[Anonymous]

So I’m 3.5 years out of school and feel like my career has gone nowhere in that time. Not in the “I’m not a manager yet” way, but in the, “I-don’t-have-enough-career-development” way. I have a masters and just finished the CPA but feel like I’m WAY behind.

I started at a small company as a staff accountant which was pretty good. I made reasonable money and learned a bunch, but it was an accounting department of 2 and there was nowhere to grow. They knew this when hiring me so after a bit over 2 years I moved to Chicago and found a role as a property accountant. I feel like this was a huge mistake. Everything here is fragmented tasks and I don’t feel like I’m learning anything marketable or to further my career. Worst of all, I took a bit of a pay-cut and it’s hitting harder than expected.

This is some rambling and sorta describes where my head is right now…

I’ve been casually trying to figure out what to do for a few months and I’m totally lost on what I should do. I thought about going public accounting in a top-15 firm which I think would be a safe route but I don’t think I’ll particularly like it. I’ve contemplated looking for something along the lines of business valuation but I don’t have any relevant experience and don’t really want to be at the bottom level for another 3-4 years. I’ve tossed around the idea of just going to a different company and trying to get a job as a senior accountant because that’s probably the only way I’ll get a decent raise, but I find myself questioning whether I’m ready to be a senior accountant. To complicate the situation, I would love to move to the west coast and away from this Chicago weather, but it’d be hard finding someone to hire someone from out of state.

To summarize all that, I don’t see any real advancement or development at my current job and want to find something where I can actually think and develop some skills that are marketable. I have no idea how to figure out which path to pursue, though. Does anybody have any advice at all?