[Anonymous]

I decided to change careers a year and a half ago and go into accounting. Undergrad was in engineering, and an MBA.

As I have no experience or degree in accounting, just three basic accounting courses, I spent a year studying for the CPA exams to show that I’m serious and knowledgable. And passed! Several months ago.

I’m looking for an entry-level accounting position, not a management position. I don’t want to manage people starting out, and think it’s important to have some experience in accounting before going into management, and really am not very interested in management anyway. (So why did I go for the MBA? Am asking myself that.) Problem is, potential employees see ‘MBA’ on the resume and assume I’m looking for an 80k management job. I specifically put in my cover letter that I’m not expecting an MBA salary or position and really want to start at the bottom, but it’s pretty obvious that many employers don’t read the cover letter – my only interview was with a person who obviously didn’t read it.

I’ve thought about doing an internship but, while money isn’t a huge motivator, I really don’t want to work for free. Or commit myself to a time period during which a paid opportunity may materialize. Also I’ve been out of school for quite a while, and most internships are for current students in accounting, and often are advertised exclusively through universities. And university job fairs are exclusively for students – at least the one at the local university is.

So, I’ve avoided sending my resume, and instead respond with a letter with a bulleted list of my accomplishments without specifying my major and without the MBA – passed CPA exam, relevant coursework, GPA, foreign language, software, etc. Avoiding the typical resume format will hide my lack of experience and accounting degree, and when they call to discuss or ask for a resume, I can give them a heads-up about the lack of experience/degree while selling myself. That was the plan, anyway. But no responses yet to this. I suspect it’s because most job postings specifically ask for a resume and I’m not following their instructions.

Any suggestions for how I can market my skills without my resume going straight to the trash bin?

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Why not just submit your resume without the MBA piece. It's your resume, you are allowed to change it. Having passed the Exam, anybody that is in the accounting field will take you seriously. I assume that you are still lacking some of the upper level accounting classes required to be officially licensed though. Depending on your intended line of work, a lot of companies do not want to deal with you unless you have a concise and plausible way to attain your CPA license. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Why not just submit your resume without the MBA piece. It's your resume, you are allowed to change it. Having passed the Exam, anybody that is in the accounting field will take you seriously. I assume that you are still lacking some of the upper level accounting classes required to be officially licensed though. Depending on your intended line of work, a lot of companies do not want to deal with you unless you have a concise and plausible way to attain your CPA license. Good luck.

[mla1169]

How many resumes have you sent out? I think you're making a huge leap assuming that your MBA is keeping you from jobs–PLENTY of people with advanced degrees are settling for entry level jobs right now. Its a tough job market out there right now and even if a position is advertised as “no experience required” you can bet people with experience ARE applying and getting the jobs.

I have tons of acctg experience and still had to get out over 100 resumes to land 3 job offers. Just keep applying.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mla1169]

How many resumes have you sent out? I think you're making a huge leap assuming that your MBA is keeping you from jobs–PLENTY of people with advanced degrees are settling for entry level jobs right now. Its a tough job market out there right now and even if a position is advertised as “no experience required” you can bet people with experience ARE applying and getting the jobs.

I have tons of acctg experience and still had to get out over 100 resumes to land 3 job offers. Just keep applying.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[fuzyfro89]

I don't really understand your post. Why are you so set on starting out at the bottom in accounting? With your MBA, are you getting calls back for senior analyst/associate level positions? I doubt they would do that in the accounting field, but for financial analyst type roles, you don't need to have as much of the detailed knowledge of accounting (at least not right away).

Not sending out an actual resume? This is your main mistake. No one wants to see a list of accomplishments… give them a resume (you can choose what to include/exclude on it). Every job wants a resume. A list of accomplishments is basically a poorly formatted resume. Unless you had a top 25 (maybe 50) MBA, people aren't going to be rushing to give you a managerial level job anyway.

Can you clarify what you're trying to do? Plenty of people I know got MBAs to meet the CPA education requirement before starting their first job.

[fuzyfro89]

I don't really understand your post. Why are you so set on starting out at the bottom in accounting? With your MBA, are you getting calls back for senior analyst/associate level positions? I doubt they would do that in the accounting field, but for financial analyst type roles, you don't need to have as much of the detailed knowledge of accounting (at least not right away).

Not sending out an actual resume? This is your main mistake. No one wants to see a list of accomplishments… give them a resume (you can choose what to include/exclude on it). Every job wants a resume. A list of accomplishments is basically a poorly formatted resume. Unless you had a top 25 (maybe 50) MBA, people aren't going to be rushing to give you a managerial level job anyway.

Can you clarify what you're trying to do? Plenty of people I know got MBAs to meet the CPA education requirement before starting their first job.

[CPA soon]

How did you take the CPA exam having only taken 3 accounting classes? I guess I didn't understand that part lol.

I don't know if you have any engineering experience but I would say look for a cost estimator position then you can transition later to something else.

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]

How did you take the CPA exam having only taken 3 accounting classes? I guess I didn't understand that part lol.

I don't know if you have any engineering experience but I would say look for a cost estimator position then you can transition later to something else.

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..

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback. To answer some questions:

– BillfromAccounting, CPAsoon – I am planning to get certification when I have the required 1 year experience. I don't need ‘upper-level accounting' classes. Pennsylvania, where I live, only requires 24 ‘accounting-related' credits to take the exam – nothing about them being ‘upper-level'. Then an additional 12 credits in accounting/auditing/tax subjects to get the CPA certification. Incidentally, for those put off by strict requirements to take the CPA exam or gain CPA certification – PA doesn't have a residency requirement. So it may make sense to take the exam / become licensed in PA, then transfer certification to your state.

– MLA1169, maybe I am getting discouraged too easily, have sent out a bunch of resumes but nowhere near 100 and am not nearly as qualified as you. Thanks for your encouragement. The only response I had to my resume was from somebody who obviously didn't read my cover page; he was looking for an accounting manager. That's why I'm hesitant to include the MBA on the resume, but you've brought up a good point that there are lots of overqualified people looking for entry-level jobs, so will keep it on the resume.

– fuzyfro89, what I'm trying to do is land an entry-level accounting position. At least until I have the required experience to qualify for CPA certification (1 year in PA). And yes I really do want to start at the bottom. And maybe stay there, at least not go into management. I made a good salary in engineering but hated it, have also managed people and didn't like it. Money just isn't that important to me, management isn't worth the stress, and spending 40 hours a week in a job I don't like is a long time to be miserable.

As per the suggestions, I'll go back to sending out a resume rather than a bulleted list. As per a friend's advice, I'll also put ‘Passed CPA Exam' at the top before ‘Education' and ‘Experience' rather than at the bottom under ‘Other.' Am still trying to figure out how to disguise my complete lack of accounting experience.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback. To answer some questions:

– BillfromAccounting, CPAsoon – I am planning to get certification when I have the required 1 year experience. I don't need ‘upper-level accounting' classes. Pennsylvania, where I live, only requires 24 ‘accounting-related' credits to take the exam – nothing about them being ‘upper-level'. Then an additional 12 credits in accounting/auditing/tax subjects to get the CPA certification. Incidentally, for those put off by strict requirements to take the CPA exam or gain CPA certification – PA doesn't have a residency requirement. So it may make sense to take the exam / become licensed in PA, then transfer certification to your state.

– MLA1169, maybe I am getting discouraged too easily, have sent out a bunch of resumes but nowhere near 100 and am not nearly as qualified as you. Thanks for your encouragement. The only response I had to my resume was from somebody who obviously didn't read my cover page; he was looking for an accounting manager. That's why I'm hesitant to include the MBA on the resume, but you've brought up a good point that there are lots of overqualified people looking for entry-level jobs, so will keep it on the resume.

– fuzyfro89, what I'm trying to do is land an entry-level accounting position. At least until I have the required experience to qualify for CPA certification (1 year in PA). And yes I really do want to start at the bottom. And maybe stay there, at least not go into management. I made a good salary in engineering but hated it, have also managed people and didn't like it. Money just isn't that important to me, management isn't worth the stress, and spending 40 hours a week in a job I don't like is a long time to be miserable.

As per the suggestions, I'll go back to sending out a resume rather than a bulleted list. As per a friend's advice, I'll also put ‘Passed CPA Exam' at the top before ‘Education' and ‘Experience' rather than at the bottom under ‘Other.' Am still trying to figure out how to disguise my complete lack of accounting experience.

[Author]

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