[Anonymous]

On the whole, college recruiting didn’t work out. Mostly because I have more than 10 years experience in a complementary field. I should never have stopped working to go back to school. I even moved out of NYC and then ended up moving back. I am working now as a corporate trainer but the position is not permanent.

I have had some conversations but they never end up panning out. The people usually don’t return my calls. I have thought about H&R Block as well, but the reputation of the company is not that great as they give out those high interest loans.

What do I do? I am very scared. I have passed FAR so far and I took AUD today which seemed to go better than FAR.

[ultrarunner]

@ems215, I have more than 10 years experience as well. Having experience can be a good thing. There is another recruiting opportunity in spring. Some small firms start recruiting right now. Please keep trying and see how it goes. All the best.

CPA/ MST/ Roger CPA Review

FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

[GAPilot715]

Maybe there is something here I am missing. Accounting jobs are a dime a dozen in most large cities. I'm not completely familiar with NYC, but I would think there would be plenty of opportunities.

I spent 6 years full-time in another profession while I worked my way through college. I still had to apply to many jobs and prove my worth in interviews, even with a 4.0 GPA and a Masters in Accounting. Make sure your resume is good, not just what you think is good, have others look at it. Maybe seek out a recruiter/headhunter. To some degree it's a numbers game. Put out as many applications as you can. When I was looking for a job, it was almost a full-time job applying for positions. I sent out tons of applications and resumes and many I never heard anything back. Most don't even get seen by a human nowadays.

You say some of the conversations never end up panning out. Is there a reason? Do they indicate why? How are your interview skills? How well are you at showcasing your strengths in an interview?

You may be doing some things right or you many need to rethink your strategy some. I know it isn't easy applying for and trying to find a job. But don't let a few dead ends discourage you from keeping the ball rolling on this. Best of luck to you!

Licensed CPA

 

FAR - 92

AUD - 92

REG - 86

BEC - 91

 

[mad max]

I work in the NYC area; there are plenty of jobs (for corporate/senior level at least) around here.
Depends on what you're looking for, how much salary you require, and if your experience will be an asset to the position. With that said, there are definitely tons of accounting jobs around here! Good luck.

AUD - 82
BEC - 90
FAR - 90
REG - 86

Four for four. Licensed in NJ as of 10/18/17

[MaLoTu]

I am at a smaller firm (<100 employees) and between the tax and audit practice we have interviewed about 50 people for entry level roles and are only hiring 10.
I don’t think jobs in entry level accounting are a dime a dozen. I actually think entry level candidates are a dime a dozen. That is why it is critical to stand out in the interviews and at meet the firms (which is where all of our candidates were selected from).

Once you have experience and in this market, there are a ton of jobs and the candidate Pool is thinned out. But there is definitely still more candidates than jobs at the entry level. I am in SF if that makes any difference.

Almost always from my phone... please excuse my typos!

All 4 passed - 2016

CA CPA

[mad max]

OP, You said complementary role but you didn't specify what it was and if you expect it to help land you a position that is higher than entry-level … I suppose it's also relevant if you plan to go into public, corporate, or what you're looking to do.

Even so I said that there are plenty of senior openings in the area, I agree with the guy above me that there are far less available for entry-level.

AUD - 82
BEC - 90
FAR - 90
REG - 86

Four for four. Licensed in NJ as of 10/18/17

[Anonymous]

Couple thoughts on this:

1. In my opinion – if you are willing to expand your search, there is someone out there who will hire you. Not to say that it's your dream job, but if the issue here is paying the bills, I would say take anything that you are qualified for. If you have that mindset you will find something.

2. Sounds like you are 1/4 or 1/2 of the way to your license. If you can focus your attention on full time studying (and have the cash to live unemployed) I would try to knock out at least one more exam (REG) before starting to work. Working and studying full time is a beast. I get to the office at 7am and leave at 10pm every day, and go in on weekends. It's not a fun life to live. If you can put 8-10 hours of studying a day, you could reasonably knock out REG in less than a month. Get your license and you will have PLENTY of job opportunities.

3. I've worked in two public accounting firms and a private company's accounting dept. I've been involved with hiring at 2 of my 3 jobs we've never really been that impressed with a Masters in Accounting. In this world CPA is king. Whether or not that's fair is a different story. That realization is the exact reason why I passed on going back for a masters and started to study for my CPA.

[ellejay]

How long have you been looking? I looked into leaving my firm in the spring of this year and interviewed for 3-4 mos with no offers, so it happens. I decided to focus on getting my license, that is what I think you should do as well. Once you get your license, it thins the pool of candidates that employers have to pick from. You are no longer competing with others who just have a degree, you are competing with CPAs, and there are probably less CPAs in the herd of candidates. Just my assumption, but I would think less people are applying for jobs that require CPA than ones that don't because there are less people with CPA.

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - 63
REG - NINJA in Training

FAR - 63, rematch February 2018

[Pete]

“Accounting jobs are a dime a dozen in most large cities. I'm not completely familiar with NYC, but I would think there would be plenty of opportunities.”

As others have pointed out, this only applies to certain level positions. From what I've seen, low level and extremely high level (CEO/CFO) jobs are anything but “a dime a dozen.” I imagine NY would be better, but i'm also in the northeast as well. I've been looking for a job beyond a year now, having passed the CPA/CFE exam with a near perfect GPA; I too have actual accounting experience in private industry. Getting jobs in public accounting is brutal right now. People are getting turned down left and right with near a 4.0 gpa. Hell, I've been on 6 interviews at both large to mid-sized firms with nothing to show for it so far this fall. I was told that I interviewed very well a few times, but the “firms weren't sure of their hiring needs.” I suspect they merely hired interns or simply went with someone, having more experience instead.

If you don't believe me, go through the websites of various firms, during recruitment season. For most mid-large firms, you'll see hardly any entry level positions; you'll only see positions at the senior level or higher. Granted, not every position is posted, which is why networking is useful. Still, despite knowing a HUGE quantity of people (through my efforts), I can't break into anything. At this point, i'm hoping I can simply work under a CPA to get the experience requirement for my license met; it sucks having put all the effort and money on that test, without being able to put the letters after your name.

Passing the CPA will certainly help, but it won't be a night and day difference. Experience trumps everything else. A firm would rather have someone, who doesn't even have a Bachelor's degree, instead having experience, than someone who has a 4.0 from Harvard's PHD program and 6 different licenses. Just the nature of the beast, unfortunately.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Anonymous]

OP, you could possibly get intouch with Rober Half. I'm not sure if working those temp jobs counts towards your experience requirement.

In NYC, its weird that you cannot find an entry level accounting job.

As other posters have asked, how are you interview skills, are you tailoring your resume to the job? Do you need visa sponsorship?

There are a multitude of factors that are causing your predicament, the least of which is working in a complementary field.

Do you have your 150? NY allows you to sit at 120 but are you CPA eligible?

[Anonymous]

You wanna talk about worried?! LOL Okay, let's talk. I was in a non-accounting career for 10 years. I was an account manager in the financial services industry (in other words, I did sales.)
Traveled all over the US. When I started with the company, the product was hot. After the recession hit in 2008, the product became lukewarm. By the time I left 3 years ago, it was cold. Very cold. I was a new graduate, with 2nd bachelors degree and zero job experience in accounting. By the graces of…God or whatever, I got my foot in the door. It took a few months. I dug a lot of dry wells looking for water. I took a huge risk, changing careers at my then-age, which was 38. There were some mornings during those months that I did *not* want to get out of bed and I would wake up just totally pissed off. But, I knew what I'd gotten myself into! I had enough money stashed away to carry myself for a couple years. Thankfully, I never had to use it. If I can do it, seriously, anyone can. My not looking 38 years old did help, but more than one person told me “Gotta be honest with you, I doubt you're gonna qualify for anything.” Somehow it never fazed me. Anyhow, all you have to do is keep moving! Eventually, it will happen. And, your pass of even one CPA section should be indicated on your resume. That shows you have a brain enough to pass!

[Anonymous]

I will try to respond to all the questions. I was a Risk Manager for a while and I am experienced in market/credit and operational risk. I had to ask people questions and get to the root cause of issues which is what accountants do. I went down this road as working for the big investment banks in brutal now and I didn't like the culture change after the recession. I got screwed over a couple of times by bad bosses who didn't like the fact that people above them noticed my work. One of my bosses went through a really bad divorce and only cared about himself.

I passed FAR when the scores were released in September. I took out this past Monday and I posted that in another thread. I am very scared and nervous as nothing has been working out for me.

I have gotten very few callbacks. There have been some people who have said they wanted to hire me, but then I don't seem to hear back. I feel that I might have too many skills. I know how to program and have automated processes as previous jobs by writing VBA code.

I have client management experience as well as I have made people money trading commodity options. My resume was a little sporadic after the recession as there weren't many positions open and I can be a very quiet, private person sometimes. I am not a loudmouthed, obnoxious person and that seems to be the people that employers want now. People who are extremely social, but don't add much value. Supposedly you are not supposed to present yourself on intelligence now.

I am working as a Corporate Trainer, but that position only goes until December. I have my 150, I have my NTS and as I said, I have already passed FAR. I am a citizen of the USA and don't need via sponsorship. Very desperate here.

[shawn in VA]

I would not bother with H&R block. In my area they pay $15 an hour. Even if you work FT thats 30K a year.

Have you tried posting an ad on Craiglist that you are in your words “very desperate”. Pictures always help too. Perhaps a managing partner of a CPA firm may run across your ad and give you a call . Worth a shot for $25 to post the ad.

You can also try calling CPA firms in your area and ask to speak with the HR person and see if they are hiring?

AUD - 84
BEC - 81
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[shawn in VA]

I was reading John's comments and was surprised at the job market. In 2007 when I graduated I had an offer my junior year (2006) at a regional CPA firm via the campus recruiting fair. Times sure have changed in a decade. The offer was not too bad either $54K.

Your mom should have gave birth to you sooner. 2004-2007 were great years to get a public accounting job. AT my firm present day we cannot even find quality employees with 5 + years experience. We have 3 openings, just tons of resumes come in with people with NO experience or people living in the area, but with accounting degrees obtained from China/India.

AUD - 84
BEC - 81
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[Anonymous]

I had to stop reading after the “People who are extremely social, but don't add much value. Supposedly you are not supposed to present yourself on intelligence now.” comment.

If you think that's what's holding you back, you should add “paranoid” to your list of distinguished attributes holding you back from employment in the biggest job market in the country.

[jpj230]

Maybe it is the interview skills. Saying something like, “People who are extremely social, but don't add much value. Supposedly you are not supposed to present yourself on intelligence now.” makes you look a tad pretentious. Maybe your skill set doesn't translate into the jobs you're applying for. Without direct public accounting experience, they want someone to do pretty low-level stuff. You'll probably have to start at the bottom and low-ball employers to get a foot in the door.

I moved to a tiny rural market and had to low-ball to get in on a part-time job. Once I got my job, I proved that I'm worth more than what I was being paid and said I'd come on full time at a higher rate.

P.S. I went back to school for accounting five years after my original undergrad degree, so it's not impossible to get started later.

AUD - 82
BEC - 83
FAR - 83
REG - 91

CPA (TN)

[Author]

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