[Anonymous]

I graduated with my Bachelor’s in accounting in early December and have been studying for the CPA since the beginning of January with plans to take FAR on February 27. I have been unemployed since October and have never held any sort of accounting-related job.

I’ve sort of gotten desperate but I do want to work for the state in a sense because of great benefits even though the pay is a little bit lower than most other accounting-related jobs. But in all honesty there is just not too much out there it seems. The job I’m looking at is with the MS state Department of Revenue it is this:

https://agency.governmentjobs.com/mississippi/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=801572

I’d like you guys opinion on if this would be a decent job to get to start building experience and possibly move to an actual “Accountant” position with the Department of Revenue, or if I’d basically be just shooting myself in the foot by taking a completely unrelated position. Ignore the pay. 28K is terrible I know, but honestly it’s well above $0.

[Study Monk]

Looks like a good job if you would like to start a career in tax. I don't think it is the best job if you want to be working with journal entries and actual accounting.

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"

[Study Monk]

Looks like a good job if you would like to start a career in tax. I don't think it is the best job if you want to be working with journal entries and actual accounting.

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]

I'm with Study Monk that it would be great if you're interested in tax… Just think about it – if you can't move up there and 2 years down the road you go applying for tax jobs, you would be pretty much an expert on the state tax law (if you make a point to learn everything you can from your job), and that would be valuable! Especially since you would know not only what it says but also how it is interpreted.

This position would also be more likely to lead to openings within state tax return auditing or areas like that, if those interest you…especially since you want to do state work.

However, if you want to be the person doing the bookwork instead of the one analyzing and auditing it, then this wouldn't be an immediate step that way. Still, though, it's no worse than not working – it's at least somewhat related to accounting, so it's better than a non-accounting job.

[Anonymous]

I'm with Study Monk that it would be great if you're interested in tax… Just think about it – if you can't move up there and 2 years down the road you go applying for tax jobs, you would be pretty much an expert on the state tax law (if you make a point to learn everything you can from your job), and that would be valuable! Especially since you would know not only what it says but also how it is interpreted.

This position would also be more likely to lead to openings within state tax return auditing or areas like that, if those interest you…especially since you want to do state work.

However, if you want to be the person doing the bookwork instead of the one analyzing and auditing it, then this wouldn't be an immediate step that way. Still, though, it's no worse than not working – it's at least somewhat related to accounting, so it's better than a non-accounting job.

[evesocal]

Looks like a good first job to me! Yes the pay is low but you will get good tax experience, the benefits are unbeatable and maybe there will be other and better state jobs down the road. If not you can move into public. Or industry. It's a first job (much better than no job) and it's certainly accounting-related. You'll have to get a different job to get the license but that's okay, you've got time.

B: 75
R: 80
A: 77
F: 81
Ethics: 84, 92 and done!
Licensed in California

[evesocal]

Looks like a good first job to me! Yes the pay is low but you will get good tax experience, the benefits are unbeatable and maybe there will be other and better state jobs down the road. If not you can move into public. Or industry. It's a first job (much better than no job) and it's certainly accounting-related. You'll have to get a different job to get the license but that's okay, you've got time.

B: 75
R: 80
A: 77
F: 81
Ethics: 84, 92 and done!
Licensed in California

[Author]

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