How are you enjoying your first jobs out of college?

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  • #172645
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    started as a staff accountant a few months after graduating from undergrad. it’s been about 10 months so far — i have survived my first busy season which, to be honest, wasn’t that bad.

    i’m starting to realize i don’t like my job — i’m not sure if it’s my actual job itself or if it’s the entire accounting industry. i’ve been stressed out a lot lately — being frustrated at work, and also with the fact that i barely have any leisure time since i’m studying for the cpa.

    i’ve been thinking a lot about what other types of jobs there are out there…i’d gladly take a lower pay for more job satisfaction and less stress. it’s just not worth it for me to stress myself out for this job, or any stressful job. i’d still like to pursue the cpa, although i’m sure some would advise against it if it’s not going to help me. but i don’t know what other type of work i can do with a business degree.

    sigh…how are you guys liking your first jobs? i hear most people dislike their first jobs out of college. maybe it’s because we’re young and eager to get a job so instead of taking the time to find a good “fit”, we just go with whatever offer we get first.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 28 total)
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  • #356939
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    staff accountant at a firm doing audit / tax / mixture?

    i do audit, im slightly ahead of you with all exams done. I feel very much the same. Currently looking for something that is only slightly related to accounting but still the CPA designation can help land the job.. like FBI agent maybe.

    #356940
    Resacups
    Member

    I have been at my firm 13 months now. I want to do tax exclusively, but I am required to be multi-disciplined where I am. I am ready to make a move but don't want to do so until I get my designation. I certainly plan on that being in October.

    The catch 22 at a smaller mid-size firm like the one I work for is that excelling is a double edged sword. I am requested by every senior and get stressed because my schedule never affords a minute of down time and I see the other staff complaining they never have any work. It's great to be valued, but letting me get burned out because my schedule still resembles a busy season schedule has let me to start looking.

    @cannotpassagain, I think I started to become unhappy around 9 months. Maybe it's like the 7 year itch in marriage.

    BEC: 01/09/12 PASSED
    AUD: 05/29/12 PASSED
    REG: 07/19/12 PASSED
    FAR: 11/12/12 PASSED

    #356941
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Same situation over here. I work at a small/midsize firm.. been there about a year now. I don't think its nearly as bad as a big 4 firm and i think being able to do tax/audit work on every engagement really gives me a broader perspective. With that being said I have thought about xering to a big 4 for a little bit after i complete the CPA to build up my resume but thats still very iffy. I haven't passed an exam yet but ive only taken one. I def will say that I will not be on the partner track but at the same time I think being in public accounting for a few years is extremely useful. Think about how much you have learned in the past year and think about how much you will learn in the next couple (if you stay). The nice thing to me is that there is alot of freedom (outside of busy season). All i can say is do you. If your not happy, then go try something else. You can always go back to public accounting.

    #356942
    GoGoGadget
    Member

    Hmm I enjoy my job for the most part…I work at a Big 4 firm and I relate to what Resacups is saying in the above post to a degree. I actually got a 2 (exceeds expectations) my first year (8 months with the firm), which was awesome because everyone told us that no first year ever got better than a 3 (b/c you haven't been there long enough yadda, yadda, yadda).

    I was pretty excited about it, but now I'm being requested on a lot of different engagements and I have senior managers/managers reaching out to me to help them with tasks. Like Resa said, I'd rather be valued/liked than not, but it can actually be more stressful. Additionally, now I have to worry about going downhill…now if I do anything worse than a 2 next year, it'll be like I took a giant step back. I'm not sure if anyone else has had this experience.

    I think I'll probably do my 5 years in public accounting and then ship out.

    #356943

    Wow, did I write this post? I feel the same way as most. I am coming up on my first year in public accounting at a medium size firm. We have had our audit manager, who basically kept the place together, leave and turnover rates and high, though we can't seem to hire anyone.

    I get paid a measly $20 an hour and cant justify asking for more since my employment is on the condition that I pass the exam….which they are not paying any part of. The best part is that I actually get overtime, and its usually up to 50 hours a week. I completely agree with the statement that I jumped into it because I was just happy to have an offer.

    Lately I just feel like it's a joke. I dress in a suit and tell people who make way more than I do how to do their jobs. Even the people in HR at our clients make more than I do. Payroll testing is depressing. It doesn't help that my boyfriend, who is a lending officer at a community bank, makes way more than me, gets better benefits, and is off work at 5 pm everyday (and especially doesn't have to take a grueling exam). In fact, most of my friends have better jobs than I do.

    The perks are that the people I work with can be cool, though my manager is unorganized and lazy and I have to pick up constant slack, we can have beer in the office as long as the boss isn't around, and nobody really micromanages as long as you have your work done.

    I can definitely see where you're coming from @cannotpass, sometimes I wonder why I even went this route, I've never particularly liked it. Some people are actually passionate about it.

    I just want to get my exam out of the way and get enough experience under a CPA so I can move onto something where I can use it and not be a total slave.

    blahblahblah young adult angst rantings

    B 71 - 79 EXPIRED
    A 69 - 75 EXPIRED
    R 65 - 48 - 45
    F 56 - 61 - 65 - 64

    Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Wiley Text and Ninja Notes

    "The fish who keeps on swimming is the first to chill upstream" -311

    Experience - Done, like WAAAY done.
    Still need 30 more credits, in basket weaving (gotta love new CA requirements)

    #356944
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    oh come onnnnnnn! :'(

    The only good thing about my job is the smooothie place and the buffalo chicken wraps..Everyone is >50 and they all make way more than me :”(, yet they still complain about the budget…lol…I CANNOT wait to find a job in public accounting….

    #356945
    jenuno01
    Member

    I love this thread! I graduated in December of 2010 and have been at my for 2 years now (I was hired before graduating). I am an Internal Auditor at a Fortune 500. I like it so far… I am getting good experience, good benefits, the stress level is low, but the pay is not good at all… I am making about $23 an hour (no overtime, ugh). I get to plan and perform audits on my own, and yes, I too tell people who make more than me how to do their job lol. The experience I am gaining is excellent, I create my audit programs from scratch and am giving a lot of projects that would normally be handled by Seniors. I can totally relate to how excelling at your job can be a double-edged sword, it's definitely satisfying, but it creates a questionably valuable level of stress.

    I haven't decided if I want to do Public or not? I'd like to go back into banking someday. Since this thread is aimed at more recent grads, how much are ya'll making?

    Class of 2012

    #356946
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @Awkward you should totally do it! i've thought about being an FBI agent, too. unfortunately i don't think i would pass the background check. i hear the FBi even come talk to your neighbors as part of the bg check. i've also thought about being an IRS “special” agent — it's pretty much an IRS agent except instead of auditing individuals you audit small businesses…and of course, they send you to Virginia for combat/gun training and you get to carry around a gun. plus, the pay is good, hours are great, and you get to carry around a gun!

    i've also been talking to other people who started in accounting and chose to dive into other fields. this guy, 27, worked about a year in accounting and hated it. he learned excel macro programming and now works as a business/financial analyst and makes $90k/year. he says he mostly works with excel — he passed 3/4 CPA exams but decided not to pursue it as it would not help him in his current job. the location is in San Francisco, and he doesn't have a masters. but, he did go to University of Chicago, which i believe is a pretty prestigious school?

    i'm just trying to jog some ideas as to what other opportunities are out there!

    #356947
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I really want to start my own business (not in acccounting) and in another country…Dreams…dreams…

    #356948
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @jenuno01 one of the biggest complaints i have is that i don't feel like i'm learning much anymore. the reason why i said busy season wasn't so bad is because i always had a bunch of work to do, and being staff i, i got all the easy returns piled up for me so i could just literally sit at my desk for 12 hours straight with my cup of coffee and church out those returns.

    now that it's the summer time, i'm getting a lot of projects that were extended — and probably for a good reason. i feel like the complexity of these projects are way over my head — to the point where it's frustrating and i'm simply not learning anything anymore. i'm also afraid to ask questions because i feel dumb for asking the sort of questions i'm asking. sometimes, it's so frustrating because i don't even know what are the questions to ask lol.

    i don't mind the extra hours…i'm one of the earliest person to the office and one of the last to leave. if i were in your position, i wouldn't mind it, as long as i'm learning something. i just don't want a year to go by and me regretting, “wow i barely learned anything. i should have moved to another firm/industry where i could've gained much more in that 1 years time”

    #356949
    Keely
    Member

    I am starting as a staff in a public firm in September, and this post makes me really sad. For people, some who have Masters degrees, passed a really hard exam, and have to put in long hours, it seems like the pay is crap. Why is this? For a long time I've wondered if I made the right choice going into accounting, and it just seems like the benefits are really outweighed by the drawbacks. Why do people do it? To put in their couple years and get out? Are the opportunities really plentiful if you slave in public accounting for a few years then go private? I can't make any judgments because I haven't even started my job yet…but it just seems most people are unhappy. I am starting out at $53,000, but that's in the DC area, which is basically $40K where I'm moving away from. I get a $1000 raise when I get my license. Maybe I'm disillusioned but I thought the pay would be better than this. And I constantly hear about people looking for public accounting jobs who can't even get a call back. So is this really a good career path or not?

    BEC: (4/2012) 88
    AUD: (5/2012) 91
    REG: (8/2012) 82
    FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

    VA CPA #42010

    #356950
    rachenyc
    Member

    For those that aren't happy in public (or don't think they will be long term), I work in forensic accounting and I actually love the work I do. I started out in public at a Big 4 firm and left after 2 1/2 years. I should have had my CPA before making the switch but I didn't–they hired me anyway. Today my first won't look at a resume without a CPA but I've been here over six years. I decided that I want to eventually move firms so need my CPA (I also have a CFE—Certified Fraud Examiner). I'd suggest looking into the field—I was so bored with busy season and audits—now I work on bankruptcies and accounting investigations.

    FARE--78
    AUDIT--88
    REG--81
    BEC--75

    DONE!!!!

    #356951
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @rachenyc sounds interesting. do elaborate. what other types of people/businesses need forensic accounting? what types of services do you actually offer?

    how are the hours? pay?

    do they encourage other licenses?

    #356952
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @keelydare1 don't be detered by my negative thoughts. opportunities are plenty if you stick with public accounting or private. if i stay in accounting, i definitely want to venture out of tax — as i feel tax is much more narrow in terms of job opportunities. even though i like tax and it's a very stable and fairly lucrative, i don't want to be pigeon-holed into it.

    ..and although i'm not entirely comfortable working in a room with the same people for weeks on end, i'm going to push myself out of the comfort zone and try to get more experience in audit. i hear audit provides more of the opportunities i would be interested in later down the line

    #356953
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @keelydare1

    The pay is a result of college not preparing or representing the actual job at all. In essence you know nothing of the job and need full training and are treated as a liability. From what I can tell the pay jobs by a lot after 3-5 years when you are viewed as an asset and no longer a liability. From maybe 55k at year 2 to 80k at year 4.

    As for opportunities – large firms, especially Big 4 like to really advertise the success of their successful alumni (notice every firm with a wiki also says “notable past employees”). However, the people leaving and finding success are a fraction. Most people leave to some small firm or manager of payables or receivables or some other less glorious job. The reason they do this is so naive newly grads join the ranks and work like mules thinking they'll be like Johnson who is now CFO of X company making 500k/year. In reality a vast majority will be like Smith who left to be controller of a small company making 70k a year.

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