[HTXAccountant]

Hello everyone.

I graduated about a month ago in May with my Masters in Accounting (Tax concentration), and am currently looking for employment. For most of my college experience, I had thought I wanted to move to a big city and live a fast life (most people in my program end up working for the Big 4 and other big public accounting firms), but my priorities have since recently changed, and I just want a decent work-life balance. I’m not looking to make a lot of money or advance quickly–I just want to make enough to pay my bills and have a little saved.

I’ve had a prior tax internship at a Big 6 and a Masters, so I guess I’m overqualified for jobs like accounting assistant or clerk (which I have applied for, but have not heard back from). The only interviews I’ve gotten were for public accounting and financial services, which admittedly sound very good on paper and pay well, but require the strenuous hours that such occupations require (12-hour days, etc.).

This is probably the wrong place to ask, but does anyone know what jobs a recent Masters graduate could apply for, with the standard 40-hour workweek (occasionally overtime is okay, of course, but the regular work week is all I want)? I’ve heard industry is a lot better, but I’m not sure how a recent grad could get into industry without prior experience.

Is it too late to…I guess…go back and get a degree in bookkeeping? Is it even possible to do anything like that at this point? I just feel like I’ve wasted all this effort of going through college and getting my Masters, only to end up having a miserable young life (I’m in my early-20’s). I know that a lot of people think it’s a worthy sacrifice because they can end up making the six figures by their 30’s, but I would honestly be good with living off of a $40k-$60k salary for the rest of my life, if I got to actually have time to live.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Anonymous]

I started looking/interviewing for jobs back in about January or February knowing I was graduating in May. I went in knowing that if I found something right away I could just work full time and be in school full time for a few months and make it work. I had a few interviews here and there, but probably applied to ten times as many jobs as I got called about. My point is that I felt a lot of failure during the process of trying to go “against the grain” and look for a non-public job with no relevant experience as a staff accountant.

I eventually had some luck with a couple job opportunities in the middle of May, and took one of the offers I got at the end of the month, right at the same time I was graduating.

Are you studying for/taking the CPA exam? If so, you should definitely emphasize that with potential employers. That definitely gives you something to talk about doing post-graduation rather than just saying you've been looking for a job for a few months and haven't found one yet …

An alternative if you absolutely can't find a job in the private world after a while longer might be to find a small public firm to work at for awhile. A lot of the small tax or small business accounting firms around my area have normal hours besides a little extra required at busy season. They are definitely not like the Big4 or even the regional firm schedules.

[jbisdamon]

I would suggest one of two options. Look for a job in private. 40 hour weeks are standard with maybe a bit more when you do month and year end processes. Another good option I would suggest is look for a tax job in a small public firm. A lot of small firms will work with you on hours, and you might have some overtime, but often it is not near what you'd experience in a big four situation.

BEC - 76 7/22/14
AUD - 84 8/30/14
REG - 75 10/16/14
FAR - 87 11/24/14

[SaveBandit]

I've only worked in private, and I've yet to find a job with only a 40 hour work week. That said, the hours aren't nearly as bad as public. 50-55 hours during close is standard. 45ish when we're not closing. The only jobs around my area that guarantee a 40 hour week are in government. So, if you want to work in private, don't assume the job you are applying for is an automatic 40 hour work week. Definitely ask about hours in the interview process.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[HTXAccountant]

Thanks again for the input, everyone!

Unfortunately (and stupidly, on my part), I did not really recruit while I was in school. At the time, I had planned to start my career out-of-state, and had therefore never applied to any of the in-state companies that recruited at my school. I had made it to the last round of a job that I had thought I would for-sure have in the other state, but at the last moment (after I had already graduated), they told me that I didn't get the job. Thus, I gave up on moving out of state, and have been living with my parents and job-searching locally since then. (And yes, I know that it is definitely MUCH easier to land a job during school–some of the companies that would have taken me out to dinner if I had been recruiting as a student, are now completely ignoring my resume.)

Again, I am not harboring any delusions–I know that beggars can't be choosers, and I would honestly do a job at minimum-wage, if I was able to gain any valuable experience from it. I would even volunteer! But even the minimum-wage jobs that I've applied for haven't contacted me….I don't know what I could do.

I think the fact that I studied tax accounting, as opposed to audit or management/cost, has really hurt me, in terms of job prospects. I just hope that maybe as the fall tax season starts picking up, there may be more jobs posted. But it seems almost impossible to get anything during the summer. 🙁

[Anonymous]

I think you're panicking and under-appreciating yourself and your Master's degree in Taxation. A MST is a very valuable degree in my opinion but you need to put that degree to work and practice taxation. I'm in the North East and I frequently see job listings that tout “quality of life and work/life balance” firms. Maybe you can find a firm that works sane hours and can accommodate your work/life 40 hour week preference. Also, this talk about “a degree in bookkeeping” is kind of ridiculous; if you have a master's in accounting then by default you're probably over qualified to work as a bookkeeper or staff accountant. It's debits and credits; you only have to learn how to use technology and an ERP system.

If you are unsure about what direction you want to go in your accounting career, I would suggest go the public accounting route and try to find a firm that: accommodates your hours and is a mix of audit, accounting and taxation. That way, you get to try different areas in accounting and hopefully find one that you like.

Also, if you went the distance and got your MST then you should practice taxation just to see if you like it or not. I work for a medium size regional firm and I get a good mix of auditing, review, compilation, financial statement prep of private/public/nonprofit entities as well as preparation of corporate, partnership, trust and individual tax returns. And some of the most challenging and rewarding work is preparing tax returns. I also do a fair share of tax planning for individuals and businesses and I enjoy that very much

[Yukkeko]

I recently graduated from one of the top accounting master programs, and I started full-time this January with a fortune 500 company. The job does require a lot of travel, but working hour wise, it is decent. Most of the time it is 40 hour week, and occasionally I work 45. There has been only one week that i worked 60 hours. Also very flexible – dr appointment and sick don't count towards vacation days. Pay is comparable, if not better, to big four entry level.

Bottom line:

I don't think you can find a lot of opportunities in public sector, but some smaller firms may offer overtime pay if that makes people feel better. Like others said – big four are not always busy, hours become flexible during off season, but be prepared about crazy busy season.

I believe hours are reasonable in most companies (private sector) – the con is that not all of them offer entry level positions, but still, there are tons of opportunities out there.

FAR (4/14/14) - 97
REG (11/17/14) - 94
BEC (11/30/14) - 92
AUD (2/28/15) - 99
TEARS!

[Author]

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