[Anonymous]

I can consume my days completely by doing one of the following two options. I cannot do both 100%.

Option #1 Contact recruiters/headhunters, send resumes out, network, submit applications on corporate websites, gather advice, refine resume, interview, travel to interviews, etc.

Option #2 Collect unemployment and study from 7:00am to 5:00pm six days per week.

When working at my pressure-cooker of a job, I worked 60 hrs per week minimum. When I got home around 6:00pm every night, I would spend time with family (give kids baths, bed time stories, etc.). I would *finally* sit down to start studying around 9:00pm! For me, this was not an ideal study situation for me. By 9:00pm, I was spent. I couldn’t absorb anything that I studied.

This may be why I couldn’t pass the final two parts of the exam. I’m curious how quickly I could pass the exam if I studied from 7:00am-5:00pm all week long? I would be 100% alert. No distractions at home.

What do you all think?

[Guccimane]

yeah if you have to work;sometimes acctg jobs have to wait and you have to do something else until the right job comes around no biggie just a fact of life now of days everyone just wants and expects handouts like they are automatically suppose to get a bunch of money and good job b/c they have a degree or something

I never had that type luck market has been hard since 2002

83 Reg, 76 BEC, 94 Aud, 79 Far

Done ......!

[PursuitCPA]

I had a few offers coming out school 2008 (Laid off) now there is nothing and its like pulling teeth to get an interview

CPA EXAM - Passed

[Anonymous]

I was lucky enough to have secured a job with a public accounting firm after an earlier internship when I graduated with my masters and 150 credit hours in the summer of 2008. I worked for 6 months when the firm suddenly decided they were overstaffed and laid me and several others off.

I would have probably resorted back to waiting tables or other such work to pay the bills. However one of my former coworkers who was laid off mentioned my name to a job placement company and they contacted me. With their help I got two interviews for Accounting positions and my next job within 2-3 months. I would suggest others look at placement firms. Many companies hire new employees there instead of using public postings.

The placement firm I worked with was Robert Half. They mainly work with Finance and Accounting professionals. It is free to meet with them, they are paid by the employers not by the potential employees. They also are associated with Accountemps and had me receiving temp work offers while they tried to find me something permanent. Without their help I'm not sure what I would be doing today.

[75 CPA]

JM2010FL

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I have been a salesman and an entrepreneur all of my working life. That part of the equation is simple, as least for me. However, I am new to accounting. If I pass AUD, my last exam, I will jump on Quickbooks. I am not familiar with Microsoft's Dynamic Great Plains. Tell me more about it and how do you go about selling it.

Additionally, how do you pitch a potential new business client? This is a new territory for me.

Thanks!

[PursuitCPA]

PLACEMENT FIRMS ARE THE WORST. Oh Lord! Especially RF

CPA EXAM - Passed

[Anonymous]

PursuitCPA, I have to disagree. I'm not suggesting placement firms are the end all of job hunting, but for someone who has not found anything on their own it is a good option. All of the jobs I was presented with through Robert Half were advertised solely through Robert Half and therefore if you didn't go through them it is as if the job didn't exist to you. Many companies do this, which severely limits the available job pool for those unwilling to consider placement firms.

Did you have some bad experiences with a placement firm? I am sure some are better than others, and the same probably goes for the people you have to deal with. I have nothing but positives from my experience.

[Anonymous]

75 CPA –

I agree with the comments about learning QuickBooks and becoming certified in it. That has opened alot of doors for me. QuickBooks consulting can get you some bookkeeping jobs if needed, but also can lead to training, tax returns, etc. Be sure to research for your area so that you don't underprice yourself!

[Guccimane]

I am good at pressure washing if all else fails lol

83 Reg, 76 BEC, 94 Aud, 79 Far

Done ......!

[PursuitCPA]

I learned Quickbooks easily, it doesnt really matter in the grand scheme of things unless your going to open your own practice.

CPA EXAM - Passed

[jmjones4]

Im with Bobbins on the placement firm. I was in public accounting for a little over a year when I decided I wanted out and I got together with Robert Half. I didn't pay anything and they got me a couple of opportunities for pretty good jobs. The job I have no I didn't get through them but I defiantely dont think they are a waste of time. I met with them once (and he met with me during lunch so my current employer wouldn't know I was looking) and then just called me everytime he had something come up. And the temp firm they have is good too. The company I work for now is using them to hire two temps (about 8 months of work) to help take the accounting load so the full time people can focus on this big computer transition we have coming up.

BEC - 79; FAR-79, AUD-80, REG-80

HOLY CRAP I DID IT!!!!

[PursuitCPA]

But you didn't get those jobs =)

CPA EXAM - Passed

[jmjones4]

Was offered one, but I was also waiting to hear back about the job I have now. It was a better offer so I declined the first one. Im just saying with everyone having such a hard time finding employment it's probably not the best time to be above a placement firm.

BEC - 79; FAR-79, AUD-80, REG-80

HOLY CRAP I DID IT!!!!

[PursuitCPA]

Well from my experience and other friends experience we are having a tough time finding employment from these placement agencies. They bring you in and then never hear back. If they have a job for me they call. I am fed up.

CPA EXAM - Passed

[JM2010FL]

Pursuit, to increase your chances of getting a job, the more accounting softwares you know the better……QuickBooks is for small bizs. Your resume will be very impressive with other accounting softwares like JD Edwards, McCormick & Dodge, Hyperion, Great Plains…..ect…

And I would be very careful with the Robert Halfs of the world…..they might do more harm than good by prostituting your resume all over the place….

[Guccimane]

Robert Half is ok if you ace that crap exam they give you

I aced it and landed a job with ease from there pool of clients………but that was three yrs ago landed a job within two weeks

83 Reg, 76 BEC, 94 Aud, 79 Far

Done ......!

[Author]

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