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here is the problem. i understand, i am 38, recent grad, same grades as u had, also from a great school. we can forget the national, regional or even large local cpa firms. they purely want traditional 22 yr old grads to train and mold into their system. We can also pretty much forget getting an entry level job at a large bigtime corporation. Entry level to them means 22, fresh out of college with a clean slate and no past baggage or mindsets about the workforce, they want to mold u into their corporate system without resistance or conflict. Our best chance for employment, beyond having connections, is to find an entry level type job at a very small local accounting and tax services company. Maybe an office of less than 10 people. Or a small to mid size local company with a very small accounting staff, less than 5 people, that needs someone entry level. These situations will be our best shot an employment in accounting. Then work 5 or 6 yrs at that job gaining progressive exp and you should be fine. Forget bookeeping jobs, companies just want to hire someone super experienced that can do the job on day 1 and will except $10/hr without complaint.
I am a 42 year old career changer, and yes I do live within an hour of a big city. But I also have 5+ years of business management experience working at auto repair shops, including a few car dealerships. (not all in one place though). I guess that may be part of my problem. However, I don't see how it would really matter about my age. I look 30-35-ish and not that old.
But, yes, I have submitted 200+ resumes and applictions, and I have had zero luck.
Just walking out with the accounting degrees doesn't mean much in the job market these days. I would say your best bet to land in the industry is to use your alma mater's career center, job recruitment fair, or networking with professors or other classmates. I've seen a professor passing along employment opporunities to a German who had only been in the country for 3 weeks simply because the guy seemed very interested in back aisles of lecture halls. Or you could try going for the CPA exams or other certifications to see if it improves your resume.
I've had 40+ coworker who is not completely fluent in English who worked with me before in public accounting for a year and she has had a new job in accounting every year since she left (all seems to be of her accord). I don't think in terms of schoolings, she's as qualified as you.
The market is very tough right now but large parts of it seems to be how well you play your cards.
I'm planning to get out of public accounting probably within the month for various reasons. I have experience that looks good on paper but I think if I were to climb to a higher job in the ladder in the same field, I might have to go for graduate school (MBA or Masters in Taxation) to get the doors to open even if I were to get my CPA. Frankly, I rather get a master in mathematics or statistics, round myself out and give myself an escape route if I were to take on more debt and spend another year in school.
if you are interested in accounting its still one of the best college degrees in terms of feeding directly into a job description. try majoring in history, english or countless other majors and try to look for a specific type of job in todays market. no chance. accounting majors feed directly into a profession
But hiring is still way down. I attended school right before the recession, and at that time anyone could get a job assuming they made some kind of minimal effort. It's almost [but not quite] as bad as law school now, and I'm starting to wonder if it will get to the point where a good number of the grads never end up actually working in the field. A lot of doors slam shut for people who either don't have a job lined up before graduation or end up losing their job before getting more than 2-3 years of experience.
I actually do have a CPA and have been unemployed for over two years. I'm hoping to find some seasonal work and will probably need to relocate to find anything permanent, but unlike younger people I can't just up and move, it's going to take several months and a lot of luck as far as selling property.
That is a big thing older career changers need to think about, how mobile they are if they need to move in order to find work--they tend to have way more responsibilities and other things that can make it difficult to move.
But hiring is still way down. I attended school right before the recession, and at that time anyone could get a job assuming they made some kind of minimal effort. It's almost [but not quite] as bad as law school now, and I'm starting to wonder if it will get to the point where a good number of the grads never end up actually working in the field. A lot of doors slam shut for people who either don't have a job lined up before graduation or end up losing their job before getting more than 2-3 years of experience.
I actually do have a CPA and have been unemployed for over two years. I'm hoping to find some seasonal work and will probably need to relocate to find anything permanent, but unlike younger people I can't just up and move, it's going to take several months and a lot of luck as far as selling property.
That is a big thing older career changers need to think about, how mobile they are if they need to move in order to find work--they tend to have way more responsibilities and other things that can make it difficult to move.
Wait a minute! You have a CPA and you are unemployed? How can that be? I thought the accounting profession (especially CPA) was a guaranteed ticket to a job especially if you have work experience on top of it.
Wait a minute! You have a CPA and you are unemployed? How can that be? I thought the accounting profession (especially CPA) was a guaranteed ticket to a job especially if you have work experience on top of it.
there are many reasons why a cpa even an experienced cpa could be unemployed, in any economy, good or bad. No field is booming now, there are plenty of examples of people in all fields getting layed off and having a hard time getting rehired. Recent grads in all fields are also having trouble finding their first job, but to an extent this was always the case. If u have an accounting degree and or cpa your odds are still better than most for finding a job and eventual career, and one that pays well. If u disagree go get an english or anthropology degree and start applying for corporate jobs
Wait a minute! You have a CPA and you are unemployed? How can that be? I thought the accounting profession (especially CPA) was a guaranteed ticket to a job especially if you have work experience on top of it.
I have one year of experience with a Big 4. I was let go after the first year, but was able to meet all the requirements to be licensed in my state. I couldn't afford to stay in the city where I had worked and had to move to another city that has high unemployment.
Without at least three to five years of experience, the CPA doesn't add a lot of value. I have been able to get interviews I might not have gotten without it, but have been told point blank that I just don't have enough experience.
Even though I do have a year of Big 4 tax experience that particular market was very specialized to a certain industry and most of the work I did just isn't all that relevant anywhere else. I have also been turned down for jobs in industry because for whatever reason they assume I will want to go back to a CPA firm once the economy rebounds.
I've found that a lot of employers actually don't have a lot of understanding of career progression in accounting or the role public accounting usually plays in a person's career long-term. I also think most firms would prefer to work with a traditional college age person--they can mold them to their way of doing things, also a younger person is more willing to sacrifice personal time.
I've never actually practiced public accounting since I was already unemployed by the time everything was completed. Not really certain if I will ever actually practice--hoping to move in 2012 but I'm probably not going to focus on accounting firms and hope to get a start in industry.
I would trade the license for an additional couple of years of experience.
one thing to bear in mind is that a large number of accounting services can be done by a computer (or overseas), with minimal human input.
and yes, I know that leaves other work (ala auditing) but if you have a tens of thousands people leaving Tax for Audit, you will see those jobs start to pay less too.
There are now too many of us chasing a few high paying jobs, and those jobs get less every year.
one thing to bear in mind is that a large number of accounting services can be done by a computer (or overseas), with minimal human input.
and yes, I know that leaves other work (ala auditing) but if you have a tens of thousands people leaving Tax for Audit, you will see those jobs start to pay less too.
There are now too many of us chasing a few high paying jobs, and those jobs get less every year.
Accounting is becoming judgment based now so it'll never be taken over by computers IMO.
Accounting is becoming judgment based now so it'll never be taken over by computers IMO.
It has always been judgement based. The term "creative accounting" is nothing new.
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