[GoVPI]

Its frustrating when you are looking at jobs and it says:

Bachelors in Accounting

1-3 years experience

CPA or CPA candidate

Maybe it is just me, but entry level to me is 0 years experience. Is there a general rule that you used when applying to your first jobs? I have 6 months in an accounting internship and hopefully by the time i graduate in December I will have passed 2 of the 4 exams. Would it be reasonable to apply to positions that require 1-3 years experience even though they are considered “entry level”? Do you have a similar experience?

I have been looking around on career builder and indeed.

Thanks

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BEC 8/14/14 - Passed
Graduated from college 12/13/14
AUD 8/31/15 - 74. Retake - Passed
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[funtiks]

apply for those anyway

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AFTER 3 YEARS I'M DONE!!!

[Mayo]

It's a competitive job market. I say apply for it and forget about it immediately.

Two things can happen:

1.) A large number of applicants apply, and the company filters out the ones with the best qualifications in order to work with a reasonable number. Meaning anyone with less than a year of experience is ignored.

2.) A small or moderate amount of applications are completed, giving you a better chance to stand out and possibly be chosen for an interview.

Just apply and see what happens.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[mla1169]

Remember generally the person looking at and filtering out resumes is an HR person who does a very cursory review of the resume before deciding whether or not to forward it. Most jobs I've had in my life had requirements that I didn't meet but I ended up with an offer.

Have a great cover letter, that will get attention and get you to the next person to see the resume, who may very well see 6 months experience and think you fit the bill.

That said, as Mayo mentioned its a competitive market so even if you've got 3 years experience, your CPA and a masters it doesn't make you the best candidate for the job.

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Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[fuzyfro89]

Just be sure you're in the ballpark.

If it's entry level, it means zero experience, just graduated (or graduating soon).

If it's experienced, it means you've held a full-time job that is related to what you're applying for (i.e. working full-time at McDonalds doesn't qualify you to apply for an experienced audit associate).

The distinction between entry level/experienced is easy… but it gets much more gray once you get into experienced job postings which have requirements, preferred qualifications, recommended, wish list, etc. At that point, I say if you meet 2/3 of the bullets, then go for it.

[taxgeek83]

For what it's worth, I wasn't qualified for the last two jobs I applied for – the most recent by a long shot – and I ended up getting both. Many employers will put you on a training assignment until you either prove your competency or meet the minimum qualifications.

Aside from that, what's the worst that can happen? They tell you no, and you keep hunting. Same result as if you had never applied in the first place.

[UHC2005]

taxgeek is right, the worst thing that they can say is no. ;o)

Using Ninja MCQ, NINJA Notes, Audio, Flashcards and BLITZ, and 2014 Wiley Text

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Accountant, what is best in life? To crush your MCQs, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their SIMS!

[Anonymous]

Apply anyways–if they are that strict about it, they'll weed you out and not interview you. Usually they post that to keep people from applying so they don't have to weed through a lot of resumes, but it couldn't hurt to throw yours in the hat and see what happens. you may be surprised at how lenient some companies are if they get a good resume in their hand even without the relevant experience.

[tomq04]

rule #1 when applying for jobs:

apply for the jobs.

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[Author]

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