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Ok here is the deal: I got screwed out of excellent universities in high school because I was depressed/burned out. I had an IB diploma from the best public school in that city boatload of AP/IB courses. 6 years of science (AP Bio/Chem/Phys) AP AB/BC Calc etc. The course history was excellent grades were not all A's because there was no passion there. For a variety of reasons I chose to go to a state university. My early college years the carnage from high school continued(my GPA dropped below 2.0 and went on academic probation) but I switched majors and regained my footing and graduated with an overall GPA of over 3.3 and almost 3.9 in the major. I graduated with a degree in Finance.
The problem is I cant a job ANY job as an accountant (or even accounting clerk I have considerable accounting course work) or anything related to finance in any way shape or form. I see all these jobs advertising 40k/year and up(or even well below like $12/hr) and I am not getting them. I had about 20 interviews(many not related to accounting or finance such as insurance) since I graduated over a year ago and not a single job offer. I don't know of a way to communicate to employers that I am not one of those "state university grads" who spent their years at frat houses. I have analytical skills and there was a paper I did at university and its predictions came true. The problem I see is that corporations seek ivy grads with manicured bios and don't care about late bloomers from state universities. There is nothing I can do to show to Target(or whomever) that I am a cut above the stereotypical "state university grad"
I know very well that accounting is not rocket science and it does not take 3-5 years to learn general ledger accounts payable/receivable(they are a joke). It is not just my opinion my accounting professor in college (who is a CPA and considered me as one of her best students ever) felt the same way.
I don't see how I can get out of this quagmire and onto a job appropriate for a college grad with a legitimate degree and legitimate skills.
Have you thought of VOLUNTEER Work to get the experience, resume builders, and of course referrals? If you are unemployed or under employed, you can get all this by volunteering in your own community (Volunteer Fire Depts, Religious, Community Based .orgs).
If you are getting interviews, then the state school is not the problem. They already knew the school from reading the resume, and chose to call you. If they only wanted certain colleges, you would not have been interviewed.
These days, isn't accounting at many large corporations pretty much handled automated via various software apps?
Try sending your resume to one of the Big 4 Accounting firms (Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte-Touche-Tohmatsu).
They hire recent Accounting/Finance graduates with little/no experience all the time for an average entry-level wage of $50K, especially with your type of GPA, since they have such a high turn over. If you stay there about 3-5 years and become a CPA, you will be able to compete for Controller/CFO positions at Fortune 500 companies, which easily pay six-figures.
There's a lot of competition for jobs at the Big 4 Accounting Firms, but it doesn't hurt to send your resume to them.
Last edited by 313Weather; 08-11-2012 at 07:28 PM..
If you are getting interviews, then the state school is not the problem. They already knew the school from reading the resume, and chose to call you. If they only wanted certain colleges, you would not have been interviewed.
These days, isn't accounting at many large corporations pretty much handled automated via various software apps?
Interviews are an arbitrary and subjective experience. When you see someone asking you behavioral questions about an ACCOUNTING job you know the interview is BS. I don't have a bubbly personality. That is why I am not(and never have) applied to jobs/industries that required outgoing personalities. I am a serious, driven no nonsense person.
First of all, you sound very negative like you have a total chip on your shoulder.
The past is the past, why you did or didn't go to whatever school doesn't matter. It's done, it's over, move on.
I'll bet this is why you are getting interviews but not job offers.
Time to sit down with someone who can do a mock interview and give you very critical and truthful feedback. If you come off in an interview as angry and uptight as you did in your post, I wouldn't hire you either, regardless of how awesome your resume was.
By the way, I think you are very rude in your comments about state university grads being drunken frat boys and ne'er do wells. It's an highly inaccurate statement and very offensive.
Interviews are an arbitrary and subjective experience. When you see someone asking you behavioral questions about an ACCOUNTING job you know the interview is BS. I don't have a bubbly personality. That is why I am not(and never have) applied to jobs/industries that required outgoing personalities. I am a serious, driven no nonsense person.
While that may be true, and an asset to the company, you still need to be able to get along with coworkers and not be the person the others hide from in the hallways and pretend they don't see when the elevator doors are closing and you are running toward them.
So, figuring out a way past the interviews, which are partly designed to see if you fit into the company culture, is a huge step.
You are not going to run into an interview that is nothing but a math test. People spend a significant portion of their time at work. If they are miserable, they leave. If there is a person in the office making them miserable because they are terrible to work with, they leave. So brushing up on how to answer those questions and coming across as socially adept is not that hard.
I would not hire someone, no matter how great they are, who was going to ruin morale, and be mean to the staff...I am guessing by acting like the interview is BS, that is how you are coming across.
First of all, you sound very negative like you have a total chip on your shoulder.
The past is the past, why you did or didn't go to whatever school doesn't matter. It's done, it's over, move on.
I'll bet this is why you are getting interviews but not job offers.
Time to sit down with someone who can do a mock interview and give you very critical and truthful feedback. If you come off in an interview as angry and uptight as you did in your post, I wouldn't hire you either, regardless of how awesome your resume was.
By the way, I think you are very rude in your comments about state university grads being drunken frat boys and ne'er do wells. It's an highly inaccurate statement and very offensive.
I agree he comes off as someone with a giant chip. I more than covered that, I think, in my post before I even saw yours. Which should be telling to OP, as 2 different hiring professionals in different industries, are coming to the same independent conclusion.
And I also, as a grad of a state school who graduated in 4 years with a 3.7 in my major (3.5 overall) I find it offensive that all of us who went to them are terrible and useless.
First of all, you sound very negative like you have a total chip on your shoulder.
The past is the past, why you did or didn't go to whatever school doesn't matter. It's done, it's over, move on.
I'll bet this is why you are getting interviews but not job offers.
Time to sit down with someone who can do a mock interview and give you very critical and truthful feedback. If you come off in an interview as angry and uptight as you did in your post, I wouldn't hire you either, regardless of how awesome your resume was.
By the way, I think you are very rude in your comments about state university grads being drunken frat boys and ne'er do wells. It's an highly inaccurate statement and very offensive.
Yep, I should be cheerful after more than a year of unemployment post college graduation where I strove for excellence and got nothing for it. Getting screwed out of a life must surely feel good. I can understand people who committed crimes but I never had so much as a high school referral in my life(never had a ticket/no arrests/no drug problem)
Yep, I should be cheerful after more than a year of unemployment post college graduation where I strove for excellence and got nothing for it. Getting screwed out of a life must surely feel good. I can understand people who committed crimes but I never had so much as a high school referral in my life(never had a ticket/no arrests/no drug problem)
Let's say I was a hiring manager looking for an accountant. Why would I hire you?
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