[AndrewE]

Currently feeling indecisive whether or not I want to stick with accounting. The combination of work & studying most of time could be leading me to negative thinking I suppose. I have been working for almost a year now in a small public firm and have been studying for almost the entire time I have been working.I told myself that I will finish this exam before I make any next move and I am trying my best to hold myself to that promise.

I am currently in between tests; I just took a REG retake last week 5/22. Just waiting to start FAR now this summer. This journey is truly a long one and currently feeling lost -.-

BEC – 77 (Q4’16)
AUD – 70 (Q4’16) , 75 (Q1’17)
REG – 73 (Q1’17) , 5/22 (Q2’17)
FAR – Q3 or TBD

[Anonymous]

@ragepsn29 1-3 years in public certainly opens a lot of doors. Especially if you make it to a management role but that may take a bit longer depending on the firm and your performance. Take a look at job requirements of your ideal jobs in ideal industries. Some of them require X amounts of busy seasons. Some also say Big 4 preferred. There may be a better candidate on paper (and in reality), but I spent those years managing the entire general ledger and doing systems implementations with smaller companies. People tend to struggle with transitioning from public to private. You're no longer a revenue generator but overhead and have to completely switch gears.

@AndrewE You're halfway done with the exam and it's not going anywhere. People have many callings in life at different times. I didn't know I wanted to go into this profession until my mid 20's and haven't looked back. When the exam is over, your perspective should be a bit different.

[AndrewE]

@almond I am hoping so, thank you for the insight.

[M123]

I think our second guessing ourselves is like an immune response to a foreign body. We are trying to reject the need to study countless hours in order to avoid unnecessary pain. Our mind rationalizes, some of which sounds justified.

I can't tell you how many times in my masters program I thought to myself – who do I think I am – what am I doing – etc.

The answer is to not give voice to negative detractors.

You chose a path. You're almost at the finish line. If you do the math on all the work you've done thus far to be where you are, and how much further you have to go (including undergrad) – the only thing that makes sense is to finish or darn well try your best to do it.

As I said before – I wish I had the knowledge of a CPA when I was closer to graduation age. CPAs simply know a heck of a lot to address many challenges, not the least of which are public assurance and tax.

Give voice to winning at this stage.

[Author]

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