wit SEC?, yeah you know me!!!"

Cali Candidate

All Becker Materials, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja audio, Ninja MCQ, Ninja Notes

[law0915]

Not to mention the year or so (however long it takes to complete the exam) that you could've gained valuable experience. That 1 year of experience plus getting the CPA looks better than just passing the CPA alone having not worked and all else being equal, they'd pick the candidate with experience. With regards to education, people at ASU where I went worked full time and went to school full time. As an example, in my final semester I had 4 x 400 level advanced career focused accounting courses, a girlfriend, a part time job from my high school job as a cashier and a full time job doing accounting and I graduated. Going to school full time and working full time is a common thing..where have you been? I'd assume it would be more impressive to the hiring manager if you can prove you can handle multiple, simultaneous professional type responsibilities (school/certification) as this would be hugely beneficial and transfer to the workplace with regards to performance.

REG 77 Feb14
BEC 13*, 79 Aug14
FAR 64**, 76 Nov14
AUD 89 Feb15

*Exited exam after first testlet
**Only studied F1-F6 out of 10 Becker chapters

Licensed Arizona CPA

[nicole2035]

you'll be fine, just network.

[Martin]

I agree 100% with highlightnumb. The CPA exam some times requires more studying than the last 2 years of your bachelors in Accounting. and the majority of College students either do not work, or they only have a part time. I don't get why people hate so much that a colleague took some time off to study for the CPA exam.

Through God all things can happen!

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
― Albert Einstein
When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

FAR= 72-84
Audit= 73-82
BEC= 74-75
Reg=77

[Martin]

MLA1169, I dont think you would like it if the hiring manager decides to exclude 5 out of the 10 candidates with no gaps on their resume,but with kids to take care. Maybe the hiring manager would rather higher a man with no family to take care as he would be available to work more hours. Bottom line is that we are not robots, and life is more complicated than you guys think.

Through God all things can happen!

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
― Albert Einstein
When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

FAR= 72-84
Audit= 73-82
BEC= 74-75
Reg=77

[mla1169]

Martin it frankly wouldn't bother me in the least. Being a full time mom is a career choice. If someone's career choice doesn't align with the hiring manager so be it. This is part of the reason I chose to be away from my children 50 hours a week when they were little and more as they got older. anticipated the consequences of the decision.as for how complicated life is, after 45 years I am well aware thank you. One of the ways life is unfair is that many if not most employers,would prefer a young single guy with no commitment. You don't have to like it but it is a fact. Besides the hiring manager only sees,the gap not the story behind it,so it's a moot point

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[trish_1234]

you guys freaked me out a lil lol

I just quit my job 2 months ago. Its not the end of the world for me, I have handled worse way worse. Anyways, I had to leave due to management lack integrity. I still have a part-time job. I can start applying once I have a part of exam done.

I can just use some other excuse instead of study full-time which was also a strong reason I left. Until then, I will enjoy my son 🙂

AUD 69, 92 7/15 Gleim and Ninja test bank
FAR sometime in 10/15 Gleim
BEC not taken
REG not taken

[mw798]

As a hiring manager myself, I'll try to give some insight into the hiring process. Whenever a position is posted we may get upwards of 300 resumes and this is just for one position.

An HR analyst will actually comb through them and select at maximum 10 out of the 300 to forward over to me. Those 10 should be the cream of the crop. Now with 300 resumes to comb through in 2 weeks, HR is not going to bother contact individuals to explain gaps in job history and the hiring manager will only ever see the 10 resumes. Of those 10, maybe 5 will be selected for an interview.

[law0915]

Many non-robots on here are passing the CPA exam with complicated lives including tons of responsibilities, full-time work, and/or school, and sometimes illness (I was very sick the week leading up to audit and during the exam). “Complicated” is an excuse to not work around complications. I had/have high inflammation all over my body and I could barely walk to my FAR exam in prometric…my jaw joint, elbows, fingers, ankles, legs, spine, neck, feet and stomach pain were complications that felt like I was dying. I would call studying and passing FAR and AUD while in a ton of pain a large, constant complication. How many people would even be able to focus on studying with something like that. It simply wasn't an excuse for something I wanted so badly (pass the CPA exam). I am most definitely not a robot. I have more ambition and drive than can ever be programmed into a robot. People just like making excuses for things they can't do that other have. Since we are not robots, we have to do something they can't, suck it up or a better term “nut up or shut up”. The arguments in favor of not working to pass the CPA exam are simply not valid.

REG 77 Feb14
BEC 13*, 79 Aug14
FAR 64**, 76 Nov14
AUD 89 Feb15

*Exited exam after first testlet
**Only studied F1-F6 out of 10 Becker chapters

Licensed Arizona CPA

[highlightnumb]

Studying for the CPA exam is a huge sacrifice in itself. There are hundreds of thousands of people that will never put in the hours on hours, months on months, years on years to pass this exam. You study so damn hard just to find out you failed and have to take it over again and again and possibly losing credit for ones you already passed. Working full time definitely makes it difficult thats why some people either make adjustments or completely give up and move on because they cannot bare to spend another dime or another second studying knowing that they are losing out on life. So who cares if you think not working while studying somehow makes you more dishonorable. There's no golden rule written anywhere that says “you are accepted even more because you suffered the most”. Law0915 I appreciate your courage and strength so this is not just directed towards you. Your opinion is your opinion and that goes for the people that hire as well because guess what, they are human too and humans will make mistakes. The only person that should do the judging is God (PERIOD)

Mario Marcel, CPA

FAR. Feb 2014 76
REG. Jan 2015 79 half way there!!
BEC. Feb 2015 79 thank you God!!
AUD. Apr 20, 2015 and will be done. Hold that thought 65, 7/14/15 85!
Ok where was I? Oh thats right now I'm Done!!!!!!!!!
Ethics 92!!

"You down wit SEC?, yeah you know me!!!"

Cali Candidate

All Becker Materials, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja audio, Ninja MCQ, Ninja Notes

[highlightnumb]

and in response to someones comment i think it was a moderator saying that we think the CPA exam is invincible when it comes to resumes. Its not about being invincible, that is not the point but at the same time getting your cpa license is not some scratch ticket in a cereal box either. Please don't make light of this prestigious license that people have given up their lives for. Its a high stake exam and If someone wants to feel invincible then they have the right too because they worked for it instead of sitting on the couch all day and looking for hand me downs. So congrats to all the people that are fighting tooth and nail to pass these exams whether you have or had a full time job or not 🙂

Mario Marcel, CPA

FAR. Feb 2014 76
REG. Jan 2015 79 half way there!!
BEC. Feb 2015 79 thank you God!!
AUD. Apr 20, 2015 and will be done. Hold that thought 65, 7/14/15 85!
Ok where was I? Oh thats right now I'm Done!!!!!!!!!
Ethics 92!!

"You down wit SEC?, yeah you know me!!!"

Cali Candidate

All Becker Materials, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja audio, Ninja MCQ, Ninja Notes

[Author]

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