[rubytuesday88]

Hello everyone,

I always see great advice on this forum and was hoping for some advice given my current situation. I recently quit my public accounting job just after obtaining my CPA license, but I quit without having another job lined up. I know that this wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but simply put, I was miserable at this job (and industry) and just wanted to focus all of my efforts on getting into corporate finance. I felt as though I wasn’t being mentored nor learning anything at my last job. Now I didn’t quit without a plan, and I do have some savings to hold me over for a few months, but am having a bit of trouble getting interviews for jobs.

A bit more about my situation, I am 24, and live in a semi big city/ county (300,000 ppl) I’ve held 3 jobs in the last three years, and hold a current CPA license. My grades were pretty stellar in college ( 3.65) and I had 3 internships while in college. I do realize that my jumpy job history may be holding back my job prospects a bit. So far I’ve been unemployed for 2 months, and still haven’t had any actual job interviews, just phone interviews. I have tried going through recruiters but when they reach out to me, I already applied to the positions they recruit for so they are unable to help me. I’ve tried job boards such as Indeed, and I’ve tried applying directly on company sites. Lately, am trying to reach out to my school and colleagues for networking but haven’t had much success yet.

I am looking for opportunities in corporate accounting, government accounting, or corporate finance. If possible I’d like to stay in my area. Does anyone know of any other avenues I should tackle to increase the interviews I get? Or any advice to help in my current situation?

Thank you for reading guys!

Best,

Ruby

[rubytuesday88]

Bump

[ultrarunner]

Hi Ruby, I am currently working in corporate accounting but plan to move to other fields. I found corporate accounting dry and boring, but it all depends on the person and the position etc. Anyway, having a CPA could hurt your chance in corporate accounting. Believe or not, many accounting managers who interviewed me (when I was not a CPA) are not CPAs. So they tend to prefer non-CPAs as their subordinates. It may be better for you to target public companies or large corporations who prefer CPAs. All the best.

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[rubytuesday88]

Ultra, thanks for the advice. However, what am really looking for is new ideas on how to network and new ways to apply/connect with companies. Ultimate am trying to increase my chances of getting an actual job interview.

[CPYay]

@ruby

Based on what you stated, it sounds like a difficult spot to be in. Normally I'd say, “message recruiters”, but you're in a bind in that regard. So, here's what I suggest.

Update your LinkedIn. Constantly. Change a few words to refresh it.
Set your profile to be actively looking. This way, recruiters will reach out to you.
Go through your LinkedIn and search for recruiters. Message them and try to engage in a conversation with a few. Once you feel like a recruiter is a decent person, offer a lunch meeting (on your dime) and really sell yourself to them. They'll be more genuine and dedicated to help you.

Your goal is to have them message you for new postings or opportunities not posted. Hopefully they beat you to the opportunity rather than you applying first. They will push the job for you since they may have a relationship with the employer. Your opportunity is to build a relationship with them.

Other than that, networking is hard if you didn't already do so from your previous employer or from school.

I got my current job from a recruiter. Thank goodness because my network sucks.

Good luck!

[rubytuesday88]

Hey CPYAI,

You bring up some good points. I will definitely try this out. Other than that, today I started looking back at my college yearbook, and adding folks on linkedIn who have a finance background since I took the same classes as them. It was a small college so most accounting and finance majors knew who I was. I will try to reach out to them and set up coffee/lunch dates to prospect for connections and advice.

[Author]

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