[CPA20200311]

Hello,

I am a military veteran who is seeking insight as to possibly what I am doing wrong with finding employment and finding someone who might be able to help.

Some background. I served in the United States Marine Corps as an infantryman. I separated from the service, found a labor intensive job I did for a year before I decided it was time to go back to school. I took me sometime to finish school between high school, my military service, and a few other jobs I held. I eventually finished school in May of 2018 with a BBA in Accounting, and started my Masters program in accounting Fall of 2018. I am near completion and will be finished by December 2019.

I started applying for jobs and internships in February of 2018 and eventually after submitting over 120 applications with very little call backs I landed in internship in industry, which I started in August of 2018. I never realized that an internship was needed for future employment until after I was already a senior at the university I attended and was starting my first intermediate accounting class in summer of 2017. I had less than a year between starting that class and finishing the BBA, so I missed the chance to apply for internships during recruiting season in 2017. I got more involved with the on campus organizations and networked as much as I could before finishing my BBA. It honestly never seemed to have helped me.

So fast forward to present day, I am interning still (thankfully), and started to apply for accounting positions thinking that maybe this internship along with pursuing the masters degree would help. It has not helped me so far. I have mentally left the military behind because I know it will hinder me professionally, I have tried to network, worked on my resume consistently, and the end of the day I still feel like all recruiters see is a Marine Infantryman trying to make a lateral move into the office. Whenever I did interview prior to acquiring my internship, my service would get brought up along with “Will you be bored at this job?” or something to that degree. What is also disheartening is knowing that a fellow friend who was a combat medic (also an accounting student), took that title off his resume and began getting call backs. At the end of the day I feel like it is discrimination and stereotyping that is hindering job interviews. I also know it could also very well be me but I have other veteran friends who have had similar results. Also I should add, I live in San Antonio and know that there is a huge veteran population but not many veterans pursue accounting.

If I could get some insight or get pointed in the direction of people who could give me some honest feedback to change what I may be weak in, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you ahead of time ladies and gentlemen.

[TJ]

I got out of the Marine Corps in 2013 and kind of felt the same way. I ended up getting an auditing internship (which turned into a permanent job) with the DoD through USA Jobs since we get veteran’s preference over other applicants. So in that case, your background would definitely help you.

After two years, I just got a job at one of the national firms by approaching a recruiter who was a guest speaker at our school. Some vets give all of us a bad name, so I made an extra effort to smile, be polite and professional, etc. and I think that went a long way. Sucks that I can’t give you a better answer- just wanted to chime in and let you know that there are more of us out there than you might think, although I was a pog (motor t).

Anyway, if you need any advice on applying for government jobs, let me know.

[Mike J]

I'm not a veteran. However I believe there is a general bias among decision makers at CPA firms. They too often see applicants who didn't immediately pursue Accounting from high school as flawed by default. In other words, the path those managers chose to pursue is the only acceptable one.

[B4BeanCounter]

@CPA20200311 – Hey there motivator! I was a 0341 in the Corps. Rah? Being a prior grunt should not have any bearing on you when it comes to landing an offer for a FT position. It took me some time to get adjusted in college, but the intangible skills (i.e. leadership skills, professional maturity, etc.) you've acquired from serving in the Marines should play in your favor during interviews and even in your professional career. Now, given everyone's interview circumstance is different, I was able to receive offers from all of the Big 4 firms in my area as well as the offers from local/regional firms. You and I both live in very pro-military states so I don't think these firms are discriminating against you because you were in the military. If I were a partner at a firm, I'd hire a military vet over a traditional college student considering they both have the same educational qualifications/background. Don't short sell yourself there. If you need to talk more, reach out to me on this forum or we can talk via email/phone if needed. Stay motivated Devil. Semper Fidelis.

[CPA20200311]

Thank you for the replies.

TJ, I honestly wanted to avoid the federal system because the agencies I spoke with do not have many CPAs. The other issue I discovered with going into the federal system, is generally civilian sector employers do not like the government accountants. So the switch back would be more difficult. I did start applying to state agencies as those here in Texas have to interview veterans per the law requirements.

Mike, I never thought of that and that might be very true.

B4Beancounter, many of the veterans who I know have applied civilian sector whether they were grunt or not have had trouble. I can think of on case where it was an exception but that was because this veteran in particular had many years of doing engineering. I am going to send you a private message.

Thank You guys.

Edit: I do not think there is a way to private message on here. I would actually like to talk to you B4Beancounter. Do you have any suggestions on how to communicate while keeping privacy?

[jeff]

If you do the NINJA Free Trial, you can use the DOJO PM function.

https://www.another71.com/ninja-cpa-review-free-trial/

[Wingdings]

NICE! Love seeing Vets pursue accounting! I also got out in 2013 (USMC) and immediately went back to school for my BS Accounting, followed by my MAcc. The whole time I was in school I worked at the Vet center as a work study, but I avoided internships/industry/public jobs assuming that I could just focus on school and grab a job after graduation. I too thought their might be a bit of “Veteran Preference” or at leas a few points for life experience. WRONG! Accounting, and especially public accounting is an absolutely narrow career path. If your intent is to go into public accounting the expectation is that you attend a summer leadership junior/senior year. Intern junior/senior/masters. This is a very hardened path and is tough to break, especially within the big 4. They would really REALLY prefer that you are 22-23 when you start with exactly zero life/work experience. In their eyes this means you're trainable and able to be molded into the perfect staff>senior>manager>Sr. manager> partner. So you can imagine that you walking in the door at 27-30 might be a bit of a shock!

I got extraordinarily blessed/lucky finding my current job in public. It's with a very small firm and we primarily do SOX404/some small FS/ EBP's/ SOC etc. They took a chance on me having no internship or experience in accounting (outside of school) whatsoever. I really enjoy the team I work with, the PTO (3 wks!), and the fact that it's not a Big 4 100hr work week.

So that's my very long winded way of saying to shoot for a small firm. As small as you can find ideally. This will give you the exact same public accounting experience as a big 4, but a bit better because you're immediately given more responsibility. This is also a great place to be recognized for how hard of a worker you are, because you will without any doubt, be the hardest working person in the room. You'll work 10hr days (when needed) without a complaint, you'll manage your own work load effectively, you'll start delegating before it's asked of you, your age will ultimately become an asset because you don't fuck around and you just get shit done, etc.

One VERY hard pill to swallow, and I'd imagine it is the same for every transitioning service member that isn't staying in their respective field, is having a younger boss. Yes you may have had a Cpl. or Sgt. that was meritoriously promoted and a touch younger, but they were likely put in that position because they were a PT stud, knocked out MCI's on their off time, volunteered for everything etc. The challenge in the civilian world is listening to a 22-23 year old that could quiet possibly still live with mom and dad. They have exactly zero work OR life experience, they do not know how to lead, they are trying to figure out how to get out of bed on time still. This is absolutely frustrating and demoralizing, but it does get better. People will recognize your ability to lead, delegate, manage etch. (JJDIDTIEBUCKLE amiright?), eventually you won't answer to this younger person, or you will learn to work with each other and overcome the age gap. There is and can't be pride in public, it's collaborative by nature and no one is ever 100% right (that's right not even the partners).

Hopefully this helps! If you're ever in CO hit me up so we can grab a beer !

[Author]

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