[Kls238]

I graduated last May, where majored in Accounting and was set on having a career in public accounting. However, I decided to not look for a public accounting job immediately and decided to work for my parents in real estate, while I study for my exams (I wanted the flexibility to work, travel, and have time to study). Now that I’m almost a year out of school, I’m having a change of heart. Although I was never thrilled about auditing to begin with, I have no desire to work in auditing after studying for AUD and hearing former classmates talk about their experience over the summer. I worked in taxes during my last semester in college and really like it, but the “hours vs pay” is obviously awful. I think to myself, ‘Would I be better off in a finance job that can offer me more money per hour in some cases?’

There are two wealth management firms hiring in my area right now, so I’ve considered that avenue. I really like finance and almost took an internship last summer with a firm. However, I never took that path cause professors told me it’s sales to a degree. .. But the pay is great.

I’m obviously still plugging away at my exams. I feel like I can’t quit until I get certified even if I do go down a different career path. As lame as it sounds, I feel like I almost just want the title without the career at this point, especially since I’ve worked so hard already and my pride would take a hit if I just quit. Has anyone else faced these dilemmas? I’m 27, so I’m a bit stressed because every decent job requires 2-3 years in respective fields and here I’m in neither!

Passed all sections.

[Study Monk]

CFA might be a better certification if you want to be a numbers finance guy. CFP if you want a less difficult certification geared more towards working with clients. I would be concerned that you may never work under a CPA to get the work experience and I am not sure how “passed all four sections of the CPA” would look on your resume without the actual certification. However if you passed a couple sections you might as well follow through.

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]

CFA might be a better certification if you want to be a numbers finance guy. CFP if you want a less difficult certification geared more towards working with clients. I would be concerned that you may never work under a CPA to get the work experience and I am not sure how “passed all four sections of the CPA” would look on your resume without the actual certification. However if you passed a couple sections you might as well follow through.

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"

[Anonymous]

Well…not quite the same, but I have no interest in public accounting, yet am pursuing the CPA. In my state, you don't have to work under a CPA, you just have to work in accounting, so my private accounting job will satisfy the requirements (though I did spend almost a year in public as a first accounting job). You might check into the requirements of your state and see if you can come up with a way to get the CPA without having to do the work you don't want to do. For example, if you wanted to get a Master's, then in MA you can get a non-reporting license with no experience, just a Master's and the CPA exams…so then you can still put “CPA” on your finance resume without having to work in public. I'm sure other states have similar things, I just happened ot hear about that one because mla on here has posted about it a few times! (Note: You can become a CPA in a state other than the one you live in, so if you had a Master's, you could apply to the MA board even if you live in WA or something.)

From my understanding, a CPA still lends value to a finance resume, though not as much as a finance-specific designation (like CFA). So, I wouldn't get the CPA to be my only certification if I was pursuing a finance career, but I'd finish it and then start on hte next one. Which is basically what I'm doing, too – CPA requires 1 year of experience and is looser (in my state) with the specific experience, so I'm finishing that first…then going to work on the CMA in a year or so, or when I get a job that qualifies for the experience (2 years and more specific). 🙂

[Anonymous]

Well…not quite the same, but I have no interest in public accounting, yet am pursuing the CPA. In my state, you don't have to work under a CPA, you just have to work in accounting, so my private accounting job will satisfy the requirements (though I did spend almost a year in public as a first accounting job). You might check into the requirements of your state and see if you can come up with a way to get the CPA without having to do the work you don't want to do. For example, if you wanted to get a Master's, then in MA you can get a non-reporting license with no experience, just a Master's and the CPA exams…so then you can still put “CPA” on your finance resume without having to work in public. I'm sure other states have similar things, I just happened ot hear about that one because mla on here has posted about it a few times! (Note: You can become a CPA in a state other than the one you live in, so if you had a Master's, you could apply to the MA board even if you live in WA or something.)

From my understanding, a CPA still lends value to a finance resume, though not as much as a finance-specific designation (like CFA). So, I wouldn't get the CPA to be my only certification if I was pursuing a finance career, but I'd finish it and then start on hte next one. Which is basically what I'm doing, too – CPA requires 1 year of experience and is looser (in my state) with the specific experience, so I'm finishing that first…then going to work on the CMA in a year or so, or when I get a job that qualifies for the experience (2 years and more specific). 🙂

[Author]

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