[Pete]

Hello

In June of this year, i’ve managed to pass the CPA exam. In addition, I should have the CFE exam completed this fall as well as the 150 credit hours.

Is anyone else in my shoes, where they’ve passed the exam and still can’t find work?

I’m involved in my state CPA society, the local chapter of the ACFE, have been networking like crazy, have accounting/book-keeping experience, yet am still having a brutal time finding a suitable ENTRY LEVEL accounting job (1-2 years experience-I have 6 years book-keeping experience and 6 months working at a CPA firm). Honestly, it seems like once you miss that on-campus bubble, the doors to most mid-sized to large firms slam in your face; then, the small firms don’t want to train you, since they can hire people, who used to work at a larger firm. What else should I be doing in my search?

Also want to add that i’m beyond interview number twenty for the past year (non of which have even been at firms).

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Duskfall]

That is some scary stuff. Where do you live? Sometimes you just have to move. Maybe get a recruiter or HR person's opinion on your resume and test your interview skills. Good luck out there and don't give up!

• FAR - 81 - JUN 7th, 2016
• BEC - 85 - AUG 23rd, 2016
• AUD- 80 - OCT 5th, 2016
• REG- 77 - DEC 2nd, 2016

 

FAR - 07/07/2016 - 81
BEC - 08/23/2016
AUD - 10/05/2016
REG - 11/23/2016

[DZagt]

Oh boy

AUD - 92
BEC - 90
FAR - 83
REG - 88

DONE!

[Pete]

I'm in CT… I just need to vent; it took my friend years to find work as well.

People, who get a job while in school, do not realize how bad it is outside of campus recruiting.

I'm currently working with 2 different recruiters, who I've gotten through referrals (so they're solid ones). Two other recruiters I've obtained, when they found my resume on indeed, contacting me. I'm currently with 4 recruiters though.

They keep getting me interview after interview, yet I just can't seem to land. Usually, the companies won't give me feedback from the interview, stating I did great to the recruiter. Sometimes, i'll receive BS feedback (ie. they told me I sounded slightly nervous during the interview-sorry, i'm not a machine and do in fact get nervous). Sometimes, they tell me I just don't have the experience they're looking for (ie. audit experience).

I actually had someone from E&Y review my resume, recently (hopefully, that will start to get me more interviews). Just frustrating to not get anything, despite having multiple contacts within multiple firms. Hell, I contact my board on an almost weekly basis.

I can't leave my state though, since I've already applied for my license through it. In retrospect, that was a bad idea, since my state refuses to even tell me, which classes I need to take, when I contact them. I merely get a legal disclaimer that they can't provide or assist me on weather a class will qualify.

I was barely able to land interviews at accounting firms while in school with a 3.3 something GPA (barely above the cutoff of most firms). Now, no firm will speak to me it seems, even though I've passed the exam.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[MINO21c]

Not the same, but I'm also getting really depressed about the job situation too. I don't even have bookkeeping or accounting experience, so I haven't actually gotten a single interview for accounting position yet. Not even from H&R block, local tax firm, AP&AR position, etc.. I'm getting the rest of the test results on 22nd, but I doubt even passing all four will get me a job. At this point, I might as well start applying for seasonal position in Walmart or something.

BEC: 77 (7/12/2016)
REG: 84 (8/17/2016)
FAR: 86 (10/27/2016)
AUD: 74, 82 (11/10/2016)

BEC 7/12 - PASS
REG 8/17
AUD 9/8
FAR 10/15

[Pete]

Sadly, my friend had to basically work at a call center for a few years. I was in a similar situation for a while.

People fail to realize just how saturated this field truly is, especially if you don't have a 18.0 gpa on the 4.0 scale, the head of a red dragon, winking, with a golden eye or Mordor attached to its skull. You also better make sure, you've succeeded in obtaining the magical stone of azkaban, after it's passed through a black hole, defying space time, and escaping the gravitational pull. Simply put, the competition is ridiculous.

In most other, less structured fields, networking would be more effective. Unfortunately, it's much less effective in such a structured hiring environment, I think. I might just pay 4,000$ to basically take a grad-school class next fall, claim i'm getting an MBA, then get interviews for campus recruiting, possibly getting hired for the following fall 2019.

I'm having an informational conversation with a Big 4 partner the week after next, so fingers crossed I might see a domino effect of good news soon (i'm in very bad need of it right now).

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[MINO21c]

I'm looking into MBA program as well. But the fact that I would have to take GMAT is killing me now. It's not so much for the studying part, but after spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours for this CPA exams all for nothing, I don't want to spend another dime on false hope, you know?

BEC: 77 (7/12/2016)
REG: 84 (8/17/2016)
FAR: 86 (10/27/2016)
AUD: 74, 82 (11/10/2016)

BEC 7/12 - PASS
REG 8/17
AUD 9/8
FAR 10/15

[Pete]

It's a luck based game. That's how I got into the firm last year, I informationally interviewed a person there, realized my friend got the job over me the first year (we hadn't spoken since college). Come the second year, I was offered the position (last year). Unfortunately, i turned down a job in private, paying more money, to a job, which would end up laying me off six months later, after I worked busy season. My friend got rejected 2 years before me, then ended up getting hired over me a year later (interesting story).

My alma matter is more than happy to waive the GMAT, you should look into that as well; for me though, it would cost me $40,000 more for grad-school, so i'm taking classes at community college. Unfortunately, i'm getting screwed because outside of campus recruiting, it's nearly impossible to get hired at a medium to large sized firm, unless your spouse is a partner (maybe i should target girls, who are partners of accounting firm in my pickup/dating strategies). I would work at a smaller firm, but most private jobs prefer audit work, over tax work, which only a large regional firm to a big firm can offer. You get pigeon holed in tax.

I've spoken to HR people, who used to work at large companies as well. I was told that once you graduate, “you have to make your own opportunities;” essentially, a lot of opportunity vanishes.

I've spoken to a TON of career coaches/experts and can tell you all there is to know about job search, but I just haven't gotten a job; i just can't get “lucky.”

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[George]

How are your interviewing skills ? If you are getting interviews, it obviously means the employer is showing interest. You might have to improve on how you interview ? Also congrats on passing the CPA exam.

[MonsoonCandy]

Ratfus – were all the interviews at corporate companies?

Was your 6 months @ CPA firm only tax experience?

I remember your name from another thread. But I know how you feel.
When I passed my CPA (a year out of school and unemployed, no prior experience), I couldn't land any interviews at all. No CPA firms, no corporate, nothing. GPA was near 4.0 with masters (which I know realize doesn't really mean much) once you graduate.

Finally got a job, worked for 2 years as an auditor and still struggled to land any interviews. Got a few at government, 2-3 from corporate, 0 from any size public firm again.

You have a much better track history than I do in terms of experience, so I am surprised you aren't getting any interviews at mid size CPA firms.
But I also understand how once you are out of school, it seems nearly impossible to get a public accounting firm position unless you know someone who actively tries to refer you or you just get lucky (which I seen some people did get). This means that they don't just hand your resume to HR, but they actually follow through or they speak to a recruiter directly.

I had people in CPA firms that referred me through the system and nothing happened. I had my resume reviewed by multiple people for different points of view. I don't think your resume is the issue because I seen people who just copied and pasted their current job description and land interviews.

Additionally, corporate prefers people with public accounting background.

I feel that passing the CPA doesn't mean anything in terms of helping you land an interview.

My advice would be to keep trying if you are determined to stay in this field and start going to the park to find 4 leaf clovers.

[Missy]

So you're getting interviews (means your credentials/experience/exams passed are raising interest), giving good interviews but not getting offers.

Its important to remember getting an offer is just as much about who your competition is as who you are, you can give a great interview answer everything perfectly but the interviewers “gut” just says the guy or girl who interviewed the next morning is a better fit.

Pay attention to the nuances that are often overlooked, research the firm/company AND the people who will be interviewing you before you walk in. They love to see that you've given time to doing your homework about their company and their people. Make sure when they give you the opportunity to ask them questions that you've got GREAT questions like “what is one thing you absolutely need me to hit the ground running with on day 1” (they eat that up, seriously). The trick is marketing, convincing them they're better off on your first day than they were the day before.

I've made the analogy before but its a LOT like dating, if you don't get a 2nd date it doesn't mean theres something wrong with the way you presented yourself on the first date, the other person had something already in mind and it just wasn't a fit. Onward and upward.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

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

[Pete]

Just to give some additional information. My 20+ interviews were all in corporate positions, I haven't been able to get a single public accounting interview, despite having a partner, who's my friend from the last firm, and essentially staying in touch with other accounting firm partners/associates as well. My friend's mom has been constantly pushing my resume to the partners at the firm he works at, but I even think he has given up, so to speak; it's tough, when even your once very strong connections are giving up.

My 6 months was primarily in tax, although I did do additional journal entries and trial balance work, which is audit related. The same thing happened to the guy after me, so I'm suspicious the position wasn't planned well enough (ended up doing away with it).

My social skills are weak in general (ie. I've never had a girlfriend or a date at 28); however, I will literally stand in front of a mirror for hours rehearsing for interviews and just keep practicing the questions. Most times, I feel that I actually did pretty good during the interview, since the questions they ask are usually some deviation of the ones i rehearse in front of a mirror.

Should I ask HR questions from that general list? In the past, I would come up with very specific accounting questions or firm questions and the HR person would just keep stating “I don't know,” which definitely didn't help the vibe. I would then have a separate list of questions for HR and accounting professionals.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Missy]

I think canned questions are a detriment. You want to demonstrate a sincere interest in THIS PARTICULAR position rather than I'm looking for any job.

So you go to the company's website first, particularly the “about us” section and do your homework and take notes. Get the names of the people who will be interviewing you and look them up on linkedin.

You'll make more of an impression asking questions like “I noticed on LinkedIn that you started here as a staff accountant and quickly rose to controller, what attributes of yours do you think the company was so impressed with in this department?” which leads nicely to you being able to explain how you share those qualities (marketing opportunity!)

For HR questions like I noticed on the website you just moved from a 10,000 square foot facility to a 30,000 square foot facility, which tells me you're growing quickly! What has been the highlight of the recent growth in your opinion. This gives you the chance to market yourself AGAIN as a team player who wants to be part of those highlights.

Its a lot of work to prepare for an interview, and it should be. At the end of the day you're deciding if you want them as much as they're deciding if they want you

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

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

[Accountant183748]

If you haven't heard of the website askamanager.com, I strongly recommend it. It is a blog written by a former manager and she has a lot of advice regarding your resume, interviews, networking, and so much more.

I know that it can be very frustrating to look for a job for such a long time, but as MLA stated if you are getting interviews it probably means that you have a good resume and employers are interested. That you aren't getting job offers could mean that there are a lot of people in your area looking for work. I know you mentioned that you practice interviewing in front of the mirror, but have you considered having a mock interview? Maybe with the partner you mentioned? Or a hiring manager? You could also consider reaching out to your school's career center and asking if they have mock interviews? Does your recruiter prep with you for interviews? The first recruiter I worked with would ask me questions (kind of like a mock interview) and would give me tips on how to answer the questions better for this particular person that I was interviewing with. I've had other recruiters who don't do that though, but I know good ones will help with this as well.

Would you consider moving? I know some places are better than others and for accounting work I hear Denver, Pheonix area, and Texas in general have many opportunities. I personally wouldn't consider moving, but am not sure if that's an option for you so I wanted to throw that option out there. I don't mean this to sound rude or anything, but I live in the Denver are and most people I know here are able to find a job in about two months with no CPA exam passed so there are plenty of opportunities here. I know things are different in different cities though so those that have more opportunities shouldn't take that for granted.

[.]

I got 2 interviews with small public accounting firms. Found both of them on Indeed.

The first firm seemed to really want someone who is not introverted (FML). The lady mentioned something about phone calls, so she obviously didn't remember who I was and probably was interviewing many people. Then at the end of the interview only gave me 5 minutes to whip up some short essay. Bombed that of course. The lady did like that I passed the exams but didn't seem interested in my scores. I mentioned how I wasn't sure if I should put the scores on my resume or not. She seemed to think not and she said that she got 65 on her first try with AUD.

The 2nd interview was with a small firm run by a Chinese couple. It lasted over 90 minutes. They gave me some sort of test. A couple logic questions, an excel problem, and some financials that I was supposed to audit. Apparently the audit thing was just a proofreading problem.

The Chinese firm was very interested in my CPA exam scores and asked me what they were. I only put that I passed and the dates on my resume. She mentioned that she called me in for the interview because of I passed 4 exams in 4 months. She told me that she took the CPA exam when it was done over 2 days and that her scores were all in the 90s.

Both of the firms were stingy with salary. The 1st one had $50,000 in the advertisement and the 2nd one balked at the salary I wanted. Even though this is NYC and it's extremely expensive to live here, they know people without public accounting experience are desperate, so they take advantage. Don't think it helps that because there just so many highly-educated people living here, firms can pick the cream of the crop.

Had another firm contact me. I looked them up on glassdoor but they had horrible reviews. Apparently, they only have you doing simple returns and bookkeeping, so it's not really good experience. Not worth being overworked to death.

Anyways, I don't think I can work 60-80 hours a week in March since my lease ends the end of March (perfect timing). I want to move to Seattle now but I'm chained to my god damn lease. Even if I stay here a few extra months, finding a temporary roommate situation and moving all my crap is time consuming. I'm probably just going to have to break down and do temp work. The bookkeeping jobs probably think I won't be around for very long since I took the CPA exam.

FAR- 88- 6/16- (Ninja Avg. 74%)
REG- 89- 7/16- (Ninja Avg. 77%)
AUD- 95- 8/16- (Ninja Avg. 81%)
BEC- 82- 9/16- (Ninja Avg. 75%)
[Wiley CPAExcel + Ninja MCQ]

Finally licensed.

FAR - June 2016 - 88
REG - July 2016 - 89
AUD - Aug 2016 - review phase currently
BEC - Sep 2016 -

Wiley CPA Excel & Ninja MCQ

[Pete]

I agree, it might just be the area. Most entry level jobs around here, easily exceed 50 applicants. I applied to well over 100 jobs on indeed and have yet to hear back on any one of those positions.

I could always just do mock interviews for my job search group, but it's extremely challenging to do a mock interview in front of 30 people. I did it once and did awful because I panicked, having so many eyes upon me. Granted, this was also a not-for-profit and i'm targeting profit jobs (public/private). I feel bad asking the career coaches for help interviewing, since they're doing me a favor, normally charging people $100+/hour, money I just don't have. I've gone to my school's career services many times over the years. The old person there was extremely helpful; he left though. The new guy is a student, who just graduated a few years ago, merely getting jobs because of his extremely high gpa (3.9+). All his advice for me was to use the school's website to apply for jobs. Most employers view it negatively, i think, that i'm using campus recruiting 6 years after i graduated. Overall, the new guy isn't that knowledgeable. I might still do some mock-interviews, regardless though (that's good advice-thank you).

Firm I got an offer with last year was paying me under $45,000/year with very limited benefits (this was after aggressive negotiation). The employers know that they have us, due to a labor surplus. 60-80 hours a week, isn't all that bad. My firm would exceed 110 hours/week for the last two weeks of tax season.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Author]

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