[jkpoker1]

I just finished up interviews on campus after graduating college this past May. Anyone have advice for getting a job in public? I’ve interviewed with small firms and mid size firms (more prestigious in my area), and I swear it seems like nobody likes me. I’m quiet, my gpa was a 3.0, and I was somewhat involved on campus and I’m currently studying for the CPA exam and I believe I just passed my first part. Why does it have to be difficult to get an entry-level accounting job?

Honestly, I’m not too upset about the on campus interview failures I’m currently experiencing. I interviewed with some solid local firms that typically interview on 3-4 campuses and are only looking to add a few staff accountants. Honestly, on paper and personally I will not compete well with other applicants that have higher gpa’s and maybe are better talkers than me.

Sorry for this rant but I thought a degree in accounting would lead to getting a job easier. I probably will have to take a low end A/P job making pennies or move far away from my hometown if I want to have a shot at getting a decent paying job because all of the jobs in my local area want 3-5 years of experience with LOL low pay (30-40k).

Quest to be a CPA

BEC-74 (7/13),
REG- ?? (8/13)
AUD-TBA
FAR-TBA

[tough_kitty]

@Everybody:

Wow. Guys, some of your stories sound terrible. I'm sorry to hear that you don't have much luck finding a job. It made me wonder – what city/state are you from? Perhaps you should try for more opportunities at other locations?

When I had an interview with Intel for a financial analyst position in Folsom, CA, they interviewed people from Idaho, Texas, and Tennessee. All of them had several years of experience and MBA degrees and had hard time finding jobs. Only one of them got the offer from Intel. One of them ended up moving for a different job to a different state! Just keep applying everywhere you can at this point.

I had multiple interviews on campus with no luck. Couldn't do internships because I needed a full time job. I had several years of work experience but not in accounting. I ended up getting a job with the state and almost 3 years later I am actually enjoying it. Probably not something I dreamed about but in this economy I consider myself lucky. The fact that I live in a capital of California probably helped too. So, try considering other locations if possible.

And yes, quiet/shy is not acceptable in public accounting. Unless maybe in tax jobs.

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[tough_kitty]

@Everybody:

Wow. Guys, some of your stories sound terrible. I'm sorry to hear that you don't have much luck finding a job. It made me wonder – what city/state are you from? Perhaps you should try for more opportunities at other locations?

When I had an interview with Intel for a financial analyst position in Folsom, CA, they interviewed people from Idaho, Texas, and Tennessee. All of them had several years of experience and MBA degrees and had hard time finding jobs. Only one of them got the offer from Intel. One of them ended up moving for a different job to a different state! Just keep applying everywhere you can at this point.

I had multiple interviews on campus with no luck. Couldn't do internships because I needed a full time job. I had several years of work experience but not in accounting. I ended up getting a job with the state and almost 3 years later I am actually enjoying it. Probably not something I dreamed about but in this economy I consider myself lucky. The fact that I live in a capital of California probably helped too. So, try considering other locations if possible.

And yes, quiet/shy is not acceptable in public accounting. Unless maybe in tax jobs.

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[Study Monk]

Tough kitty I am from San Francisco. Go Cali!

No job here by the way…..sad stories galore!

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

Tough kitty I am from San Francisco. Go Cali!

No job here by the way…..sad stories galore!

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[tough_kitty]

Study Monk – cool. another thing you and Mr. Monk have in common 🙂 No jobs in SF, huh? That sucks 🙁 My friend got her MSA at Sac State, but she lives in SJ area. She ended up accepting a job with BOE office in SF but transferred to SJ office a year later….the cost of living there is crazy! As much as I'd LOVE to live by the ocean, I prefer to have a house instead 🙂

Hope you find something! They have Big 4 in SF! Worst case, apply for Sacramento jobs and move 😉

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[tough_kitty]

Study Monk – cool. another thing you and Mr. Monk have in common 🙂 No jobs in SF, huh? That sucks 🙁 My friend got her MSA at Sac State, but she lives in SJ area. She ended up accepting a job with BOE office in SF but transferred to SJ office a year later….the cost of living there is crazy! As much as I'd LOVE to live by the ocean, I prefer to have a house instead 🙂

Hope you find something! They have Big 4 in SF! Worst case, apply for Sacramento jobs and move 😉

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[Anonymous]

In consideration to how to get a job in public accounting … what is reality vs. perception

It looks like there is a gap between universities, employers and government. It's great that you graduated from university with high GPA, but then accounting firms are very structured, they follow rules like only looking for high GPA, personality and internships with them. With the internships, they have already assessed your performance if you work for one of the accounting firms.

I don't think they even care about your part time jobs in which there are transferable skills. Unpaid internships relevant in accounting, sure it's great. Could they be illegal, maybe.

Employers do not like to train because of the fear that the employee is just going to quit especially if you are in private so in private unless you have 3-5 years experience like some positions are advertised, it really does stinks. Big 4/public firms know their turnover patterns, every year with certainty there will always be employees leaving. Therefore they can be picky. They only want the cream of the crop. I know there will always be jealousy that how Big 4/public firms are taking someone less experienced than you. I see many Big 4/public firms bypassing those that have graduated and pass the CPA exams and selecting those 3rd/4th year students, I really don't know what they are looking for other than thinking that accounting grads are just flooding the market and poor recovery of the economy. They usually do campus recruitment or experienced hire. If you are none of those, you are out of luck.

Universities like to sell their programs, but there is a disconnect with the labor market and their programs. Their programs give you the technical skills but do employers really care? As far as universities are concerned, they got their money from you already. Universities are businesses, their priority is tuition and research not teaching. Economics 101 will tell you about supply and demand. We have a supply of 100 accounting grads but there are only 10 positions available (you do the math, where do the remainders go?). An undergrad nowadays are just like high school diplomas.

We all pay for education to upgrade ourselves be it MBA, CPA, MSA but do the employers care? Maybe some of them. Even passing the CPA exams and having an MBA is hard to get a job without experience. This is a catch-22, you need experience to get experience.

I see that you have to network all you can. OK… I tried that, but clearly recruiters always work on that mindset that they find quality individuals for the jobs to be filled not jobs for unemployed individuals or recent grads. Again, no experience-no job, no job-no experience. You have to look for alternatives.

The government/economist clearly knows this issue with youth unemployment. If they want employers to do more, they got to step in as well. They should stop publishing unemployment rates that are not at all a resemblance of the labor market.

There will be a time when productivity levels are going to fall, it is just a matter of when. I could foresee the baby boomers retiring and who to fill these positions other than the Gen Ys. But then again, some of these Gen Ys are considered inexperienced. Employers will face skill shortages, they will start complaining to the government. Gen Ys can't find meaningful work, they work in low paying jobs like McJobs to get by, McJobs may soon require a university degree to get your foot in the door. The government is going to complain that their tax revenue has decreased. Gen Ys will delay everything like starting a family, buying a house or car. Soon, the ratio will be 1:2 or 1:3 for every individual in the workforce supporting those in retirement. Since productivity has decreased due to uncompetitiveness in the labor market, the Gen Ys may be known as the Lost Generation.

[Anonymous]

In consideration to how to get a job in public accounting … what is reality vs. perception

It looks like there is a gap between universities, employers and government. It's great that you graduated from university with high GPA, but then accounting firms are very structured, they follow rules like only looking for high GPA, personality and internships with them. With the internships, they have already assessed your performance if you work for one of the accounting firms.

I don't think they even care about your part time jobs in which there are transferable skills. Unpaid internships relevant in accounting, sure it's great. Could they be illegal, maybe.

Employers do not like to train because of the fear that the employee is just going to quit especially if you are in private so in private unless you have 3-5 years experience like some positions are advertised, it really does stinks. Big 4/public firms know their turnover patterns, every year with certainty there will always be employees leaving. Therefore they can be picky. They only want the cream of the crop. I know there will always be jealousy that how Big 4/public firms are taking someone less experienced than you. I see many Big 4/public firms bypassing those that have graduated and pass the CPA exams and selecting those 3rd/4th year students, I really don't know what they are looking for other than thinking that accounting grads are just flooding the market and poor recovery of the economy. They usually do campus recruitment or experienced hire. If you are none of those, you are out of luck.

Universities like to sell their programs, but there is a disconnect with the labor market and their programs. Their programs give you the technical skills but do employers really care? As far as universities are concerned, they got their money from you already. Universities are businesses, their priority is tuition and research not teaching. Economics 101 will tell you about supply and demand. We have a supply of 100 accounting grads but there are only 10 positions available (you do the math, where do the remainders go?). An undergrad nowadays are just like high school diplomas.

We all pay for education to upgrade ourselves be it MBA, CPA, MSA but do the employers care? Maybe some of them. Even passing the CPA exams and having an MBA is hard to get a job without experience. This is a catch-22, you need experience to get experience.

I see that you have to network all you can. OK… I tried that, but clearly recruiters always work on that mindset that they find quality individuals for the jobs to be filled not jobs for unemployed individuals or recent grads. Again, no experience-no job, no job-no experience. You have to look for alternatives.

The government/economist clearly knows this issue with youth unemployment. If they want employers to do more, they got to step in as well. They should stop publishing unemployment rates that are not at all a resemblance of the labor market.

There will be a time when productivity levels are going to fall, it is just a matter of when. I could foresee the baby boomers retiring and who to fill these positions other than the Gen Ys. But then again, some of these Gen Ys are considered inexperienced. Employers will face skill shortages, they will start complaining to the government. Gen Ys can't find meaningful work, they work in low paying jobs like McJobs to get by, McJobs may soon require a university degree to get your foot in the door. The government is going to complain that their tax revenue has decreased. Gen Ys will delay everything like starting a family, buying a house or car. Soon, the ratio will be 1:2 or 1:3 for every individual in the workforce supporting those in retirement. Since productivity has decreased due to uncompetitiveness in the labor market, the Gen Ys may be known as the Lost Generation.

[KADFC]

@ tough_kitty: Can you clarify something for me? Just wanted to know so I can stay in the game. So do people actually drive in/flew in from another state to get an interview? (notice I didn't use the word “just”) Or are you saying that during the interview, they mentioned that they are picking candidates from certain states?

I have no problem in taking/applying/getting job in a different state. The issue I have is that my mind is telling me, they are going to look at my resume, see that I'm not from their state, think this is a joke because they can't interview me right off the back, and throw my resume into the trash. That's the feel I'm getting. Or is there something that I'm missing?

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[KADFC]

@ tough_kitty: Can you clarify something for me? Just wanted to know so I can stay in the game. So do people actually drive in/flew in from another state to get an interview? (notice I didn't use the word “just”) Or are you saying that during the interview, they mentioned that they are picking candidates from certain states?

I have no problem in taking/applying/getting job in a different state. The issue I have is that my mind is telling me, they are going to look at my resume, see that I'm not from their state, think this is a joke because they can't interview me right off the back, and throw my resume into the trash. That's the feel I'm getting. Or is there something that I'm missing?

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[tough_kitty]

@KADFC: Yes, they flew in from another state to get an interview and Intel actually paid for all their travel expenses. I understand your concern about being turned down simply because you are from another state, but I think it depends on a company – as you can see in this case it was Intel – a huge corporation, so they can afford this expense.

I think some people on here also flew in to other cities/states for Big 4 interviews and I am sure the costs were also covered by the firm.

I know that with the state jobs having an out of state address could be an issue and they would not pay for your travel expenses if they decide to interview you, but hey, you never know until you try!

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[tough_kitty]

@KADFC: Yes, they flew in from another state to get an interview and Intel actually paid for all their travel expenses. I understand your concern about being turned down simply because you are from another state, but I think it depends on a company – as you can see in this case it was Intel – a huge corporation, so they can afford this expense.

I think some people on here also flew in to other cities/states for Big 4 interviews and I am sure the costs were also covered by the firm.

I know that with the state jobs having an out of state address could be an issue and they would not pay for your travel expenses if they decide to interview you, but hey, you never know until you try!

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[Anonymous]

think outside the box….

dont just limit yourself to on-campus recruiting interviews, make a linkedin account, start applying to jobs on there….contact a headhunter….go to undergrad career fairs even though you might have a masters….etc etc

[Anonymous]

think outside the box….

dont just limit yourself to on-campus recruiting interviews, make a linkedin account, start applying to jobs on there….contact a headhunter….go to undergrad career fairs even though you might have a masters….etc etc

[kmaahs]

I hear you and your troubles…. For those of us who graduated, we kind of land in between campus recruitment and experienced hire. A silly procedural block stops us from going through campus hire pipelines and we simply don't have the experience to apply for senior level roles that the experienced hire section of websites offer.

What is working for me now that I've exhausted the larger firms is keeping my sights low, I.e. smaller firms that don't do much campus recruitment. I've landed 3 interviews after only a couple days of reaching out to such firms.

C.P.A.

[Author]

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