[kleon52]

When is the best time to make a lateral move between public accounting firms? I read that its recommended that you wait 1 year but obviously not everyone is the same. My only issue is that after I graduated, I did a temporary job for 4 months, now I’m working full-time so my resume might appear like I’m a “hopper.” (had the temp gig while studying for cpa + looking for real work)

My current firm is a small firm that does nothing but contract work for bigger firms so essentially I’m doing big firm audits for small firm pay. I feel that I’m now growing the skills that I want and it’s getting frustrating.

I want to make a move to a different company but don’t have the patience to wait a year, especially when I’m getting underpaid by 8-12k a year.

REG: 80
AUD: 82
BEC: 83
FAR: 83
Finished Feb 2015, 5-6months

Ninja MCQ for AUD, BEC, & FAR

[y_u_no_pass]

That is really not that much of being underpaid. After my internship and graduating I started at my firm full time for 35k. I am now making what I “should” be. That being said, don't stay somewhere just to follow the rules of staying somewhere. Sometimes it doesn't pay off, and it can be hard if you aren't happy there. First of all, people do tend to hop around when first starting their career, so I doubt your third job will look like a trend. I would say start looking now if you are doing it for the right reason. If now, maybe wait.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[Gronk-a-donk]

My only input is I wouldn't worry about the “hopper” label. I feel that belief is extremely overblown. I was told you need to stay at a job for at least 3-5 years before you can move etc. and it hasn't hindered me once. I graduated in 2011, worked 2 contract jobs the first year, got a full time job for about 2 years in a small company, jumped to a mid size company for a year and now work in a CPA firm. Not once has someone questioned my candidacy for a job because of the amount of time I spent at my previous jobs (although, I definitely would like to stay where I'm at for a long time because job hunting is exhausting).

It's a bit of a shock to the career dogmas, but accountants are basically mercenaries, and we can move freely to the highest bidder because of our transferable skills. Most companies seem well aware that if they aren't willing to pay accountants their market value, they're going to be replacing their accounting departments every 18 months or so. So I would say do not sweat that bit at all, and if it's asked, just say you're looking for new opportunities. That line is ambiguous yet straightforward without bad mouthing your current employer. Good luck!

FAR - Passed!
BEC - Passed!
AUD - Passed!
REG - August 2016

"Be the type of person that when your feet touch the floor in the morning, the devil says 'aww s***, they're up'" - Dwayne Johnson

[fuzyfro89]

As long as your career “story” makes sense, it's no problem to leave after a short (or even long) time at a certain firm/job.

Imagine you are in front of a future interviewer in 5 years. Can you clearly articulate why you felt a move within a year of starting full time made sense for your situation and career? I believe it is a misconception that people automatically write candidates off who have “too many” job changes. False. They write people off who appear to have no direction or logic in their career decisions.

1) I joined a CPA firm in order to pursue full time work after beginning my career as a temp — no surprises or shock here

2) I left the first firm I joined full time within a year in order to join a larger and more prestigious firm, with the goal of joining X industry and also to have more opportunities to work on public clients — still, no shockers here

3) I left the big 4 firm I joined after another 1.5 years in order to take a promotion and join the so-and-so accounting team a XYZ company — wow, you and a million other people

Even though the fictitious person made several job changes, a future employer will be “less” likely to automatically dislike you simply because you made smart moves to advance your career. Some “old school” people will think less of you, and that's just a cost you have to live with.

What you DO NOT want to do is to appear to have no rhythm in your career and appear to have no logic between career moves. That is a red flag that you are unable to get along with people you work with and adapt, OR that you make poor decisions repeatedly… or some other negative assumption. It's OKAY to say a certain job wasn't the right fit, and then you did something about it and found something better. But, if you try and convince someone that 3 jobs in a row were the wrong fit, then you're going to be more suspicious.

See what I mean?

[kleon52]

Thank you Gronk-a-donk and fuzyfro89, that is some quality career consultation you provided!

Look's like I'm going back to the drawing board to think about my approach more but I will be making a lateral move in a couple months.

REG: 80
AUD: 82
BEC: 83
FAR: 83
Finished Feb 2015, 5-6months

Ninja MCQ for AUD, BEC, & FAR

[MaLoTu]

I think that most firms are pretty firm on one year of experience for an experienced hire associate position. I talked to a recruiter recently and she said that she has tried to get candidates from Big 4 with less than one year experience an interview for associate level positions that required one year and they turned the candidate down, this was BDO. I guess my point in that is you may not have the experience to move into an experienced job position and if you are not in school you might not even be able to get a campus recruited position. It may be worth your while just to stay for over a year.

[Tscape16]

I'm at a medium sized firm right now (about 700 employees). I started getting head-hunters and larger firm recruiters e-mailing me and messaging me on linked-in shortly after my first year anniversary popped up if that tells you anything.

EDIT: I will say this though: don't think of it as a lateral move if you know the position you will be moving to allows for more growth, monetarily and experience-wise.

FAR - 90 ✔
BEC - 86 ✔
REG - 82 ✔
AUD - 92 ✔
ETHICS - Passed

*Licensed CPA

[Author]

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