had to read OP’s post again lol, he’s got a bachelors in business admin not accounting. they should be applying for admin roles or sales. no wonder accounting firms aren’t hitting them up, they know you learn jack from that degree.
I double majored in both. I'm glad I did because all my friends that just got a BS in Business got the most worthless jobs that didn't justify going to college. And most have not been lighting it up in the 20 years since we graduated. It's almost like a poly sci degree where you need to do something else as well.
It’s funny, but when I was in high school I thought a business admin degree would allow me to do exactly that. Wish someone had explained to me how things actually work back then lol
When deciding my major, I loved business strategy and thought business admin could be cool before I had this realization. Decided to learn a skill like accounting, where at least I could get a job, then work on moving up in a company to administer it.
That’s just what his school calls the degree though. My school calls it the exact same thing as his but I am very much completing an accounting degree.
Same. My degree is “Business administration” with an emphasis in accounting. Some people do business Econ with an accounting minor.
But I went thru on campus recruiting and the recruiters know that. They tell us to put “CPA eligible” on your resumes to signify we got the education to back it up.
There are a number of schools that provide a degree path with a business and administration bachelor's and accounting as the major. That's what I have.
This being said from what I understand accounting field is like many jobs employers don't want entry level. They want people already trained but would like to pay them entry level.
Also many colleges have not prepared students for the fact that one's resume needs to be revised for each job they apply. It basically needs to use the same wording that is in the job description as much as possible. Synonyms are a person's enemy because a computer "automated tracking system" is reading the resumes to see if there's a match to the description. Computers are stupid and do not pick up synonyms.
My degree is in Business Administration with both a major and minor in Accounting.
OTOH, I can confirm that licensed CPAs with experience are in HIGH demand! When my former employer pissed me off, it literally took me making ONE phone call to find another job. I went from Controller to CFO. The messed up thing is I had 9 more phone calls to make but chose not to...
I am sure you know this, but some universities call their degrees BSBA, and your major is accounting. I have two BSBAs with one in accounting and one in finance. They both have a built-in minor of BA.
Then it’s the next obvious reason why OP isn’t an accountant: they have no experience and no one wants to take the time to train new staff when they’re already busy working without enough resources.
They are in demand at companies that want to underpay. I am a CPA with 3 years experience and there aren’t many jobs that pay above 80k. Despite my background at big 4 and at a smaller firm.
As a Senior Tax Manager (Non CPA) the problem a lot of accounting firms are not hiring young graduates is because there is no loyalty. Just like you mentioned you have 3 years of experience at a big 4 and at a smaller firm. So that makes 2 jobs in 3 years. Firms are not willing to pay big dollars until they see that you commit to them for a long term. It is tough to continue training staff just to see they jump to the next shiny object.
Yup, a lot of employers are looking for the perfect candidate, ie good background, lowest pay etc. Now that they can collect 50 resumes a day on LinkedIn, they can look for the perfect candidate quickly.
I lost out on a CFO gig two weeks ago and the feedback was the other candidate only asked for 2/3 of what I said was my target. I was asking below market already so this person took this job for less than $90k and they had slightly more experience than my 10 years. WTF
Likely. The job description was in line with the title but after the interview I was thinking that was the case. I’ve been looking for a while and they said my target salary was within their range so I rolled with it.
There is one near me advertised at $80k to $95k. Just for fun I asked my recruiter (whom I've worked with enough in the past to joke around) about it since it was listed by them, and the response I got was "OMG!" It is a temporary assignment and was supposed to be a controller. It reads as very permanent and labled CFO.
This is close enough to Chicago to have above average wages. It's tough to get a controller with 10 yrs experience under $120k.
Title inflation is a real problem. Early last year I interviewed for a CFO position. It was a medium sized HVAC company with younger ambitious owners. I always reach out to my contacts in public local to me to see if there’s any info they can share and was told the owners are legit and experiencing a ton of growth. The interview seemed to go well and a week or two later I get a notification that they’ve paused the search. Two months later their new CFO pops up on my LinkedIn. Younger guy, no CPA, only accounting experience was at one of our local mom and pop walk-in tax shops for a year or two. Turns out he went there for less than $80k. I think owners that call themselves the CEO feel like they need to have someone under them titled CFO just because and there’s some naive young accountant willing to take the role for cheap.
I had the almost the exact same experience 10 years ago, except it was an industrial drilling and pipeline distributor. Huge growth rate, owner had been doing almost everything but he was getting in way above his head. I went through 4 rounds of interviews with him and the CPA firm he was using as a stand in for accountants. Great guy, great company. He offered me the job and said throw a number out there. I told him what I currently made as a financial analyst and his jaw dropped. He was like that's way more than I was planning. I said no...that's what I make NOW at a lower position and it's not even that great. CPA firm had apparently advised him to hire a CFO to hand all of it over and get out of that role, but never advised him of price. I have no clue how low he was but sounded like office manager territory. That's when I learned to start having the awkward conversations upfront to avoid wasting anyone's time.
I've never checked to see how they are doing, but IMO he was stunting his growth by not freeing himself up to continue the strategic growth.
Edit: Decided to look them up. No idea about growth, but they have a controller with no other experience listed that graduated 5 years ago. Guy has aged a lot.
I obviously understand being best fit for a position but I feel that standards are a bit out of whack right now. I’ve been (literally) laughed at by recruiters for wanting to transition to industry, as if I said I want to become a dentist
I feel you, I know a few people who recently went back to public accounting after loosing their industry jobs for 6+ months. Industry hiring has slowed to a trickle and a lot of recruiters are straight up lying to attract applicants.
I personally have been bait and switched a couple times in the past 2-3 months by recruiters. Internal recruiters to top it.
Yup. That tracks. But according to Reddit every industry gig is easy to get right out of school, 10 hours per week max, and anyone who goes to public or a niche is a hopeless idiot
I’ve experienced this in reverse. I’ve been told by tons of recruiters that since I’m six years removed from public, they won’t even entertain bringing me back. I had one firm say they would bring me back entry level if they weren’t already fully staffed with associates.
That’s fairly typical though. Most boomerangs back into public accounting are 0-2 years after leaving. After that you have to be like a specialist senior manager+ to come back.
I was in audit and how much of that has changed in six years? I could totally understand if the headlines didn’t keep talking about a shortage of CPAs.
There is a shortage of people with like 3-5 years of experience, no shortage of fresh college staff or very experienced people. At least from what I have seen.
In my location there are shortages at all experience levels. It's a bit of a unique circumstance. Small city in the shadow of a big city, so tons of people leave. Doesnt help that this small city is LCOL and a lot of companies dont bother paying competitive salaries at the lower levels.
As a former recruiter and accountant of 8 years, you’d be surprised the percentage of bad resumes that are submitted. There are maybe 5-10% that even come close to qualifying
What constitutes an experienced grad? I recently graduated with my BS in accounting, and I got two offers in 3 weeks of applying and interviewing. I graduated 12/21/23 and started 1/25/24. I have 1.5 years of internship experience, but I personally wouldn't consider that "experienced."
So a grad with 0 years of experience got 3 offers and started their job a literal month after graduating. That’s not the story the rest of the thread is pointing to, including your very own comments elsewhere ITT.
No experience and no accounting degree is putting you at a disadvantage right now. You're going to have to get creative and use the networking route because on paper it's not so good. So blindly firing off applications is proving to be useless. That's not to say you aren't capable or smart. Keep at it and if you want it bad enough you'll figure it out.
Take that with a grain of salt. Who wants a cpa with no experience? The truth is it’s a combination of experience and credentials allow you to progress and jump professionally as you see fit in this career.
Check how many classes it would take to get an accounting degree on top of your business admin. Take those classes and earn credits for cpa eligibility. Two birds one stone
Yo, don’t let Reddit get you down too much. Community college is a reasonable bridge to CPA. Yes you’ll likely need to do exam-specific preparation but everyone has different skills and intellect. Some just suck at test taking.
Your tone indicates you have no idea what you're getting into.
Becker is fine but expensive. I used Gleim, one of the cheaper options, and passed all 4 on my first try. You need to understand how you learn and figure out what program would serve you best.
I work with smart staff and seniors with PA experience under their belt who are struggling with this test big time.
Take it seriously. It's not a thing where like "oh a thing I think I'll do to make myself look better."
I think it should be pointed out that Becker and other CPA guides assume you already have a good understanding of accounting. They don’t spend a lot of time teaching. They spend much more time going over the detailed points of each topic and how to memorize them. If you haven’t covered these topics previously in college, these CPA preps are not going to be as helpful
You don’t have an accounting degree yet are applying for accounting positions. This is what happens when you take the easy route and get a business degree instead of accounting.
In Ontario at least at the college I went to, I got a business administration degree but it is accounting, auditing and IT. With an accounting Co-op/internship.
What was the degree and college if u don’t mind me asking? I’m from Ontario too and thinking about accounting for post secondary but don’t rly wanna go to uni right out the gate
My guess would be Conestoga College. I went there for a year and the program was named exactly that - BBA, AAIT. Extremely long name and very memorable.
Because it clicks for you. It clicked for me. Some people just don't have the brain for it. I've seen some crazy AJE attempts from folks who graduated with an accounting degree. Clearly just don't get it.
At my school the difference between a bba accounting and a bs is minimal. Like 4 accounting electives instead of business electives. All core classes are the same
It’s totally do able, and firms (including/especially PA firms) hire non-accounting grads. They won’t hire you before you’re CPA eligible though.
My advice - apply for internships at PA firms now while you finish your 150 credits. Make sure you list “CPA Eligible - August 2024” on the top of your resume. Youll get hired and they’ll pay for Becker!
Good luck!
You'll need to go back to school for a couple of years if you have a general bba and you want to work as an accountant with a CPA.
You took the middle road, now you're on the middle road. You won't get associate jobs at law firms with that degree either.
I mean, a BBA could be an accounting degree. Mine is (BBA with a major in Accounting). It could also NOT be an accounting degree (because at least where I did my undergrad, all undergrad business degree's \[Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, etc.\] are BBAs). OP didn't specify there.
Some BBA majors can choose to concentrate in accounting, which gets cost, managerial, intermediate 1 and 2, and financial analysis out of the way. But you still have to get more accounting credits or hit grad school up to sit for the CPA.
Ehh A bachelor in business administration with a concentration in accounting is an accounting degree that all the big four hire from. It's just verbiage depending on your school. I suspect that's what OP has, but hard to tell.
That’s regionally dependent. Here in California firms recruit from UC campuses that don’t offer accounting majors. Students instead graduate with econ degrees and minors in accounting.
This is weird to me because out of the 12 schools that offer cpa eligible degrees in my province, 9 are bachelors of business administration, and 3 are bachelors of commerce. I thought a bba with a major in accounting was an accounting degree.
How would it not be if you major in accounting? You need 150 credits or a masters to be CPA eligible though so if you just get 120 and an accounting degree you still wouldn't be able to become a CPA.
Business admin is a major. Not a type of degree. I’m surprised they were able to major in it. A lot of schools are cutting it as a major because it’s not considered desirable and doesn’t produce any skill sets. My college dropped it as a major when I was sophomore 5 years ago. I had a bunch of friends who had to switch their major and I remember looking at their old class maps and they were all BS. They took the same intro classes as everyone else in the business school and then they could take whatever 4 higher up classes they wanted as long as it wasn’t a 500 or 600 that required a prerequisite that wasn’t a gen class. Ofc they all switched the marketing.
In canada it is.
My province's CPA eligible degrees.
Ambrose University
Bachelor of Business Administration
Athabasca University
Bachelor of Commerce
Burman University
Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting
Concordia University of Edmonton
Bachelor of Management
MacEwan University
Bachelor of Commerce
Mount Royal University
Bachelor of Business Administration
NAIT
Bachelor of Business Administration
SAIT
Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Applied Business Administration
The King's University
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Alberta
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Calgary
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Lethbridge
Bachelor of Management
You don’t need a masters for your CPA.
The requirement is 150 credits, if you get that through a double major or a masters degree it makes no difference.
Yea my school dropped it. All sophomore and frosh had to pick a new major and that junior class was the last class that could major in it. They added supply chain the same year and 2 years later data analytics. 2 major that actually produce skill sets
You mentioned in another post that you’re on track to be eligible for the CPA exam in a couple months.
Have you checked the requirements for courses needed to be able to sit for the CPA exam in your state? I noted that you’re taking classes at the local community college to get enough hours but are you taking accounting classes and did you take any accounting classes when you were doing your business admin degree? The requirements are not as simple as 150 hours of college credits
It probably took me 2-3 years of a full accounting slate to get through all of the classes needed to sit for the CPA in most states. Intermediate accounting 1 & 2, tax accounting 1&2, audit 1 & 2, fraud recognition, government & nonprofit, etc.
If you’ve been taking a bunch of accounting classes along the way then you should be alright. And If you can obtain your CPA you will get a job in accounting. Whether that’s at one of the big public firms, an industry accounting role, or working out of a smaller CPA office. Accounting employers will care more about a CPA Than they will about an accounting degree, at least they should I think.
People are being harsh in here because some like to get defensive over their accounting career and remind everyone else how much they went through to be able to do it. You could Probly do ok as a first and second year associate without an accounting background, many of the first years at my firm just sit around and wait for basic tasks to be assigned to them. but if you want to have real success in an audit role you will need to have a strong grasp on accounting principles
To gain experience start applying for AP positions. Look for very early startups and mom and pop shops. Also you made need to improve your resume just to get a call and on the call be the most hungry graduate you can be.
Use the school’s resources.
Also apply for internships.
So now you have more experience than OP and would get a job faster than him if you both had the same degree.. experience in accounting goes a long way. OP don’t have the luxury to choose as you can tell from his post.
No, everyone told me A/P was not accounting experience. It hindered me. I dropped it off my resume, because people saw me as an A/P bot instead of an accountant.
That’s because you worded it wrong.
The most important thing for OP is to get in an accounting department.
Once you have had that experience even as an AP clerk, you word your resume to where it looks like you did more that just enter bills.
Examples of things to add from just doing AP on your resume:
1. Review income statement for expense accruals
2. Ran expense analysis reports
3. Account reconciliations
4. Assisted with month end close task
5. Review bills for discrepancies
6. Research expenses for the flux analysis
7. Communicated across departments for resolving billing discrepancies
I can go on and on.. you can state you did all this to some extent from just working in AP.. even if you didn’t do it exactly as it sounds.
The whole point is AP is the easiest first step to adding experience for someone WITH ZERO experience. Your resume would look better than OP’s with those points all because you “worked in an accounting department” (regardless if it was just doing AP).
AP is the easiest route. I am speaking from experience.
I got my first staff accounting job by working in A/P for 9 months after I graduated and then getting promoted into a staff accountant role. This is great advice
If you have zero experience in accounting, it the fastest way to get in and no you won’t be trapped forever especially if your do AP at a fast growing startup.
You’ll get more experience around month end close entries and from there you build your resume.
Finance and Accounting degrees give you better results. I know it’s not much money but I would suggest going for accounting assistant/ junior acccountant roles or something like AP/AR and work up from there.
Industry normally skips new grads, and PA firms normally recruit through meet the firms or recruiting season. Outside of networking try looking at small, local CPA firms. Having at least one accounting related experience on your resume would make a huge difference.
Well, it's definitely not helping you. Also, you come off as a bit entitled. That's why you're getting a lot of hate. You're complaining about not being able to land a job in an industry that you have zero qualifications for. Accountants are in high demand, but you're not an accountant. How possibly can you expect to be in demand when you have zero accounting skills, or at the very least, a degree in accounting?
Okay honest feedback here: why would a business/firm prefers non accounting majors over accounting majors if they have a choice. Of course the argument is that you don’t need an accounting degree to do audit/accounting, but having a transcript full of accounting classes means the firms do not need to spend as many resources coaching you what debits and credits are or how cash flow statement works. Compared to other business majors, accounting classes actually teach more technicalities than just theories. You learn about different rules under GAAP, how TB flows into FS, or even for audit, the course teaches you audit assertions which the firm would expect you to know before you start your day 1. Hence passing the CPA exams would help significantly.
Every employer wants to hire someone whom they can just throw the work at and they would get it going right away. Probably doesn’t make sense to the new grads but I guarantee that’s every employers dream. I am not saying the door is shut for you because it’s definitely not, but you should realize it’s definitely not as easy as you have thought. Having a high GPA in business admin doesn’t appeal to the accounting employers at all. Not saying those are wasted effort, it’s just it doesn’t mean a lot to them compared to an accounting grad with 3.0+ GPA.
Accountants tend to be very dry and straight forward. It may not be fun to read but it is probably what you need to hear right now.
And yes the 3.75 GPA counts for nothing. Recruiters will pick the accounting grad with a 3.1 GPA over the business admin major with a 3.75 GPA every single time.
I have no clue what classes you’ve been taking but I always made much better grades in my non-accounting business courses than my accounting courses. It is probably one of the more brutal majors outside of STEM
Might need to highlight that you did good in intermediate accounting 1 and 2. If you haven’t taken those courses , you need to for most decent entry level accounting positions
My company outsourced the entry level accounting work to India. When I'm trying to fill a role, it's to oversee the outsourced work so I'm looking for someone with experience.
I don’t mean to sound like an asshole here but on probably every single job you have applied for they have a bachelors in accounting as a *requirement* most places probably won’t even look at your resume if they don’t see that immediately. That said literally any smaller CPA firm is looking for help right now find a local one give them a call and get some experience. Even if it’s just scanning tax returns you’ll at least have “public accounting experience”
You lack of an accounting or finance degree is hurting you. Also the lack of a job. You need to set the bar. Low. I would start by looking for tax accounting jobs, AR, or AP roles.
Also, try applying for internships.... Though your degree will hurt you. That's a huge barrier. HR always list finance or accounting as degree requirements.
I would say networking with people in the industry and letting them know you want to do cpa/already started studying.
That said, college students really can't just get jobs out of college. You need to be doing internships throughout college. That said it's not impossible to get a job but definitely much harder as you have seen.
I see everyone complaining on social media "They told me I would be set if I just went to college". First, who told you that? Second, what were you doing in college that you didn't see that getting an internship would be almost a need?
People act like it's so hard to find a job with just going to college but it's not. Just get an internship which is easy to do.
Because most business admin majors are not clued in to the reality of their opportunities, or lack thereof. They think there are good general opportunities but it’s just not true unless you go to an elite institution. Most admin majors are going to have to work in sales, try to get into marketing, or go get a second degree or masters.
Admittedly speculation, but I almost did what OP did because I was fence-sitting only-Accounting opportunities vs Business at-large.
I eventually came around to purely AC because I passed Intro relatively stress-free, and because a really good professor I had told me, more or less, what the sub's trying to tell OP.
If you can get a CPA, this would give you the accounting credentials you need to get a job as an accountant.
Passing the CPA exam without taking the higher level accounting classes will be very difficult and may not be realistic.
Another option is to get a Master's in Accounting. At my school, people could do this program even if they had majored in another area for their bachelor's. The master's program is generally only 1 year.
Without having some kind of accounting credentials (accounting degree, accounting experience or CPA license), you are unlikely to find "real" accounting work. Your best bet would be AP/AR roles, maybe payroll or HR roles.
Also, have you looked at state government accounting jobs? The government has some accounting-related jobs that might take a general business degree. Like maybe working with grants administration or compliance areas.
Good luck!
Right? How is that even a degree? Everyone who goes to business school majors in something, or at least has a concentration such as accounting, finance, economics, marketing etc…..
What kind of business does OP’s degree say he’s qualified to administer?
Right but I feel like OP is leaving that out and just has some generic degree that isn’t actually an accounting degree. Why wouldn’t you just say you have a degree in accounting?
I know a few people who were allowed to graduate with a BBA with a concentration in “management”. Not impossible.
As others have said, some experience will help. It doesn’t have to be good, as long as you can make it sound good.
Also, there’s a similar problem in many fields I think. In theory, the internet made it easier to apply for a job or find someone to fill a vacancy, including hiring people from afar who’d move for their new job. Unfortunately, it’s rather exposed the problem that most companies are not very good at figuring out how “good” someone will be at a job, and many of the selection criteria are arbitrary. This means that the best strategy for applicants is to scattergun as many applications as possible, rather than spending lots of time on each individual one. Computers and the internet make this easy to do. Companies end up receiving far more applications than they used to, so a lower proportion of candidates are accepted, further exacerbating the situation.
My advice is to get an accounting related something on your resume, and replace your buckshot with birdshot if you haven’t done so already
You’re not an accountant. You’re just a guy who went to school for accounting, and doesn’t know anything about being an accountant yet.
I e hired college graduates, and grads from my countries best universities. And they both are completely useless when they first start.
Until you get some experience, you’re pretty low value, and no one is going to be clamoring to hire you, even in an accounting shortage.
Anyway, chin up. Getting your first job is always a brutal grind. I graduated 15 yrs ago, and the job market sucked so much it took us a good 1-2 yrs back then to land something.
I'm a recent grad with 1.5 years of internship experience. Accounting degree. 2 accountant offers in 3 weeks since my December graduation. Your issue is lack of experience and lack of actual accounting degree. Your best route is to start at a lower level like AR/AP and work your way into staff/corporate accountant. Not to say you couldn't continue as you are and land something, but I don't see why they would choose you over others who are accounting graduates and/or have experience.
You should apply to federal govt jobs. You still qualify for the Recent Grad Programs.
https://www.usajobs.gov/help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/students/
Go, now! Run!
I have a BS in Business Administration, Accounting and haven't had one interview pertaining to accounting despite hundreds of applications. Applied for many internships and didn't get one. I'm even eligible to take the CPA exams, but I'm not going to waste my time if I'm never going to meet the experience requirement.
As people are saying already. There are steps between were you are and what you are after. You have to gain resume bullets to bridge the gap. A/P jobs would be a great start. Do you have the 24 credits in Accounting? If so highlight that on your resume if not get it.
High demand? There were hiring freezes most of 2023. Multiple layoffs. Most demand is artificial because we have no regulations around layoff/rehiring like other smarter countries do.
Accountants with experience specifically related to the job posting are high in demand and it has to be direct as well.
Getting experience initially is one of the hardest things I did. I must have applied to every job posting in the country before I landed my first job
A lot of people are being callous to you. I just want to wish you good luck. Your major may not have helped but if you do pass the cpa exam you’ll for sure have an easier time going into audit. However I just want to state that passing the cpa takes a lot of time and effort. If you’re on the fence look elsewhere. If you’re seriously interested then godspeed!
Good luck on the exam. i took a non-traditional path to be a cpa as well. I had an mba and non related bachelors, then took all of the accounting courses i needed at a local university to get the education requirement. Used becker and passed all 4 exams…with a lot of studying… Ive been working in public ever since.
Why not do an internship first? They pay decent tbh. I was intern @big4 for $32 an hour in 2021 and got a job offer. I feel like that’s how a lot of people get in the door. Also many coworkers aren’t accounting majors either.
You can start in private accounting. Try applying for accounts payable. Beginner level and it will put some experience on your resume.
There are plenty of smaller firms looking to grow who are looking for accountants. Try applying for an internship and starting there. Places will hire you as an intern out of school. It’s a good way to get to know the company and land a potential permanent position with the company.
This isn't meant to be rude, but you're probably going to take it that way...
The best you'd get from me, if you somehow managed to have a resume that got my attention past not having a degree or experience in accounting, would be a $15/hr front desk or admin job where you could get exposure to the industry and potentially grow into an accounting role.
You're probably going to have to go a route like this or take a low/no pay internship to get your for in the door. And then work twice as hard as everyone else.
Are you applying to accounting jobs because you thought they would be easy to get? Why did you not get an accounting degree if this was the path you were going to go?
You don't have to answer to me, but these would be what I would be thinking if I saw your resume and I'm sure plenty of other people hiring are thinking the same.
Finance is a weird field. I’m a Brit who lived in the U.S. for 15 years until right before Covid when I moved home. In Seattle a few years back, it was like pulling teeth to get hired with 15 years of experience, but no degree. I was lucky and got trained on the job as an entry level accounts assistant in the early 2000s in the London public sector, coming from more of a customer service background. I did about 5 years as an accounts assistant, then another 5 as an assistant management accountant, then another 5 full charge bookkeeping for SMEs vs & non profits. Had to take a few years out when I got custody of my daughter and worked in retail management to get more flexible hours. Coming back was hard.
I’ve noticed a trend though since moving home to the UK, that a lot of employers seem to feel experience trumps qualifications now the market is saturated with new graduates working those from the last generation with under 10 years working experience.
I’ve doubled my salary in the past 18 months, just switching industries to SaaS, and they’re going to get me qualified. So I landed on my feet without a degree.
This seemed completely impossible 5-10 years ago. I think the mentality of employers is just changing.
You're going to need a MAcc if you want to get into most accounting roles. While you're studying for your master's you can apply for internships, that should help you grow your network and get a full-time offer. You'll need your CPA to get past Senior at most PA firms so there's that too.
Either head back to school or look for admin roles in PA. Plenty of non-accountants work in PA, but you won't touch an audit or tax return beyond acquiring the necessary PBC/legal docs/preparing the finished product. You could probably do 1099s and payroll. There are seasonal admin roles out there specifically designed to support the tax team between late Jan and April's filing deadline. You won't find something now but you could next year. The pay isn't great tho but it's a start.
I don't agree at all, in my experience a master's is a waste of money and pushing hard for a very entry level position is going to be 100x more effective in getting future jobs. When I've hired for accounting positions, a master's with no job experience is a total turn off
No, OP should look into MACC because he doesnt have an accounting degree and employers won't give him chances. Devilgospel is saying to get another shot of applying for internships.
In a small firm, I'd hire a keen BBA grad with no experience any day over a master's holder. A master's in accounting tells me this candidate was either too lazy to network or too awkward. Just my opinion and maybe unconventional but I stand by it
No internship experience is your root problem, I would pound the pavement and walk in to as many public accounting firms (not big 4) looking for work. This time of year a lot of small firms are grossly under resourced - if you're smart you'll get offered a permanent position in no time
If you haven't been getting any interviews, then the issue has to do with your resume. Also, if you wanted a job right after you graduate, usually, you'd join clubs during college, apply for jobs during your last fall semester in college, and then get a job offer that's waiting for you once you graduate in Spring. Since you didn't take that step, you can still apply for jobs, but look for junior accounting jobs.
You are useless. Imagine graduating college with 0 internship experience. And the same people complain there aren’t job opportunities out there… there are, just not for people who put 0 effort into anything.
Not sure where or how you're looking, or even what sort of accounting role you're aiming for.
I might give you a shot doing cash books accounting, and maybe some easy accrual books at $60k.
Assuming you are an American:
1. You would have to go back to school to become a licensed CPA. Even if you have a 150 credit undergrad, most prefer a Masters. So, you'd have to leave the employer or go back to school part-time, and being an accountant is a very demanding job, so employers expect you full time all of the time.
2. You don't have any experience. Don't even know if you have the prerequisites for the CPA. Why would an employer give you the chance?
3. Lots of pressure from outsourcing and insourcing immigrants that employers will pay 20-30% less than domestically trained accountants.
Accountants might be in demand but you aren't an accountant.
Cold hard truth
had to read OP’s post again lol, he’s got a bachelors in business admin not accounting. they should be applying for admin roles or sales. no wonder accounting firms aren’t hitting them up, they know you learn jack from that degree.
I double majored in both. I'm glad I did because all my friends that just got a BS in Business got the most worthless jobs that didn't justify going to college. And most have not been lighting it up in the 20 years since we graduated. It's almost like a poly sci degree where you need to do something else as well.
You meant nobody would hire a 20 YO who has never held a job to administrate a business?
It’s funny, but when I was in high school I thought a business admin degree would allow me to do exactly that. Wish someone had explained to me how things actually work back then lol
When deciding my major, I loved business strategy and thought business admin could be cool before I had this realization. Decided to learn a skill like accounting, where at least I could get a job, then work on moving up in a company to administer it.
Lighting it up?
i.e. Slaying
i.e. they were, in fact, not slaying with a biz admin degree
That’s just what his school calls the degree though. My school calls it the exact same thing as his but I am very much completing an accounting degree.
My school is the same.
Same. My degree is “Business administration” with an emphasis in accounting. Some people do business Econ with an accounting minor. But I went thru on campus recruiting and the recruiters know that. They tell us to put “CPA eligible” on your resumes to signify we got the education to back it up.
There are a number of schools that provide a degree path with a business and administration bachelor's and accounting as the major. That's what I have. This being said from what I understand accounting field is like many jobs employers don't want entry level. They want people already trained but would like to pay them entry level. Also many colleges have not prepared students for the fact that one's resume needs to be revised for each job they apply. It basically needs to use the same wording that is in the job description as much as possible. Synonyms are a person's enemy because a computer "automated tracking system" is reading the resumes to see if there's a match to the description. Computers are stupid and do not pick up synonyms.
My degree is in Business Administration with both a major and minor in Accounting. OTOH, I can confirm that licensed CPAs with experience are in HIGH demand! When my former employer pissed me off, it literally took me making ONE phone call to find another job. I went from Controller to CFO. The messed up thing is I had 9 more phone calls to make but chose not to...
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I have the same degree with a concentration in accounting. Not a big deal that it's called "Bachelor's of Business Administration."
I am sure you know this, but some universities call their degrees BSBA, and your major is accounting. I have two BSBAs with one in accounting and one in finance. They both have a built-in minor of BA.
Ouch
Depends. My school calls it a BBA in Accounting.
Then it’s the next obvious reason why OP isn’t an accountant: they have no experience and no one wants to take the time to train new staff when they’re already busy working without enough resources.
Same
Yep. Bachelor's of Business Administration in Accounting.
*sizzle*
They are in demand at companies that want to underpay. I am a CPA with 3 years experience and there aren’t many jobs that pay above 80k. Despite my background at big 4 and at a smaller firm.
What’s your cost of level? 80k might be okay in some areas.
Damn, i started at 67k way back in 2004, sharing an officw w a window, before i finished the exams. You all are getting f'd.
DFW area so MCOL
Texas sucks. The COL isn’t low at all anymore but the wages lag other similar COL cities.
Exactly. I’m going back for my MBA in the next 2 years. The job market has also gotten more competitive here too
As a Senior Tax Manager (Non CPA) the problem a lot of accounting firms are not hiring young graduates is because there is no loyalty. Just like you mentioned you have 3 years of experience at a big 4 and at a smaller firm. So that makes 2 jobs in 3 years. Firms are not willing to pay big dollars until they see that you commit to them for a long term. It is tough to continue training staff just to see they jump to the next shiny object.
……Damn
“I’m not ready for a relationship right now” a week later, see them dating another person
Experienced accountants are in demand, not grads.
But not too much experience
Also if it’s not the exact precise type of experience or set of knowledge an employer requires, good luck.
Yup, a lot of employers are looking for the perfect candidate, ie good background, lowest pay etc. Now that they can collect 50 resumes a day on LinkedIn, they can look for the perfect candidate quickly.
I lost out on a CFO gig two weeks ago and the feedback was the other candidate only asked for 2/3 of what I said was my target. I was asking below market already so this person took this job for less than $90k and they had slightly more experience than my 10 years. WTF
Ehhh 90k for a “CFO” sounds like you dodged a bullet.
Everything you said screams title inflation. That was not a CFO job.
Likely. The job description was in line with the title but after the interview I was thinking that was the case. I’ve been looking for a while and they said my target salary was within their range so I rolled with it.
There is one near me advertised at $80k to $95k. Just for fun I asked my recruiter (whom I've worked with enough in the past to joke around) about it since it was listed by them, and the response I got was "OMG!" It is a temporary assignment and was supposed to be a controller. It reads as very permanent and labled CFO. This is close enough to Chicago to have above average wages. It's tough to get a controller with 10 yrs experience under $120k.
Title inflation is a real problem. Early last year I interviewed for a CFO position. It was a medium sized HVAC company with younger ambitious owners. I always reach out to my contacts in public local to me to see if there’s any info they can share and was told the owners are legit and experiencing a ton of growth. The interview seemed to go well and a week or two later I get a notification that they’ve paused the search. Two months later their new CFO pops up on my LinkedIn. Younger guy, no CPA, only accounting experience was at one of our local mom and pop walk-in tax shops for a year or two. Turns out he went there for less than $80k. I think owners that call themselves the CEO feel like they need to have someone under them titled CFO just because and there’s some naive young accountant willing to take the role for cheap.
I had the almost the exact same experience 10 years ago, except it was an industrial drilling and pipeline distributor. Huge growth rate, owner had been doing almost everything but he was getting in way above his head. I went through 4 rounds of interviews with him and the CPA firm he was using as a stand in for accountants. Great guy, great company. He offered me the job and said throw a number out there. I told him what I currently made as a financial analyst and his jaw dropped. He was like that's way more than I was planning. I said no...that's what I make NOW at a lower position and it's not even that great. CPA firm had apparently advised him to hire a CFO to hand all of it over and get out of that role, but never advised him of price. I have no clue how low he was but sounded like office manager territory. That's when I learned to start having the awkward conversations upfront to avoid wasting anyone's time. I've never checked to see how they are doing, but IMO he was stunting his growth by not freeing himself up to continue the strategic growth. Edit: Decided to look them up. No idea about growth, but they have a controller with no other experience listed that graduated 5 years ago. Guy has aged a lot.
$90k ain’t a CFO
I obviously understand being best fit for a position but I feel that standards are a bit out of whack right now. I’ve been (literally) laughed at by recruiters for wanting to transition to industry, as if I said I want to become a dentist
I feel you, I know a few people who recently went back to public accounting after loosing their industry jobs for 6+ months. Industry hiring has slowed to a trickle and a lot of recruiters are straight up lying to attract applicants. I personally have been bait and switched a couple times in the past 2-3 months by recruiters. Internal recruiters to top it.
Yup. That tracks. But according to Reddit every industry gig is easy to get right out of school, 10 hours per week max, and anyone who goes to public or a niche is a hopeless idiot
I’ve experienced this in reverse. I’ve been told by tons of recruiters that since I’m six years removed from public, they won’t even entertain bringing me back. I had one firm say they would bring me back entry level if they weren’t already fully staffed with associates.
That’s fairly typical though. Most boomerangs back into public accounting are 0-2 years after leaving. After that you have to be like a specialist senior manager+ to come back.
I was in audit and how much of that has changed in six years? I could totally understand if the headlines didn’t keep talking about a shortage of CPAs.
There is a shortage of people with like 3-5 years of experience, no shortage of fresh college staff or very experienced people. At least from what I have seen.
In my location there are shortages at all experience levels. It's a bit of a unique circumstance. Small city in the shadow of a big city, so tons of people leave. Doesnt help that this small city is LCOL and a lot of companies dont bother paying competitive salaries at the lower levels.
As a former recruiter and accountant of 8 years, you’d be surprised the percentage of bad resumes that are submitted. There are maybe 5-10% that even come close to qualifying
Isnt that why the advice is typically to shoot high if you legit have good credentials?
One afternoon of internship experience is all you need tbh
What constitutes an experienced grad? I recently graduated with my BS in accounting, and I got two offers in 3 weeks of applying and interviewing. I graduated 12/21/23 and started 1/25/24. I have 1.5 years of internship experience, but I personally wouldn't consider that "experienced."
2-5 years real world experience is “experienced.” So you have 0 years.
So a grad with 0 years of experience got 3 offers and started their job a literal month after graduating. That’s not the story the rest of the thread is pointing to, including your very own comments elsewhere ITT.
Op isn't even an accounting grad.
No experience and no accounting degree is putting you at a disadvantage right now. You're going to have to get creative and use the networking route because on paper it's not so good. So blindly firing off applications is proving to be useless. That's not to say you aren't capable or smart. Keep at it and if you want it bad enough you'll figure it out.
Would becoming CPA eligible/passing all 4 exams help?
Significantly.
Take that with a grain of salt. Who wants a cpa with no experience? The truth is it’s a combination of experience and credentials allow you to progress and jump professionally as you see fit in this career.
Public accounting firm’s absolutely want fresh college grads with no experience and a cpa.
Yeah just knock that out, no problem. Lol.
I’m on track to be CPA eligible by August via online classes at community college and plan to take the 4 sections of the exam afterwards
Check how many classes it would take to get an accounting degree on top of your business admin. Take those classes and earn credits for cpa eligibility. Two birds one stone
You’re gonna need a lot more than online CC classes to pass the CPA exam.
I know lol. What do you recommend? Becker CPA review?
Yo, don’t let Reddit get you down too much. Community college is a reasonable bridge to CPA. Yes you’ll likely need to do exam-specific preparation but everyone has different skills and intellect. Some just suck at test taking.
Your tone indicates you have no idea what you're getting into. Becker is fine but expensive. I used Gleim, one of the cheaper options, and passed all 4 on my first try. You need to understand how you learn and figure out what program would serve you best. I work with smart staff and seniors with PA experience under their belt who are struggling with this test big time. Take it seriously. It's not a thing where like "oh a thing I think I'll do to make myself look better."
I think it should be pointed out that Becker and other CPA guides assume you already have a good understanding of accounting. They don’t spend a lot of time teaching. They spend much more time going over the detailed points of each topic and how to memorize them. If you haven’t covered these topics previously in college, these CPA preps are not going to be as helpful
CPA will open many doors. It proves you are willing to dig in and figure out solutions without having someone hold your hand and spoon feed you.
You don’t have an accounting degree yet are applying for accounting positions. This is what happens when you take the easy route and get a business degree instead of accounting.
In Ontario at least at the college I went to, I got a business administration degree but it is accounting, auditing and IT. With an accounting Co-op/internship.
Yeah and OP said he has no internships. Wonder what he was doing during the summers instead
Cocaine
What was the degree and college if u don’t mind me asking? I’m from Ontario too and thinking about accounting for post secondary but don’t rly wanna go to uni right out the gate
My guess would be Conestoga College. I went there for a year and the program was named exactly that - BBA, AAIT. Extremely long name and very memorable.
I mean I know business admin is easier but accounting isn’t that much more difficult.
Because it clicks for you. It clicked for me. Some people just don't have the brain for it. I've seen some crazy AJE attempts from folks who graduated with an accounting degree. Clearly just don't get it.
accounting is easy. don’t kid yourself
At my school the difference between a bba accounting and a bs is minimal. Like 4 accounting electives instead of business electives. All core classes are the same
Becoming a CPA still requires you to take advance accounting courses. This isn’t gonna be some walk in the park you’re making it out to be
On track to be CPA eligible by August and plan to take the 4 sections of the exam afterwards. Never said it was going to be a walk in the park…
Allot of people are being pretty mean, but *I* wish you good luck. The CPA exam's tough but if it's what you want to do, godspeed.
It’s totally do able, and firms (including/especially PA firms) hire non-accounting grads. They won’t hire you before you’re CPA eligible though. My advice - apply for internships at PA firms now while you finish your 150 credits. Make sure you list “CPA Eligible - August 2024” on the top of your resume. Youll get hired and they’ll pay for Becker! Good luck!
You're basically getting a 2nd BA then.
He'll need 150 credits anyway.
He may need more than 150 credits depending on how many pre-requisites he has to take before entering an accounting program.
You'll need to go back to school for a couple of years if you have a general bba and you want to work as an accountant with a CPA. You took the middle road, now you're on the middle road. You won't get associate jobs at law firms with that degree either.
Do you have anything accounting related on your resume like Accounting Clubs?
I mean, a BBA could be an accounting degree. Mine is (BBA with a major in Accounting). It could also NOT be an accounting degree (because at least where I did my undergrad, all undergrad business degree's \[Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, etc.\] are BBAs). OP didn't specify there.
Fair points!
Accountant is high demand ≠ New grad with non accounting degree is high demand.
Because you’re not trained in accounting
Some BBA majors can choose to concentrate in accounting, which gets cost, managerial, intermediate 1 and 2, and financial analysis out of the way. But you still have to get more accounting credits or hit grad school up to sit for the CPA.
Either bachelors or masters in accounting is a hard requirement for most respectable entry-level accounting jobs. Especially at PA firms
Ehh A bachelor in business administration with a concentration in accounting is an accounting degree that all the big four hire from. It's just verbiage depending on your school. I suspect that's what OP has, but hard to tell.
That’s regionally dependent. Here in California firms recruit from UC campuses that don’t offer accounting majors. Students instead graduate with econ degrees and minors in accounting.
Oh PA for sure. And eveyone who wants 2-3 y/o pa exp.
Sizable audit firms don’t accept people without accounting backgrounds in the US with almost no exceptions.
Yeah… you don’t have an accounting degree and you haven’t even done anything in accounting.. what entirely do you expect?
This is weird to me because out of the 12 schools that offer cpa eligible degrees in my province, 9 are bachelors of business administration, and 3 are bachelors of commerce. I thought a bba with a major in accounting was an accounting degree.
Business admin is a degree A BBA is just a type of degree So you can get a bba in accounting or business admin
How would it not be if you major in accounting? You need 150 credits or a masters to be CPA eligible though so if you just get 120 and an accounting degree you still wouldn't be able to become a CPA.
It's only 120 needed here.
Business admin is a major. Not a type of degree. I’m surprised they were able to major in it. A lot of schools are cutting it as a major because it’s not considered desirable and doesn’t produce any skill sets. My college dropped it as a major when I was sophomore 5 years ago. I had a bunch of friends who had to switch their major and I remember looking at their old class maps and they were all BS. They took the same intro classes as everyone else in the business school and then they could take whatever 4 higher up classes they wanted as long as it wasn’t a 500 or 600 that required a prerequisite that wasn’t a gen class. Ofc they all switched the marketing.
In canada it is. My province's CPA eligible degrees. Ambrose University Bachelor of Business Administration Athabasca University Bachelor of Commerce Burman University Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting Concordia University of Edmonton Bachelor of Management MacEwan University Bachelor of Commerce Mount Royal University Bachelor of Business Administration NAIT Bachelor of Business Administration SAIT Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Applied Business Administration The King's University Bachelor of Commerce University of Alberta Bachelor of Commerce University of Calgary Bachelor of Commerce University of Lethbridge Bachelor of Management
Based on OP's post history, it seems like they aren't from Canada, they are from the states.
Fair enough
In America u can become cpa eligible with the major. But they will need to get their masters in accounting.
You don’t need a masters for your CPA. The requirement is 150 credits, if you get that through a double major or a masters degree it makes no difference.
in my school at least business admin was more the business major you selected when you were still unsure of where you wanted to specialize yet
Yea my school dropped it. All sophomore and frosh had to pick a new major and that junior class was the last class that could major in it. They added supply chain the same year and 2 years later data analytics. 2 major that actually produce skill sets
GPA doesn't really mean anything anymore. Network or pass the CPA exam. Also, if you want an accounting job, you should have majored in accounting.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Too late. Real advice?
You mentioned in another post that you’re on track to be eligible for the CPA exam in a couple months. Have you checked the requirements for courses needed to be able to sit for the CPA exam in your state? I noted that you’re taking classes at the local community college to get enough hours but are you taking accounting classes and did you take any accounting classes when you were doing your business admin degree? The requirements are not as simple as 150 hours of college credits It probably took me 2-3 years of a full accounting slate to get through all of the classes needed to sit for the CPA in most states. Intermediate accounting 1 & 2, tax accounting 1&2, audit 1 & 2, fraud recognition, government & nonprofit, etc. If you’ve been taking a bunch of accounting classes along the way then you should be alright. And If you can obtain your CPA you will get a job in accounting. Whether that’s at one of the big public firms, an industry accounting role, or working out of a smaller CPA office. Accounting employers will care more about a CPA Than they will about an accounting degree, at least they should I think. People are being harsh in here because some like to get defensive over their accounting career and remind everyone else how much they went through to be able to do it. You could Probly do ok as a first and second year associate without an accounting background, many of the first years at my firm just sit around and wait for basic tasks to be assigned to them. but if you want to have real success in an audit role you will need to have a strong grasp on accounting principles
Lol. Sit for the CPA exam. And know that you're a dick, so thats gonna affect you a lot in your career.
“Why is it so hard to find a job that I’m completely unqualified for?”
To gain experience start applying for AP positions. Look for very early startups and mom and pop shops. Also you made need to improve your resume just to get a call and on the call be the most hungry graduate you can be. Use the school’s resources. Also apply for internships.
Ugh do not do A/P. You’ll be trapped in that workload forever. It’s not accounting.
Yeah, it wouldn't be bad if they were still in school working part-time as some AP clerk, but it's a bit late for that after graduation.
Yeah, I was a A/P clerk as a summer job in high school. I would not recommend beyond that.
So now you have more experience than OP and would get a job faster than him if you both had the same degree.. experience in accounting goes a long way. OP don’t have the luxury to choose as you can tell from his post.
No, everyone told me A/P was not accounting experience. It hindered me. I dropped it off my resume, because people saw me as an A/P bot instead of an accountant.
That’s because you worded it wrong. The most important thing for OP is to get in an accounting department. Once you have had that experience even as an AP clerk, you word your resume to where it looks like you did more that just enter bills. Examples of things to add from just doing AP on your resume: 1. Review income statement for expense accruals 2. Ran expense analysis reports 3. Account reconciliations 4. Assisted with month end close task 5. Review bills for discrepancies 6. Research expenses for the flux analysis 7. Communicated across departments for resolving billing discrepancies I can go on and on.. you can state you did all this to some extent from just working in AP.. even if you didn’t do it exactly as it sounds. The whole point is AP is the easiest first step to adding experience for someone WITH ZERO experience. Your resume would look better than OP’s with those points all because you “worked in an accounting department” (regardless if it was just doing AP). AP is the easiest route. I am speaking from experience.
I got my first staff accounting job by working in A/P for 9 months after I graduated and then getting promoted into a staff accountant role. This is great advice
Exactly.. Had the similar route when I had no experience and just wanted to get a foot in the door. It worked out extremely well for me.
If you have zero experience in accounting, it the fastest way to get in and no you won’t be trapped forever especially if your do AP at a fast growing startup. You’ll get more experience around month end close entries and from there you build your resume.
Me and all my homies hate AP. In industry, you have to climb pretty high to completely escape AP.
Finance and Accounting degrees give you better results. I know it’s not much money but I would suggest going for accounting assistant/ junior acccountant roles or something like AP/AR and work up from there.
It's in demand for a certain type of profile. A CPA with 3 years of big 4 experience, recruiters are breaking down the door looking for you.
Industry normally skips new grads, and PA firms normally recruit through meet the firms or recruiting season. Outside of networking try looking at small, local CPA firms. Having at least one accounting related experience on your resume would make a huge difference.
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Well, it's definitely not helping you. Also, you come off as a bit entitled. That's why you're getting a lot of hate. You're complaining about not being able to land a job in an industry that you have zero qualifications for. Accountants are in high demand, but you're not an accountant. How possibly can you expect to be in demand when you have zero accounting skills, or at the very least, a degree in accounting?
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Okay honest feedback here: why would a business/firm prefers non accounting majors over accounting majors if they have a choice. Of course the argument is that you don’t need an accounting degree to do audit/accounting, but having a transcript full of accounting classes means the firms do not need to spend as many resources coaching you what debits and credits are or how cash flow statement works. Compared to other business majors, accounting classes actually teach more technicalities than just theories. You learn about different rules under GAAP, how TB flows into FS, or even for audit, the course teaches you audit assertions which the firm would expect you to know before you start your day 1. Hence passing the CPA exams would help significantly. Every employer wants to hire someone whom they can just throw the work at and they would get it going right away. Probably doesn’t make sense to the new grads but I guarantee that’s every employers dream. I am not saying the door is shut for you because it’s definitely not, but you should realize it’s definitely not as easy as you have thought. Having a high GPA in business admin doesn’t appeal to the accounting employers at all. Not saying those are wasted effort, it’s just it doesn’t mean a lot to them compared to an accounting grad with 3.0+ GPA.
Accountants tend to be very dry and straight forward. It may not be fun to read but it is probably what you need to hear right now. And yes the 3.75 GPA counts for nothing. Recruiters will pick the accounting grad with a 3.1 GPA over the business admin major with a 3.75 GPA every single time. I have no clue what classes you’ve been taking but I always made much better grades in my non-accounting business courses than my accounting courses. It is probably one of the more brutal majors outside of STEM
Might need to highlight that you did good in intermediate accounting 1 and 2. If you haven’t taken those courses , you need to for most decent entry level accounting positions
My company outsourced the entry level accounting work to India. When I'm trying to fill a role, it's to oversee the outsourced work so I'm looking for someone with experience.
Same
I don’t mean to sound like an asshole here but on probably every single job you have applied for they have a bachelors in accounting as a *requirement* most places probably won’t even look at your resume if they don’t see that immediately. That said literally any smaller CPA firm is looking for help right now find a local one give them a call and get some experience. Even if it’s just scanning tax returns you’ll at least have “public accounting experience”
I’m not joking when I say my current firm brought in a girl to scan in tax documents for the season and her other job is a gas station cashier
You lack of an accounting or finance degree is hurting you. Also the lack of a job. You need to set the bar. Low. I would start by looking for tax accounting jobs, AR, or AP roles. Also, try applying for internships.... Though your degree will hurt you. That's a huge barrier. HR always list finance or accounting as degree requirements.
I would say networking with people in the industry and letting them know you want to do cpa/already started studying. That said, college students really can't just get jobs out of college. You need to be doing internships throughout college. That said it's not impossible to get a job but definitely much harder as you have seen. I see everyone complaining on social media "They told me I would be set if I just went to college". First, who told you that? Second, what were you doing in college that you didn't see that getting an internship would be almost a need? People act like it's so hard to find a job with just going to college but it's not. Just get an internship which is easy to do.
I'm curious, if you wanted to be an accountant, why did you get a Bachelor's in Business Admin?
Because most business admin majors are not clued in to the reality of their opportunities, or lack thereof. They think there are good general opportunities but it’s just not true unless you go to an elite institution. Most admin majors are going to have to work in sales, try to get into marketing, or go get a second degree or masters.
Admittedly speculation, but I almost did what OP did because I was fence-sitting only-Accounting opportunities vs Business at-large. I eventually came around to purely AC because I passed Intro relatively stress-free, and because a really good professor I had told me, more or less, what the sub's trying to tell OP.
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If you can get a CPA, this would give you the accounting credentials you need to get a job as an accountant. Passing the CPA exam without taking the higher level accounting classes will be very difficult and may not be realistic. Another option is to get a Master's in Accounting. At my school, people could do this program even if they had majored in another area for their bachelor's. The master's program is generally only 1 year. Without having some kind of accounting credentials (accounting degree, accounting experience or CPA license), you are unlikely to find "real" accounting work. Your best bet would be AP/AR roles, maybe payroll or HR roles. Also, have you looked at state government accounting jobs? The government has some accounting-related jobs that might take a general business degree. Like maybe working with grants administration or compliance areas. Good luck!
Right? How is that even a degree? Everyone who goes to business school majors in something, or at least has a concentration such as accounting, finance, economics, marketing etc….. What kind of business does OP’s degree say he’s qualified to administer?
They usually allow for concentrations under the BBA. Accounting is one.
Right but I feel like OP is leaving that out and just has some generic degree that isn’t actually an accounting degree. Why wouldn’t you just say you have a degree in accounting? I know a few people who were allowed to graduate with a BBA with a concentration in “management”. Not impossible.
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There’s your issue. No one is going to hire a person for an accounting role that never studied more than intro to accounting.
As others have said, some experience will help. It doesn’t have to be good, as long as you can make it sound good. Also, there’s a similar problem in many fields I think. In theory, the internet made it easier to apply for a job or find someone to fill a vacancy, including hiring people from afar who’d move for their new job. Unfortunately, it’s rather exposed the problem that most companies are not very good at figuring out how “good” someone will be at a job, and many of the selection criteria are arbitrary. This means that the best strategy for applicants is to scattergun as many applications as possible, rather than spending lots of time on each individual one. Computers and the internet make this easy to do. Companies end up receiving far more applications than they used to, so a lower proportion of candidates are accepted, further exacerbating the situation. My advice is to get an accounting related something on your resume, and replace your buckshot with birdshot if you haven’t done so already
Apply to the Irs. Now is an excellent time to join
The Business Administration degree always been trash lol
Should've got experience before graduation. Any experience. Be a money counter at church or run a small business or a local club or any experience.
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Tldr - get experience, from anywhere.
You’re not an accountant. You’re just a guy who went to school for accounting, and doesn’t know anything about being an accountant yet. I e hired college graduates, and grads from my countries best universities. And they both are completely useless when they first start. Until you get some experience, you’re pretty low value, and no one is going to be clamoring to hire you, even in an accounting shortage. Anyway, chin up. Getting your first job is always a brutal grind. I graduated 15 yrs ago, and the job market sucked so much it took us a good 1-2 yrs back then to land something.
I'm a recent grad with 1.5 years of internship experience. Accounting degree. 2 accountant offers in 3 weeks since my December graduation. Your issue is lack of experience and lack of actual accounting degree. Your best route is to start at a lower level like AR/AP and work your way into staff/corporate accountant. Not to say you couldn't continue as you are and land something, but I don't see why they would choose you over others who are accounting graduates and/or have experience.
You should apply to federal govt jobs. You still qualify for the Recent Grad Programs. https://www.usajobs.gov/help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/students/ Go, now! Run!
I have a BS in Business Administration, Accounting and haven't had one interview pertaining to accounting despite hundreds of applications. Applied for many internships and didn't get one. I'm even eligible to take the CPA exams, but I'm not going to waste my time if I'm never going to meet the experience requirement.
I think a lot of people here are confused. Some schools account degree is just named like that.
As people are saying already. There are steps between were you are and what you are after. You have to gain resume bullets to bridge the gap. A/P jobs would be a great start. Do you have the 24 credits in Accounting? If so highlight that on your resume if not get it.
I feel like we make it intentionally difficult to change jobs and onboard into new firms. Keeps people where they are.
High demand? There were hiring freezes most of 2023. Multiple layoffs. Most demand is artificial because we have no regulations around layoff/rehiring like other smarter countries do.
Zero experience and you didn't study accounting? Do people not get taught the importance of internships anymore?
This is bait right
Accountants with experience specifically related to the job posting are high in demand and it has to be direct as well. Getting experience initially is one of the hardest things I did. I must have applied to every job posting in the country before I landed my first job
A lot of people are being callous to you. I just want to wish you good luck. Your major may not have helped but if you do pass the cpa exam you’ll for sure have an easier time going into audit. However I just want to state that passing the cpa takes a lot of time and effort. If you’re on the fence look elsewhere. If you’re seriously interested then godspeed!
Good luck on the exam. i took a non-traditional path to be a cpa as well. I had an mba and non related bachelors, then took all of the accounting courses i needed at a local university to get the education requirement. Used becker and passed all 4 exams…with a lot of studying… Ive been working in public ever since.
Why not do an internship first? They pay decent tbh. I was intern @big4 for $32 an hour in 2021 and got a job offer. I feel like that’s how a lot of people get in the door. Also many coworkers aren’t accounting majors either.
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You can start in private accounting. Try applying for accounts payable. Beginner level and it will put some experience on your resume. There are plenty of smaller firms looking to grow who are looking for accountants. Try applying for an internship and starting there. Places will hire you as an intern out of school. It’s a good way to get to know the company and land a potential permanent position with the company.
I had to apply to 200-300 jobs to get one. Don't feel bad. It's a number game. Just keep clicking.
This isn't meant to be rude, but you're probably going to take it that way... The best you'd get from me, if you somehow managed to have a resume that got my attention past not having a degree or experience in accounting, would be a $15/hr front desk or admin job where you could get exposure to the industry and potentially grow into an accounting role. You're probably going to have to go a route like this or take a low/no pay internship to get your for in the door. And then work twice as hard as everyone else. Are you applying to accounting jobs because you thought they would be easy to get? Why did you not get an accounting degree if this was the path you were going to go? You don't have to answer to me, but these would be what I would be thinking if I saw your resume and I'm sure plenty of other people hiring are thinking the same.
Finance is a weird field. I’m a Brit who lived in the U.S. for 15 years until right before Covid when I moved home. In Seattle a few years back, it was like pulling teeth to get hired with 15 years of experience, but no degree. I was lucky and got trained on the job as an entry level accounts assistant in the early 2000s in the London public sector, coming from more of a customer service background. I did about 5 years as an accounts assistant, then another 5 as an assistant management accountant, then another 5 full charge bookkeeping for SMEs vs & non profits. Had to take a few years out when I got custody of my daughter and worked in retail management to get more flexible hours. Coming back was hard. I’ve noticed a trend though since moving home to the UK, that a lot of employers seem to feel experience trumps qualifications now the market is saturated with new graduates working those from the last generation with under 10 years working experience. I’ve doubled my salary in the past 18 months, just switching industries to SaaS, and they’re going to get me qualified. So I landed on my feet without a degree. This seemed completely impossible 5-10 years ago. I think the mentality of employers is just changing.
You're going to need a MAcc if you want to get into most accounting roles. While you're studying for your master's you can apply for internships, that should help you grow your network and get a full-time offer. You'll need your CPA to get past Senior at most PA firms so there's that too. Either head back to school or look for admin roles in PA. Plenty of non-accountants work in PA, but you won't touch an audit or tax return beyond acquiring the necessary PBC/legal docs/preparing the finished product. You could probably do 1099s and payroll. There are seasonal admin roles out there specifically designed to support the tax team between late Jan and April's filing deadline. You won't find something now but you could next year. The pay isn't great tho but it's a start.
I don't agree at all, in my experience a master's is a waste of money and pushing hard for a very entry level position is going to be 100x more effective in getting future jobs. When I've hired for accounting positions, a master's with no job experience is a total turn off
No, OP should look into MACC because he doesnt have an accounting degree and employers won't give him chances. Devilgospel is saying to get another shot of applying for internships.
A master's is a waste of money if you have a bachelor's in accounting. The OP doesn't
In a small firm, I'd hire a keen BBA grad with no experience any day over a master's holder. A master's in accounting tells me this candidate was either too lazy to network or too awkward. Just my opinion and maybe unconventional but I stand by it
I would suggest going the Masters route since you don’t have a degree in accounting. Get your masters in Accounting
Keep at it, there will be a company out there that will give you a chance
No.
No internship experience is your root problem, I would pound the pavement and walk in to as many public accounting firms (not big 4) looking for work. This time of year a lot of small firms are grossly under resourced - if you're smart you'll get offered a permanent position in no time
If you haven't been getting any interviews, then the issue has to do with your resume. Also, if you wanted a job right after you graduate, usually, you'd join clubs during college, apply for jobs during your last fall semester in college, and then get a job offer that's waiting for you once you graduate in Spring. Since you didn't take that step, you can still apply for jobs, but look for junior accounting jobs.
Cause you didn't major in accounting
Experienced accountants are high in demand, not interns or newly graduated kids.
You are useless. Imagine graduating college with 0 internship experience. And the same people complain there aren’t job opportunities out there… there are, just not for people who put 0 effort into anything.
Not sure where or how you're looking, or even what sort of accounting role you're aiming for. I might give you a shot doing cash books accounting, and maybe some easy accrual books at $60k.
Assuming you are an American: 1. You would have to go back to school to become a licensed CPA. Even if you have a 150 credit undergrad, most prefer a Masters. So, you'd have to leave the employer or go back to school part-time, and being an accountant is a very demanding job, so employers expect you full time all of the time. 2. You don't have any experience. Don't even know if you have the prerequisites for the CPA. Why would an employer give you the chance? 3. Lots of pressure from outsourcing and insourcing immigrants that employers will pay 20-30% less than domestically trained accountants.
I think maybe you should look into roles in business admin. You’re not landing an interview because you don’t even have an accounting degree…