Ed. note: Have a question for the career advice brain trust? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com.
Hello Going Concern,
I’m currently finishing my last semester at the University of Kentucky, I’m a fifth year student that will be graduating in December with a dual degree in accounting and economics. The recruitment period for the big 4, regional and local firms are all over and done. I applied to basically all of the positions/internships and was not asked to interview for any of them. At first, I naively thought they just weren’t hiring from my school, but the voice of reason deep inside my head finally convinced me that it was ind y own doing. My GPA was simply too low (about a 3.1).
Granted, accounting is a challenging course of study, also majoring in econ certainly steals valuable time and energy towards getting that very good GPA. My problem now, is where to go from here. I can’t change the past and must move forward, from all indications I will graduate in December with no job prospects. Should I continue to push and attempt to network with the larger firms, or should I just try and get a position somewhere….anywhere, accounting related to develop some valuable experience? I didn’t do a good job at all of networking through college, just put my head down and hit the books. I’m not a social pariah by any means, however I know that this shyness of mine will not cut it and has hindered me tremendously at this point. I feel overwhelmed and a little disheartened at the makings of the future. If I don’t land a firm job will I be stuck in a perpetual rut in a dead end job? Is it important to avoid the private industry right out of college to get a taste of what you like in the public industry? How would you go about networking out of college, cold calling? I know I’ve asked a bunch of questions here, and maybe have not provided enough background information. To be outstanding you must stand out, now I’m at the crossroads of trying to do just that, but am a little unsure of how to start.
Sincerely,
Pablo
Pablo,
Playing the “I’m holding out for a job in public” doesn’t pay the rent or student loan bills. Not only are you up against stiff competition due to your lower-than-most-interns GPA, and self-decribed “shyness”, you’re fighting the timelines of every firm’s recruiting schedule. Meaning, the firms are done with their hiring needs by this point in time, especially if you are in a smaller market. You ask in your email to GC if you should “continue to push and attempt to network with the larger firms” only to admit in the next sentence that you “didn’t do a good job at all of networking through college, just put my head down and hit the books.” What the hell happened? Your email leaves me wondering if you simply dropped the ball on putting any effort into your job search, leaning too heavily on the notion that all you need is an accounting degree to receive free job handouts.
If going into public accounting was always the goal, your economics degree was not necessary. As “majoring in econ certainly steals valuable time and energy towards getting a very good GPA,” why didn’t you cut your losses after a few classes and drop the major? If your answer is “because I was interested in the subject,” I’m going to call bullshit. If you were so interested in the topic, one would safely assume you would, you know, do well in those classes.
But enough about the past – given that you are about six weeks from graduating, you need to be aggressive with your job search.
Contact Career Services – Your school’s career services should have resources available to help you overcome some of the interview/social anxiety you might have that has held you back in your efforts to network with employers up to this point. They can set you up with meetings, discussions groups, mock interviews, etc. Take advantage of these free resources now; in six weeks it’ll cost you.
Stop being so damn picky – Your questions above gave me the impression that you’re being too picky (dead end jobs worries, hesitation about entering private industry instead of seeking public accounting experience, etc.). The economy – if you haven’t noticed – sucks. You’re entering a job market that is sputtering around nine percent unemployment and approximately 103 percent underemployment. Your competition is more experienced and potentially has better grades and soft skills than you.
The job market – even for accountants – is a simple numbers game – You apply to 30 jobs. You receive interviews at five. You receive second rounds at three. You hope for one offer. You should be applying to accounting roles in every industry in every sized firm. If they’re seeking an accounting degree, your résumé should be there. Search Indeed, LinkedIn, and the Monsters of the world on your own. Look into your college’s resources for alumni. Get in touch with recruiters in your area to see if they have any entry level or temp to perm positions. Play the numbers and see what hits. Good luck, and keep your head up.
Alps Mutual Funds Services is looking for an experienced professional that has direct mutual fund experience.
Can a few Enron-sized failures happen already? I can’t be the only one thinking this is the most likely candidate to make change in this bottom-of-the-barrel industry.
Accounting doesn’t need to be cool. It needs to be lucrative. People like money. Money is cool. Money lets you buy cool stuff and do cool things.
This ain’t rocket science.
The only issue is that it is in Big4 Partners’ best interest that salaries stay low.
So until that changes It’s hard to convince the next generation to take a raw deal when they have a choice in the matter.
At large law firms, it is in the partners’ best interest that salaries stay low. And yet their staff make a lot more money than staff at large accounting firms…
I disagree. Firms offer 5, 10 even 15k referral bonuses and people don’t act on it. They offer 10 or 20k more to stay vs. go – and people still leave. They offer the opportunity to make partner and make hundreds of thousands a year – younger people don’t care.
Perhaps, the key point should not be about how exciting accounting could be. There are a plethora of professional fields out there that I could not imagine being “exciting.” Take proctology or podiatry for instance. Yet, we never hear about a shortage of them. There are other factors that make the field worth looking at as a possible vocation.
Urologists make a LOT of money. Go figure!
Granted I only spent 30 seconds Googling this but…
“An entry-level Urologist with under 1 year experience makes about $403,681. With less than 2 years of experience, a mid-level Urologist makes around $407,560.” 😲
Yeah, but you have to get up close and personal with dudes’ dicks all day. As an accountant, we still deal with dicks all day, but at least they are fully dressed.
Aren’t 1st year urologists like 34 years old? Plus they have 8 years of student loans. That a lot of $$, but . . .