[JonIsHere]

Bear with me, this is a bit long-winded.

I earned my undergraduate degree in 2008 from my college’s journalism school. I worked for the Census for a little over a year, then I spent all of 2011 unemployed looking for work, at which point I realized I needed to go back to school. I took my first accounting class in spring 2012, went through all of the undergraduate classes necessary to begin the MAcc program, was active in BAP and VITA, worked a part-time job doing assorted financial tasks for a veterinary clinic all throughout my return to college. I interviewed for public accounting internships in the fall of 2013 (spring/summer 2014 for the internship) but came up empty. I went through recruiting for public accounting last fall and again came up empty, the only member of my graduating class without multiple offers. I passed all four sections during my MAcc year (had to take AUD twice). I began looking in earnest at industry and government positions after my final rejection from public, and all I’ve had was a 9-week internship for a DJIA component company, which told me the internship was over via phone and to mail my badge in. With many companies, it seems as though “entry-level” full-time positions in industry demand a few years of public accounting experience, but there are a few for which I have applied. I posted all this because I have a few questions.

1. If I failed at recruiting during college, what is my best path into public accounting? Should I even try?

2. How do I maintain contact with the realm of public accounting as neither a professional nor a student?

3. What should I be doing now (in addition to my work with the veterinarian clinic) to maintain what I’ve picked up along the way accounting-wise?

AUD 64 2014Q3 81 2014Q4
BEC 90 2014Q3
FAR 84 2014Q3
REG 84 2014Q3

[mrimkhan]

Jonishere,

I was in a similar predicament. What I did was that I went back and started my masters in Tax after I got my masters in accounting, then I used the career center on campus recruiting again, and luckily this time I got an offer at a mid-size firm. Worked there for about 1 year and went on to a big 4. I only took one semester for my masters in tax and never completed it. Just an idea.

[kyle.brown]

Have you thought about not really working in public accounting at all? I found it harder to get an interview with the big 4 while in school yet i got an offer for Texas Instruments which paid like 2x the salary as the big 4. Now i will say its not the typically accounting work we read about but i have been able to touch all aspects of the financials from corporate accounting to auditing to even business unit level accounting.

FAR - Passed 4/2016
AUD - Passed 11/2015
REG - ?
BEC - 05/28/2016

[Mayo]

“1. If I failed at recruiting during college, what is my best path into public accounting? Should I even try?

2. How do I maintain contact with the realm of public accounting as neither a professional nor a student?

3. What should I be doing now (in addition to my work with the veterinarian clinic) to maintain what I've picked up along the way accounting-wise?”

1.) “failing” at recruiting usually speaks to a lack of social skills, bad fit with the firm, or just overall pretty tough competition. Plus, Macc students have a disadvantage compared with Bachelor's students in that the recruiting window just isn't long enough. Personally, if I had started in your position then I probably would have never gotten a public accting internship. The structure is just too rigid sometimes. So yeah…keep trying.

2.) Err…that's really tough. I'd say attend/start networking groups in your area. But at the end of the day, that initial recruiting period while in school is very very crucial. Once you're out, you're basically out.

3.) Apply to smaller CPA firms. Polish your interview skills. Customize your resume for the positions. Understand the times that firms are most in need from a personnel perspective (aka after busy season as people leave. So April and May. As well as September/October as people will leave to other firms sometimes during these months).

I empathize with your situation. The firms' timing on these things can be pretty harsh, especially if you're particularly unlucky. Just keep plugging away at the smaller firms, and hopefully you can get your foot in the door of the industry.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[JonIsHere]

Re-re-visiting this thread:

mrimkhan: My school doesn't have a “master's in tax” per se. Our master of accountancy program has a tax track and a business measurement and assurance (audit) track. Going back and taking all the tax track classes would just leave me another year older and deeper in debt.

kyle.brown: What other experience and education do you have, and what exactly is your position at TI?

Mayo: Some combination of all three of these things led to me failing recruiting. My state CPA association won't let me participate in any of their events, and none of the networking groups in this areas really seem to be interested in the unemployed or underemployed. I have basically run out of firms with whom I could apply. I sent off another salvo of applications to other offices of the larger firms about a month ago, with customized resumes.

On a positive note, I have had several interviews in industry and government, and I have a tentative offer from one of the government positions.

AUD 64 2014Q3 81 2014Q4
BEC 90 2014Q3
FAR 84 2014Q3
REG 84 2014Q3

[Anonymous]

@Jon: Why was your internship ended early? Did they give a reason? Do you have any ideas? If you were literally the only person in your class not to get an offer, and if the others had multiple offers to choose from, and if you then were let go early from your internship, I would wonder what they're seeing that you're not seeing…whether it's something related to your resume, your interviewing, your personality, your quirks, etc. Could just be bad luck, but with all that stringing together, I'd try to be very honest with yourself about what's going wrong with these, and if you can't figure it out, find some people that will tell you the truth, no matter how harsh it is. If your graduating class had as many employment options as you say, then it sounds like at least at that time the demand for accountants was high, so there may be something you're missing that you could improve to get the offers too.

[JonIsHere]

@ Lilla: My internship wasn't ended early; it ended at the same time as the semester ended. No one from the company whom I have attempted to contact has replied to me.

I feel like factors I mentioned in my original post (bachelor's degree in unrelated field, employment gap) which would show up on my resume set me apart from my classmates, and not in a good way. If there is something about me personally that has hurt me in this process, I don't know what it would be, and no one has told me what it would be. Right now, I'm just looking for input on what I can control so that I can at least get my foot in the door somewhere.

AUD 64 2014Q3 81 2014Q4
BEC 90 2014Q3
FAR 84 2014Q3
REG 84 2014Q3

[taxgeek83]

My apologies if this has been mentioned already – have you taken a good look at your resume and had another person or two or three take a look? I get that your degree is in an unrelated field, but you've passed the exams, so you obviously have an accounting education in there somewhere. I thought my resume was great until a friend or three tore it apart – in a good way. In addition, are you including cover letters with your resumes? Sometimes you can use those to tell a part of your story that might not be readily apparent in your resume.

Also, have you thought about taking an interview class? They're more helpful I think than you may realize. I was pretty horrible at interviewing until I took one – gave me a lot of pointers, and I started getting job offers.

I can't help you with the employment gap – just be prepared to give a good explanation in an interview if you're asked about it. Either way, I'm sure something somewhere will come along eventually. Good luck! 🙂

[Author]

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