[FrenchToast]

I began my CPA adventure several months after graduating with a degree in Business Management. In retrospect, I definitely chose the wrong major, as I quickly realized that a general business degree is a one way ticket to sales. After completing the requisite accounting hours — while working 55 hours a week — I was all set to finish the exam and begin a new career.

Unfortunately, I seem to be finding that despite the high number of jobs available in my locale (Chicago-land area), I don’t seem to fit the profile for any of them. The entry level finance/accounting “rotational/leadership development” programs will only accept recent graduates (ie, within last 12 months), and the next level up requires 2-4 years of experience. Additionally, most of the large accounting firms in the area will also not consider anyone other than a new graduate for entry level roles. Incidentally, a corporate HR associate from my former employer even told me that I was in a bit of a ‘paradoxical’ situation — she couldn’t consider me for the new college hire roles, and I lacked the experience for an associate level position. Fast forward to today, and I’m halfway through the exams, have achieved solid scores, and will finish the remaining two sections by the end of February. To this end, I’m wondering if anyone has dealt with a similar situation — ie, a career change with little experience. Is there a best way to minimize my lack of experience?

[mla1169]

Are you looking strictly at public accounting? If you are looking into corporate you will likely have better luck and especially by sticking to the non traditional means of finding jobs like craigslist. Sometimes its just more about how you “click” than your exact education and experience credentials. Either way its more a matter of perseverence than anything else. There appear to be a ton of jobs out there but the sad truth is there are more job seekers.

I have a good paying job that I hate. Ive been in accounting for 18 years but just finished my CPA and Masters. I am lucky that I can afford to be choosy right now becuase of my job security. That said, I've been casually looking for 3 years. You NEED to be aggressive in this job market and even go ahead and pay for a critical review of your resume. Networking is important, if you are not using linkedin that is a great tool and GET recommendations if possible.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[sacredtheory]

I was in my late 20s when I decided it was time for a career change. I ended up going back to school to get an accounting degree. I currently work in public accounting at a small local firm, and live it; however, I don't think it would have been possible without doing 2 internships.

And I agree about Craigslist. That's how I scored my second internship as well as my current job.

BEC: Passed
AUD: Passed
REG: Passed
FAR: Passed

Jared

[FrenchToast]

Thanks for the quick replies! Interestingly, Craigslist and LinkedIn have been my primary means of obtaining interviews. However, Craigslist tends to attract smaller business — as in to say, businesses who aren't in a position to invest thousands in Taleo technology.

Unfortunately, I do not believe I am an ideal candidate to work for a small business. In my limited experience, I have been extremely unimpressed by the utter lack of leadership and the inherent instability that seem to characterize many small businesses. While I realize they contribute greatly to the economy as a whole, my personality tends to fit best in a larger company. As a result, while I've had quite a few interviews, I don't believe my personality has ‘clicked' with any of the smaller businesses.

As far as public accounting vs. corporate, I am definitely open to either. My future goals involve an MBA and project management of accounting/financial software development/implementation. I know many of the larger public accounting firms have divisions dedicated to technology services, and that is ultimately where I'd like to be.

[Herbieherb]

seems like your best route is to go back to school, get good grades, and get recruited. Large corps won't hire you without networking/experience/recent grad.

NEW YORK- DONE

[FrenchToast]

I have definitely considered speeding up my MBA timeframe, but with very little analytical experience under my belt, I highly doubt my success in sales will be enough ‘real world experience' to convince admissions I'm a well rounded candidate. For that reason, I'm trying to find a job that will afford me at least a little analytical/finance experience before trying to con the admissions folks at Kellogg and Booth to let me in.

[Anonymous]

French Toast, Welcome to my world. I am a 2008 Accounting graduate, passed the exam in 2010, however I have been working in the Information Technology field since college as a temp and recently full time from 2008 until 2011. When my hours got cut in mid-2011, I started looking for work in the accounting field.

I have applied to 20-30 firms of varying sizes. I have not received a single call from one of them, despite follow-up. I recently attended an accounting job fair and some of the representatives looked like I was from Jupiter when I presented my resume simply on the work experience (Technical Analyst for a Fortune 500 company),

I am in the process of reaching out to some CPA accounting firms for tax season and I am considering working for a H&R Block if that avenue is not acceptable, simply because I need an income while I go back to school for computer science and hopefully get a job in either IT audit or business analyst.

BUT:

Don't sell yourself short. From what I read, CPA firms are about retaining and expanding business i.e client relations.If you have excellent people skills, expand on that through your sales experience.

You're not alone in this. Good Luck!

[Spur]

FrenchToast, I am experiencing a similar situation myself. I graduated college with a Finance major and an Accounting Minor. In 2010 I graduated with an MBA and stayed in a private sector accounting role. Recently I've been exploring the public accounting route, but I am not finding any job postings for associates for any firm in Chicago as well. Now, I'm going through with taking my CPA exam as I really love accounting, but I am not really sure where I would fit once I get it or even if the public accounting route would be possible. Is the corporate accounting route my only viable option at this point?

FAR - Bad Fail '11, Fail '12, Fail '13, PASS It's a miracle!
AUD - Fail, PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEC - PASS!!!!!!!!
REG - PASS!!!!!!!! And I'm done!

[Spur]

Anyone on this board successfully move from corporate work to a public accounting firm?

FAR - Bad Fail '11, Fail '12, Fail '13, PASS It's a miracle!
AUD - Fail, PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEC - PASS!!!!!!!!
REG - PASS!!!!!!!! And I'm done!

[Anonymous]

@Spur. I plan to do that by the end of this year. The only reason I decided private acg was to have the time to study for the exam. I think that unless you hold an important position or somewhat important position private acg is boring. IMO pple in private acg procastinate in excess..lol

[Author]

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