[Tcohle]

I had a summer job throughout college for 5 years. Then when I graduated I took this industry job just to get experience (been here for about 2 years). Now that I’m deep into studying/on the path to becoming a CPA, I need to find a job that has a CPA I can work under. Also, I’m horribly underpaid.

Well I can’t find any public firms willing to hire! It’s not that I have a terrible resume, I just didn’t have an internship so maybe I’m not as valuable to them.

I am waiting to hear from a public firm I just had an interview with. I turned down one job because they didn’t have a CPA. There’s another place I interviewed with and I’m 99% sure they’ll make me an offer.

It’s a Fortune 500 Maintenance company. Like, top 150 in revenue I think. I do like the environment, and they have CPAs, but what if I work there for 2-3 years, get my CPA, and move to a public firm like I planned? Would I be considered a job jumper?

**I will say this. When I say I’m underpaid, I mean at this new job I’ll be making potentially 20-25K more/year with better benefits.Plus I’ll be able to move out of my parents’ house

AUD - 84
BEC - 75
FAR - 76
REG - 87

Ninja Notes/MCQ/Book/Audio for all

FAR- 5/11/15 76!!
AUD-10/31/15 63, 84!
REG-7/12/16 72
BEC-8/31/15 75!! Perfect Score!

Wiley CPAExcel Platinum
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[Zuly]

I found this article and according to this 3.2 years is about the median age for 25 to 34….not sure how old you are but I'm assuming you fall under this group? Anyway, I think you'll be fine if you decide to go that route.

Average Length of Time at a Job

How long does a typical employee stay at a job? The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer is currently 4.6 years, according to an Economic News Release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, that varies by age and occupation:

The median tenure for workers age 25 to 34 is 3.2 years

The median tenure for employees age 65 and over is 10.3 years

Workers in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median tenure (5.5 years)

Workers in service occupations had the lowest median tenure (3.2 years)

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[Tcohle]

Yep! I turn 25 in August so I'm right in there. And this is a good company, but it's a Maintenance company. I don't know if it's ego, but I always pictured myself working for a CPA firm.

AUD - 84
BEC - 75
FAR - 76
REG - 87

Ninja Notes/MCQ/Book/Audio for all

FAR- 5/11/15 76!!
AUD-10/31/15 63, 84!
REG-7/12/16 72
BEC-8/31/15 75!! Perfect Score!

Wiley CPAExcel Platinum
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[Anonymous]

I think you are fine. To me, a job jumper is a person who has a string of positions with different companies that lasted less than a year. It's an established pattern. No one is going to brand you with that label for leaving your first job after 2 years.

It also depends on the industry and the company. Some industries have high turnover because of changes in relevant tech, competition, risk tolerance, etc. Some companies spend a greater proportion of their opex budget on training and, thus, expect you to stick around long enough to make it worth their while. Some are looking for someone to groom for a leadership role and may discount you if it looks like you don't want to be in the same place for very long. You just need to have a good sense of where the companies you're looking at stand on these issues.

[Tcohle]

@casey well I was more thinking going to the possible Maintenance company accounting job. I want to go there because of the potential salary bump and to work under a CPA until I get my license. But after that I'll probably want something else. That may be 2-3 years down the road though. So I guess that wouldn't really be job jumping

AUD - 84
BEC - 75
FAR - 76
REG - 87

Ninja Notes/MCQ/Book/Audio for all

FAR- 5/11/15 76!!
AUD-10/31/15 63, 84!
REG-7/12/16 72
BEC-8/31/15 75!! Perfect Score!

Wiley CPAExcel Platinum
Ninja 10 pt combo for FAR/AUD/BEC

[Anonymous]

I think you're waaaay overthinking something that may or may not happen waaaaay in the future. Who knows what could happen in three years? If you're underpaid and can't get the experience you need where you are, move. If you're really underpaid by that much, in those 2-3 years, you'll still have another $40k+ in the bank, which is worth a lot more than a few more years at a crappy job on your resume.

[Zuly]

I'm not sure about working for the Big 4 or anything like that since I don't have a lot of experience with that but I'm sure you can try for a smaller CPA firm in the next few years…again, no experience trying to get a job in a CPA firm but I would definitely continue to do some research. Personally, I started my accounting career later in life…30 at the time so I went straight into industry and love it. I currently work under a CPA and have learned a ton + studying for the exam. In NC you don't have to work directly under a CPA…you can either work one year under a CPA or 4 years of accounting experience, which is kind of nice.

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[jeff]

No employer (that you would want to work for) would fault you for moving up every 2 years or so to better opportunities.

As long as you're not leaving every 6 months and can articulate why you left each job and how you have added value at each stop, it's not a big deal.

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[jbisdamon]

Second what Jeff said. Also, one other point.. If you're going to get a 30k pay raise, hard not to do that and no one could blame you. However, if you think you'd want to go to public after 3 years at that job.. I'd probably reconsider that.. Just because normally if you don't have public experience, your private accounting experience doesn't really translate to public (in what I've seen in my public career at least).. I'd bet you'd have to start as a staff.. And if you were almost 30 around that point that's not the most fun thing to do.. Just a Thought.

BEC - 76 7/22/14
AUD - 84 8/30/14
REG - 75 10/16/14
FAR - 87 11/24/14

[Tuffy11111]

If you're at 2 years now, I'd probably do 3 years at your next gig. You would be in good shape if you did that. I've heard my company's controller throw out resumes on people that do 2 years at each spot and then leave. But the examples I can think of were all 10+ years of the repetitive behavior though.

BEC - 83 7/25
REG - 76 5/2/15
AUD - Hopefully before MY Audit...7/5?
FAR - 83 5/2/16

[fuzyfro89]

“No employer (that you would want to work for) would fault you for moving up every 2 years or so to better opportunities.

As long as you're not leaving every 6 months and can articulate why you left each job and how you have added value at each stop, it's not a big deal.”

I fully agree with this.

Over a long period of time, there needs to be a semblance of logic in your career. Everyone will at some point get into a company/job that they realize very quickly is not a good fit. Don't stay in order to satisfy some archaic “rule” knowing you can't commit and aren't doing your best because you are unhappy. For every job change, put yourself in the seat of a future recruiter at a different company in 12-24 months. Can you understand why you made a change? Did you advance in pay/title/responsibility? It's no secret that we aren't volunteers… we exchange our time for compensation in varying degrees for each of us. Moving to a new position for a 20k+ raise is a very smart move.

Picture yourself in 1-2 yrs after taking a new job. “I left company A because I needed to work under a CPA to meet my experience requirements.” You can choose to leave out the 20k raise, even though the background check will show that eventually. it's all about framing things in the best way. “I'm looking to leave company B after 18 months, because I feel that I would advance my skills and build a stronger foundation by joining a public accounting firm.”

No one would take either of the two situations above and be confused and label you a job hopper. You recognized a weakness in your current skill set, and found a way to fill in those gaps. What you want to avoid is too many lateral moves without a clear rationale. It makes you seem like you can't succeed in a new environment… multiple times. If you have 5 different jobs in 5 years and still feel that you're missing something… chances are, you are at least partly to blame for not making wiser choices and really thinking critically about each move. Early in your career, say in the first 5 years, you get slightly more leeway in making moves. Just don't make it a habit and move around without advancing often.

[jbarwick]

I have had 3 jobs since Jan. 2011. Moved for one job and was poached for another. At the 2 year mark, most recruiters start heavily looking at you and while I wasn't looking, the opportunity arose and I took it. It was about a week from initial contact, to 2 interviews and a job offer which is really fast.

Journey Started - January 2015
FAR - 4/2015 - Passed
AUD - 7/2015 - Passed
BEC - 8/2015 - Passed
REG - 11/12/2015 - Passed

[ScarletKnightCPA]

If it ever becomes an issue you'll stop jumping jobs because no one will hire you until you been at your current job long enough for employers to start looking at you again. The job jumping problem solves itself.

Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

MBA in progress

[Tcohle]

@jbisdamon. So if I had an offer at a small CPA firm starting at 40k that would be better than in an industry at 50 ish K?.

The industry job has wayyy better benefits, but the ultimate goal is public accounting. The cpa firm has health benefits, 401k, time off, but no dental, vision, etc.

AUD - 84
BEC - 75
FAR - 76
REG - 87

Ninja Notes/MCQ/Book/Audio for all

FAR- 5/11/15 76!!
AUD-10/31/15 63, 84!
REG-7/12/16 72
BEC-8/31/15 75!! Perfect Score!

Wiley CPAExcel Platinum
Ninja 10 pt combo for FAR/AUD/BEC

[jbisdamon]

It's tough to take a 10k less salary… If I were you, and the goal in the end was public accounting.. I would probably try and negotiate a little higher salary there and take that.. Just because private experience won't really let you start at a higher position in public.. So say you went to private and started at 50k and in two-three years were over 60k.. Starting as a public staff at 40-45k would be even more difficult.. Also.. Public accounting can sound great until you get into it. I happen to really enjoy it, but I think a lot of that has to do with the firm I am with. I love the firm, and they are great to their employees, I don't know if i could be as satisfied at other firms.. So it would suck to have 7 years of private experience, go to public, then realize you hated it. Just another thought.. Another thing to consider would be what kind of track will you be on in the public firm. Sometimes smaller firms hire and you aren't on the partner track. If this is something you know you want, keep that in mind as well. I wouldn't come right out and say it in an interview but it is something you can get a feel for through working there, evaluations, etc. I think you'll be fine either way, but I do think if you want to go to public, the earlier the better. It's hard to hire partner track staff if they start later (in my experience) but it happens. I think either way you'll end up fine though. Good accountants are always in demand.

BEC - 76 7/22/14
AUD - 84 8/30/14
REG - 75 10/16/14
FAR - 87 11/24/14

[Tcohle]

Just to update everyone, I got an offer for a small public accounting firm, does mostly nfp and gov't. It's starting at 40k but there's legit room for growth and bonuses at year end. Also, the longest work weeks they have during the year max out at 50 hrs. The city I'm in doesn't have an extremely high COL. It's central PA. But it allows me to work under a CPA (check), work in public accounting (check), and although not much, it's a pay bump from my job now (check).

AUD - 84
BEC - 75
FAR - 76
REG - 87

Ninja Notes/MCQ/Book/Audio for all

FAR- 5/11/15 76!!
AUD-10/31/15 63, 84!
REG-7/12/16 72
BEC-8/31/15 75!! Perfect Score!

Wiley CPAExcel Platinum
Ninja 10 pt combo for FAR/AUD/BEC

[Author]

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