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NYC is not Boston. Completely different ballgame when it comes to finance/accounting jobs. The employers are much pickier and there is a lot more competition for the jobs. Unless you have personally been in this position before where you are looking for a finance job in NYC with a degree from FL, you have no idea how it really is. I have been there, done that. It is not impossible, but the options are limited and it will take longer than if you went to a (at least) top 50 business school.
Many recruiters will contact you to tell you that you are a good candidate for the position but they cannot consider you until you have already moved. NYC employers do not have to, and therefore rarely do, consider candidates that are relocating, especially for positions that aren't hard to fill like staff/senior accountants. They have plenty to choose from in their own city.
Also, it will be harder for the OP to get a public accounting job because there is state and local tax up there and the assumption is that he/she does not know anything about NYS and NYC tax laws. So he/she will get an entry level position at a CPA firm at best.
I highly recommend against anyone trying to do this. It is a long, painful process and the cost of living is ridiculous up there. Even if the OP gets a raise to $50k, which is over 40% higher than the $35k he/she gets in FL, life will be tough. State and city income tax can eat up 10% of your pay, and rent is outrageous. The OP can expect to pay $1500 minimum for a small, crappy 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Groceries, clothing, and entertainment are also more expensive.
That being said, if the OP insists on doing this- expect it to take up to a year to find a job. Also, you will need at least $10k saved up. This is for flights to NYC for interviews (most employers will not pay for them), a short 3-4 day trip up there to find an apartment once you get a job, moving expenses, and the apartment (most will require a 1-2 month deposit, first month, and last month at lease signing). Also, most landlords require your annual income to be at least 40x your monthly rent.
There is a difference between elite finance jobs and accounting and middle brow finance jobs like underwriting at an insurance company, credit analysts at banks, or compliance professionals.
Most elite colleges don't even have accounting programs and if they do they are usually tiny and often focused on graduate school. Undergrads at places like Rutgers, SUNYs, St. John's, Seton Hall, Syracuse, UConn, Penn St., etc. overwhelmingly make up the starting classes at Big 4 firms. I don't think I've ever met a person with an Ivy league undergrad at a Big 4, even at the NYC offices. Big 4 and the next three alums make up a lot of the accounting staff Fortune 500 type companies. A USF undergrad + MBA + FL CPA is going to be fine compared to those with undergrads at the schools above.
The problem is that most quality entry level employers almost exclusively hire students prior to graduation, so you'll be competing for a small number of entry level positions not filled. It will be tough to break in and you probably won't have the contacts or networking opportunities regional students have. It is going to be tough without a herculian effort and/or power networking.
Like the PP said, your best bet is probably smaller firms that don't hire students a year in advance and are short staffed, but they often don't pay well. Your CPA will be very valuable, as it will let you sign a power of attorney for tax clients and can transfer to a NY CPA without too much effort. You can also apply for the financial regulators like the SEC, FINRA, and the NYSE.
You don't really need to know NYS and NYC tax laws. It isn't that different than other state and local tax laws that a CPA can pick up pretty quickly, though most accounting jobs don't have anything to do with state and local tax issues.
A degree from ANY accredited university should be looked at exactly the same. A lot of people put more weight into an ivy league school, or something that is pseudo prestigious like Penn State/Ohio State/Michigan, but it's all the same. That's the entire point of the accreditation institutions.
Not quite true. Some schools have more rigorous standards and admissions policies. You can't pit a Michigan against a USF...ever. It's not even in the same league. Not to say that the OP wouldn't have luck finding work in the north. I think s/he should be fine for the most part, though some regions are very biased towards their home-grown grads.
In NYC they do. Why would they choose someone that went to USF when they have NYU, Columbia, and Cornell graduates applying? Not all employers see it this way but the larger/more prestigious ones do. That's why the OP just has to apply for the jobs that those people are likely not applying for.
Even then, employers in NYC do not like to hire people that don't live there. This is because NYC is SO different from most other cities in the US that they're afraid the candidate will not like it or will not financially survive and will leave.
Accredited schools are one thing, but it doesn't mean they are considered equally. A school that is larger is often perceived, right or not, as more competitive for grades. So student from big schools in the East or Big 10 & the Domers may get preferential consideration when the initial resume scan is done.
Not quite true. Some schools have more rigorous standards and admissions policies. You can't pit a Michigan against a USF...ever. It's not even in the same league. Not to say that the OP wouldn't have luck finding work in the north. I think s/he should be fine for the most part, though some regions are very biased towards their home-grown grads.
I agree. But if you look at the list of the best accounting schools below (per the professor's survey by the CPA Report), you'll notice how regional all the top schools are and how so few are in the Northeast. There is only 1 school that is really in the Northeast, Penn., but their grads don't really get accounting degrees. They all get B.S. in economics, though students can get concentrations in accounting that gives them enough credits to sit for the CPA exam. I'm told this concentration is not popular with domestic students at Wharton and few pursue careers in accounting right away at firms (anyone can correct me if I'm wrong).
While a fair amount of ND, Michigan, UVA, and Penn St. grads will go to NYC, the bulk of the entry level classes at Big 4 firms in NYC do not come from elite colleges or top accounting programs. So a USF degree is not going to be looked down upon like you'd think in NYC. Accounting in NYC is not really an elitist profession, it is more of a meritocracy. If you got the goods, you'll get hired and do well.
Top 20 Undergraduate Accounting Programs:
1 The University of Texas at Austin
2 University of Illinois
3 Brigham Young University
4 University of So. California
5 University of Notre Dame
6 University of Michigan
7 University of Pennsylvania
8 The Ohio State University
10 Michigan State University
10 Northern Illinois University
11 Indiana Univ
12 Univ of Alabama
13 Texas A&M Univ
14 Miami (Ohio) Univ
15 Uni of Wisconsin
17 Uni of Georgia
17 Pennsylvania State
18 Univ of Virginia
20 Univ of Washington
20 Arizona State Univ
Honestly? It's going to be tough right now - even in a good economy finance/accounting in NYC are SUPER competitive and with the downturn it's even more so. USF isn't a bad school but I doubt recruiters up here are really familiar with it and there's probably not a strongly entrenched network of alumni from USF in NYC and the surrounding metro. (Many hiring managers DO look more favorably on someone from their own or a local school, particularly when all other factors are equal.)
$50K in NYC is NOT a lot of money, in fact if you live in the city proper expect to live in a studio (or have a few roommates) on that salary because the cost of living is sky high.
A degree from ANY accredited university should be looked at exactly the same. A lot of people put more weight into an ivy league school, or something that is pseudo prestigious like Penn State/Ohio State/Michigan, but it's all the same. That's the entire point of the accreditation institutions.
they most definitely shouldnt be. different admissions standards for schools help ensure some schools have smarter students. im not sure how hard or easy the work is from one school to another but the students arent all the same.
State and local taxes are most certainly worked on in CPA firms, so not sure why anyone said it doesn't matter. In FL we have no state and local taxes to worry about, and NYS is actually quite different from many other states.
Also, NYS is not an easy state to transfer a CPA license. Actually I believe if you have not been working in accounting for at least 5 years after you received your license you cannot transfer it and have to apply for it just like anyone that just passed the exam. This means you have to meet all their education and work requirements for initial licensure.
I highly recommend against anyone trying to do this. It is a long, painful process and the cost of living is ridiculous up there. Even if the OP gets a raise to $50k, which is over 40% higher than the $35k he/she gets in FL, life will be tough. State and city income tax can eat up 10% of your pay, and rent is outrageous. The OP can expect to pay $1500 minimum for a small, crappy 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Groceries, clothing, and entertainment are also more expensive.
I often hear recent grads making the comparison between the entry-level salary in a low cost location with less job opportunities to the entry-level salary at a high cost location with more job opportunities. But how about the comparison later in the career. How do salaries of top execs in NYC compare to top execs in Tampa? What about promotion opportunities? Are there more opportunities in the NYC area or Tampa? Where are you more likely to find a job that gives you greater responsibility, looks good on a resume, and therefore provides more career growth potential?
Last edited by hashbrown; 06-22-2011 at 07:54 PM..
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