[Anonymous]

Dear all,

I hope everyone is doing ok. I need some advises, and I hope someone here can help me out. I could not find any job in public accounting or accounting related work when I graduated from college, so I decided to take the CPA exam. Later, I found a full time accounts receivable position while working on the exam. Fortunately, I passed all four sections of the exam in May this year, and I believe this is an advantage for me to land a job in tax or audit. However, after months of job hunting, I only had one interview so far and I did not get it. I am totally confused. I don’t know what is the reason why I am not getting any interview. I even applied for regular accounting job but the result is the same.

Thank you

Samson

FIN 81

AUD 72, 84

BEC 73, 82

REG 69, 76

[Anonymous]

Hi Missywilliams,

You have spoken the truth. I admit that my grammar sucks, and English is not my first language. Could you please take your time and point my grammatical mistakes so I can improve.

Thank you

Samson

[Anonymous]

Hi Can1,

I feel your pain.

Samson

[Study Monk]

I have horrible grammar for a native English speaker. Now that you are free of the CPA exam maybe you should read books like the one above. You need to be very energetic to get jobs in public accounting. Make sure you have good eye contact and strong hand shakes. You got to get your confidence up and I imagine its hard when you are self conscious of your English speaking ability. You may also want to take language speaking courses or hire a professional to help you.

Perhaps you should look at firms who work with clients of your nationality. You may have move to a metropolitan city. Type in your nationality and put audit firm or tax consultant in google. Though this may not be politically correct to say I think a lot of the big firms are looking for people who have good communication skills. Many even are looking for people they could have a beer with or play golf with. Many public accountants are trying to fight that stereotypical nerdy accountant image, so now days you got to look like one of the cool(also smart) kids on campus to get the job.

You could also take classes at a college who has a meet the firms day and then you will have access to the same recruiters as if you are going there full-time. Since it will likely be next Novemebr or October you should get your language skills together by then. The reality is you probably won't get a public accounting job one month before busy season and you have to do anything you can to get prepared for next year. I am in the same boat.

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]

Hello everyone,

I just got a letter from the job I was waiting for. It states after careful consideration, they regret to advise me that they are unable to offer me a position at the present time. i Kind of knew when she wasn't responding to my emails, but oh well.

Well, at least they gave me a chance to be interviewed. That I'm thankful for. It hurts, but must move on.

[Anonymous]

If you know someone that works at one of the firms you are looking to get a job with, have him/her recommend you.

I work for a Big 4 firm and I know it helped me get selected for an interview. There were several people at the career fair applying for the same position, probably with the same credentials; I am positive that the recomendation helped me.

[Anonymous]

Oh as you can tell, I do not have my CPA licence yet. You can get a job with a Big 4 without the licence, you just won't get promoted to manager until you are a CPA.

[Tncincy]

Job hunting can be a real task in any field, but someone might have said already to network at Accountant/CPA local chapter functions or even job fairs.. There you can meet people in the same situation and can maybe offer some advice, look over your resume, or even introduce you to someone that may need an accountant. Passing the exam was the hard part, but finding the dream job is a matter of persistence. Be persistent, keep looking, remind the accounting world that you are looking.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader.....time to pass

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[SeattleAccountant]

@better_samson

Want to encourage you as well as to point out that job search is like a full-time job. I just landed a dream job. But let me tell you it took a lot of efforts on my behalf and more than 10 interviews where I was rejected or ended up rejecting them before finally reaching my goal.

If that matters, I'm ESL, older candidate competing against the best/younger/brighter folks in the industry and had other confidence issues and struggles. It can be done and you are the one that is solely responsible for your own success. Clean up that resume, have it proof-read, seek suggestions and keep asking around, doing research and applying till feeling nauseated. You will land a job, it is just a matter of time. Also, another thing is to evaluate what are you missing in order to get that job and perhaps approach it by taking a lower position and work it up within a year or two to a desired level.

Good luck to you, keep posted of your outcome!

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[Anonymous]

Dear all,

You guys are the best I have ever met. Special thanks to Elisabeth here, who took her precious time to review my resume and cover letter. I recently received an interview opportunity with a CPA firm. Whatever the result is, I am truly thankful to all of you. I wish those of you who is still working on the exams pass them in the first attempt, and those who are looking for jobs will find it soon (including myself).

Samson

[SeattleAccountant]

@better_samson

Yey, good luck on the interview!!!!

Keep your head up and keep working toward your dream. One day you will look back and smile at long gone today's struggles 🙂

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[Anonymous]

Congratulations better_samson! It's good to hear that you got an opportunity for an interview! I hope you get the offer in the end!

[joetweeting]

Put yourself in situations where you can network. Whatever your hobbies are, you can find a group to join and make new connections.

For example, I love to run. Last year I was training for a marathon and I also wanted to do some good in the community, so I joined Team in Training. For those who don't know, Team in Training raises money for leukemia and lymphoma research through running.

At this time, I was still fairly new in town and didn't have much of a network to leverage in terms of finding a job in public accounting, tax specifically. After I joined, however, I met a girl whose good friend was the senior tax manager at the firm where I really wanted to work. I had actually interviewed with them the year before and didn't get the offer. I got her contact info and asked if she could meet for coffee, to which she agreed. A few months later, I saw that they were hiring. I submitted my resume and asked her to pass my name along to HR. That call led to an interview, offer, and acceptance.

At the risk of this post running long, I want to talk about interviewing really quickly.

You need to be interested in the firm and the interview process. Be engaged in the conversation, don't just answer questions, have some of your own.

Two questions I always ask: because they're good and because I genuinely want to know the answer.

1. “Can you recall someone who really excelled in this position? What do you think made them so outstanding/successful?”

Shows you're interested in not just landing the job but succeeding and also gives you insight into what the firm looks for and rewards in employees.

2. “Do you have any reservations about my fit for this position that I might be able to address while I'm here?”

You know that your fit for the position will be discussed among the interviewers after you leave. Mitigate their concerns by addressing them during the interview.

Best of luck. Nothing beats enjoying what you do for a living.

B: 75
A: 89
R: 53, 66, 76
F: 73, 80
Ethics: 98
DONE! (Yes, it spells BARFED. Past-tense. Done.)

Wiley Books and Test Bank, Ninja Audio

[Kls238]

I'm bumping this page to avoid starting a similar thread….

Like the OP, I'm having a heck of a time finding a job. I was reading some of your advice, but I was wondering if anyone can provide input on applying to firms without positions posted. Is it unprofessional to mail a resume even if they're not advertising? I've heard mixed views on this, but have any of you successfully landed a job this way? Thanks!

Passed all sections.

[Kls238]

I'm bumping this page to avoid starting a similar thread….

Like the OP, I'm having a heck of a time finding a job. I was reading some of your advice, but I was wondering if anyone can provide input on applying to firms without positions posted. Is it unprofessional to mail a resume even if they're not advertising? I've heard mixed views on this, but have any of you successfully landed a job this way? Thanks!

Passed all sections.

[taxgeek83]

If there are any firms in particular you are interested in, check out their websites. I've seen quite a few in my area that aren't necessarily actively searching for new employees, but encourage interested parties to submit resumes/cover letters regardless. It can't hurt to give it a shot, and you might be surprised!

[Author]

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