[Ganondorf]

Every job listing I find says it requires 2+ years of experience. I have no real accounting related experience. I have only worked in fast food type jobs which I try to BS on my resume as cash handling experience to make it sound at least somewhat accounting related.

Where do you find accounting jobs that require no experience? I search the usual places like Monster, Indeed, CareerBuilder, etc, but practically every single job listed requires 2+ years of experience. Am I wasting my time applying to these listings? How important is having the experience?

[Missy]

Apply to jobs that say 2 years required. Its ok.

Every accounting job I held from 1989-2008 said a bachelors degree was a minimum requirement. I didn't have my bachelors degree until 2008 so obviously these are not hard and fast rules.

They're simply trying to weed out people who aren't serious about accounting but just want to see what its like. Doesn't mean you'll get calls from every one of them but some of them will be interested in you anyway.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[10keyLeah]

I ran into the same issue when looking for an accounting job. As mla says, go ahead and apply for those jobs. You may also want to consider other methods. Let your circle of friends and family know that you are looking for work. You may also want to consider dropping off a resume at accounting firms or businesses that do not have a job opening listed. This probably works best in smaller areas instead of cities. (I got my job by mailing in my resume to a small firm that had not advertised a position)

Of course, always be considerate and following directions for how a company or business asks to receive resumes. Make sure your resume is ready to go before you start submitting it!

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[pg2324]

I was in a very similar position to you – graduated with bachelors degree but with no accounting experience. I also worked mostly in retail throughout college so it wasn't like I was not working or was lazy. I ended up applying to clerk-level positions (in addition to staff-level) and ended up getting a full-time position as an A/P clerk, paying $15/hr. I tried to look at that job as the internship I never had while in college. Once I had a year under my belt, I began to apply to staff accountant positions and did receive a few callbacks. It ended up that my A/P job promoted me to Staff Accountant and so I ended up staying there.

I'm not saying that you need to go this route and I'm definitely not trying to discourage you – like I said, I was in the same position you are in now and know it how much it sucks.

Even if you take a clerk position for 6 months, that will allow you to add accounting/office experience to your resume and can lead to better offers.

[MaLoTu]

What sorts of opportunities are you looking for? Public, industry, etc.

[Anonymous]

I think your wasting your time applying to them. I remember speaking with an accounting recruiting firm in my town and they told me 70% of applicants have your background, and that how they add value to their clients is by weeding out these applicants. I would just focus on applying for opportunities that are truly entry-level when they come up. Also send out your resume before tax season and see if you can get some busy season work.

[MaLoTu]

I agree with mla and almost there, even though they have almost opposing stances.

The position that I am currently interviewing for stated that they preferred someone with some prior public accounting experience. This was one of the “desired” but not necessary qualifications. The job descriptions are not completely representative of what they are willing to accept for the position.

However, if it says two years + experience in public accounting as a minimum requirement then they are looking for someone who has experience. It may be that the person for this role has to “hit the ground running” and there is not much in the way of training. If you are submitting your resume for experienced hire roles then you are likely going to be phased out before round one.

[Dantrick]

How about apply at a temp agency like account temps or something? I think you will have to do entry level.

[Ganondorf]

@MaLoTu – I am looking mainly at industry jobs. I don't really want to get into public. I am looking at some really small CPA firms, but I just don't want to work the crazy hours required at the larger firms.

@Dantrick – I have been looking at temp agencies too. One of my problems is that I am not willing to relocate. I am very close to my family, and I don't want to move away from them. So I have a fairly small search radius of about 25-30 miles where I am looking for jobs. There aren't any major cities within that radius, so there just aren't as many opportunities I guess.

[MaLoTu]

I think that if your target is industry then pg2324 had the most logical advice. Find somewhere that you can start as either a clerk or even an administrator with some accounting responsibilities. Have you tried a bank? Big banks hire accountants. And, public firms also hire accountants that work for the company, like internal accounting. Maybe you could find something like that?

[Ganondorf]

A credit union near me did have a job posting a couple weeks ago for a “finance specialist.” The only requirements they listed were a Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance and 2+ years of experience. I sent in my resume, but I never heard from them. The lack of experience is killing me. Even the A/P A/R job listings I am finding say they require experience.

[TheGuyCPA]

Try applying for an internship, or a very small CPA firm. CPA firms require at least a decent GPA though

FAR - 80
REG - 78
AUD - 88
BEC - 84

State of Illinois Licensed CPA as of September 2015

[Ganondorf]

I'm not in school anymore, so I don't think I can get an internship. I really do wish I had gotten an internship while I was still in school, but I never did. Hindsight is 20/20.

[Anonymous]

Well that is a problem. Any entry level candidate that is only looking within a small radius and tgat radius doesn't even have any biggish cities is going to struggle 9 times out of 10 unless your small town economy is just that good.

[MaLoTu]

It is a lot harder to network in an small business setting. When you have a larger company they have recruiters. With smaller offices/companies it is hard to figure out who is making the hiring decisions. Definitely try to utilize your network. Hopefully you are on LI … try to target certain companies you are interested in then search to see if your connections either work at said company or have connections they can introduce you to. You probably will not be successful just sending your resume into the abyss.

[Zyx]

Maybe you have to start from the bottom like clerks. I know it sucks because it isn't good pay. When I was a senior, I had to work full time (nanny) to support myself, so I did part-time intern for Free! Yes, no kidding. I could not lose my primary job to take a paid intern job because of financial issues. So I basically worked for free for almost a year to gain relevant experience and have something on my resume. I might not have to do this, but try to do something different. My current job isn't good pay either, but at least I can learn a lot. Whenever I make mistakes at work, my boss would say that they don't like to hire new grads because they know nothing right out of school. We can't change how companies hire people, but we can find our ways to make yourself qualified for those jobs. Never give up and keep walking. Cheers!

REG: 77 x2
BEC: 81 x3
FAR: 68 retake 10/1
AUD: 8/27

[Author]

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