[IERiv]

Okay, so I know it may sound like I’m being whiney and all, but I just started at a public accounting firm about a month ago and I already hate it. The job started with a week training crash course, then I was immediately assigned to a client. The worst part is my engagement team is AWFUL, which may be the reason I hate the job so much. They have no personality and my senior is constantly stopping me in the middle of me doing one assignment, and laying another one on me. It makes me feel completely overwhelmed. It’s not even busy season yet which is the crazy part! But anyways, my days involve my team of about 4, sitting in a cramped conference room for 8 hours a day churning out work. There’s hardly any conversation, and we’re not allowed to listen to music as we don’t want to give a bad look to the client. So I spend most of the time in silence with only the sound of rapid typing of my team to provide background noise. My coworkers lack personality and it shows as we have no type of chemistry. I am seriously regretting ever taking this job, and have considered leaving as soon as I can. I know some people say just to tough it out for a few years while I get my cpa, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth being miserable. I actually am thinking about a career change as I don’t think the sedimentary life style that comes with accounting fits me. I consider myself much more active and high energy which is why I have started applying to police departments. In college I worked for my school’s department and actually sparked an interest in the field. Sorry for the rambling, but if you made it this far I’d appreciate to hear what you think.

[mrap]

Is Your rest of season filled with the same client, the same people etc?
Is this Your first job ever or You changed from another job? When I left public, my first months in private where the same – I thought I will hate it, but I gave it a time and now I can't even imagine going back to public. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be harsh on some people, it was for me, as I am a more conservative meaning I don't like rapid and significant changes, but I got used to it.

Don't be too rush to judge a job and that You hate it, just because of couple of dimwits. What I can suggest in this situation is:
– if you have other clients and other people to work with, give it a try because couple of people do not say anything about the job or company
– If you are being delegated tasks without finishing the previous, this is normal in public, I'd suggest asking, which one is more priority, whether all tasks have to be finished by Friday for example, this teaches communication from your side too, no one's gonna feed you with a spoon

[Anonymous]

welcome to the club. Everyone hates their job. If you enjoyed doing it, you'd be paying to do so, not the other way around. Take your two-three years in public – learn as much as you can, then get out…

[TommyTheCat]

give it some time. sounds like your team on this one client suck, but maybe they'll warm up over time or at least you can work with other people on different teams down the road.

work can totally suck sometimes, thats why they pay you to show up the next day.

AUD - 85
BEC - 89
FAR - 91
REG - 97

[Ana]

this post brought back memories of the first month. my stomach was hurting so much from nerves and being overwhelmed that I thought I had appendicitis. Give it a bit more time before you quit. It's too soon to make that decision. Thankfully we were allowed to listen to music, I went through a decade of This American Life podcasts while being an auditor. Hang in there.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[r00shine]

Yea like others have said, it seems like you have a bad taste in your mouth because your first client/team is awful but you will have other teams/clients. My first client was just me and another girl sitting in a room barely talking. My next client was a team of about 6 and everyone joked around all the time, went out to happy hours, hung out every now and then, played office basketball, etc. So yea, it wont be this way forever.

AUD - 83
BEC - 80
FAR - 77
REG - 81

Oh Hi There

[Recked]

Don't let one experience, one job, or one client/team make you throw away all your work/schooling/degree.
I know a number of people who did this. If you don't like audit, try tax. If you don't like tax try consulting. If that doesn't work out try and become an IRS special agent. A combination of accounting and police work. Don't throw it all away over one bad experience.

Memento Mori - Kingston NY CPA & EA (SUNY Albany 2002)

FAR-93 11/9/17 (10wks, 250 hrs, Roger 1800+ MCQs, Gleim TB 600+MCQs, SIMs)
AUD-88 12/7/17 (3 wks, 85 hrs, Roger 1000 MCQs no SIMs hail mary)
REG-96 1/18/18 (6 wks, 110 hrs, 1400 MCQs, no SIMs)
BEC-91 2/16/18 (4wks, 90 hrs, 1240 MCQs)

[IERiv]

Hey guys, appreciate the feedback. But to clarify a few things, I'm scheduled on this client for at least the next week and a half and all throughout busy season (starting January). I'm trying to take it day by day but more and more I feel like this isn't for me. As for the IRS special agent, I am actually interested in that, in fact that's the reason I got into accounting in the first place. Unfortunately I have no idea where to start for a career like that. I'm still going through the process with police departments, and we'll see if I can get in. If not I'll just see where this takes me.

[mrap]

@IERiv
1) Well, I would still advise to stick it out, at least for the year end evaluation. Never judge the people You work with just because they are not talkative. I have been in situations like this in public too, sucked it up, did my job at good as possible and got good evaluations, on the other hand those so-called “friendly” teams turned out to be back biting a-holes. As long as they don't attack you as a person and judge only by your professional performance, you're in the safe zone. Of course, things can get ugly and someone can start to attack you as a person, well, that will potentially be time to leave.

2) About the delegation thing – You will also have to learn prioritize the jobs you are given, thats gonna be like that at every place that you will have many tasks assigned and you will need to prioritize, say sometimes no, etc. It's all part of learning professional communication, how to defend yourself profesiionally, not letting anyone to just pile everything on you.

3) Don't get me wrong – it's not always sunshine for anyone of us, I recently changed from public to private, and while I have somewhat friendly relationships with colleagues and my manager, I still see some problems coming up in the overall culture of the firm, and the people there (especially the manager, who was also in public some time ago and still insists on the audit type of work style (huge overtime, taking on every possible work, etc). As long as no one attacks me as a person, I am content, getting out of the on the job learning as much as possible, will try to stick it out for at least a year, so that I don't seem like a job hopper (my current company is a rapidly changing and growing company, so 1,5-2 years is the average tenure and it doesnt even surpise anyone, some even say that 1 year in my company is comparable to 2 years in a more stable company), get the knowledge, and take it further.

[mylifeisover]

Stick it out a little longer. The fact that you made it this far says a lot about you. I know people who have quit and switch careers much sooner than you.

ROAD TO CPA

AUD - 59, 73, 86
BEC - 72
FAR -
REG -

[PTBP2018]

@IERiv Yikes. I think that the worst part of your initial post is that you cannot listen to music or podcasts. My headphones are part of what makes my job wonderful and tolerable when days aren't so great. I think it's strange that they think that…no music…would pose a negative appearance.

I hated my first accounting job too. I broke into accounting when I was 32 after finishing my masters, so I already had experience working in another (way more social) environment. My boss was a condescending sociopath that didn't want to train me. I was afraid of him. He liked…disappearing for most of the day, while I became less and less confident…and way more nervous. It was really sad. He really destroyed me. He would ask me things like, “Do you really think you chose the right field?” and would basically call me stupid, in so many words. This was a big change, since I had always been a work-a-holic…and always received exceptional employee reviews. SO…I left. I spent 10 years of my life at that company, and only lasted 4 months in its accounting department.

I found a new job. I worked for a tiny company (12 people) where I did the accounting and financial analysis for 4 tech-based startups. One of my clients was on Shark Tank after I started with them – they blew up. I loved it! I worked a million hours, but loved every minute of it. I moved out of state for my husband's new job, and they allowed me to work from home – using video conferencing and what not. After awhile, I realized I hadn't really met any people in the new state that I was living in. It was a bit lonely working from home. I left – on good terms.

Now, I work at a mid-sized CPA firm. The experience that I got from working with tiny companies really helped me, and starting at a new company was a cinch. I like my job a lot. So…moral of the story…

You just need to get on the right bus AND in the right seat. It takes some trial and error, but be patient. You will find it with experience and time!

AUD - 80
BEC - 84
FAR - 83
REG - 75

 

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." --Dale Carnegie

[August]

“As for the IRS special agent, I am actually interested in that, in fact that's the reason I got into accounting in the first place. Unfortunately I have no idea where to start for a career like that.”

IRS has been under a hiring freeze for a while but Special Agent jobs get posted at http://www.usajobs.gov . Another option you might want to consider is either Special Agent or Forensic Accountant at the FBI. Go to http://www.fbijobs.gov to apply for those positions.

[Author]

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