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How's the market looking for newly minted accountants? I'm an engineer who can't find work. One backup plan is to take accounting pre-reqs, sit in for my CPA exam, the run from there
Well, I'm a newly minted CPA with one year of experience who has been out of work for close to a year now, if that helps. I would guess it is not much better than engineering. Even if things turn around, I believe the general consensus is that the job situation will never be like it was pre-recession.
It's pretty bad for entry level--the big 4 have cut a ton of jobs and have slowed hiring, whether they will start hiring more soon remains to be seen. The new hires are always scared that they are going to be let go before they can get enough experience to get their CPA license.
The bigger firms generally aren't very open to career changers/non-traditional students, they usually want traditional college grads who "fit in" and are willing to work crazy hours.
I think it's even worse for smaller firms, a lot of them are struggling to survive and are merging, cutting lower level staff. IRS and other government jobs are getting CPAs with grad degrees and a lot of experience for entry level revenue agent jobs. Government is generally one of the few that is having a lot of hiring, but again, there are a lot of people vying for those jobs that would not have been interested in them a couple of years ago, and that gives new grads a disadvantage [although many times they can at least get an interview.]
Huge glut of unemployed accountants in many locations, may be more jobs in major metropolitan areas with a lot of business activity, but a lot of people have gone into accounting over the last 4-5 years and there are too many people competing for too few jobs, especially for those with 1-2 years of experience. People who have three years or more have an easier time, but I wonder if those of us who entered the profession over the last couple of years will ever manage to get enough experience to establish ourselves.
My advice, don't go into it unless it is something you would be interested in doing anyway. Way too many people have gone into this field because they heard it was "recession proof." It's not. When there is a financial meltdown, financial services are going to have a rough time.
Not good. Everyone and their mother is going "back to school" to study accounting.
In order to get a half-way decent entry level job that pays $50k in a large city you need to have all the required accounting courses and have passed all or a majority of the CPA exams. This is not easy. The whole process of taking classes and taking exams will easily take 2 years if your undergrad degree was not in accounting. $50k isnt a lot for the amount of education, stress, and pure boredom the accounting field offers. Plus the 55 hour work weeks!
However, once you do have that CPA you have the potential to make six figures after 7-10 years in the field. Definitely not a guarantee. Check the job postings for jobs requiring a CPA they also have VERY SPECIFIC job requirements as well. If you don't know their particular software, their specific industry regardless of your grades or other work experience you wont get the job. This is for public and private industry. Tax is a different beast.
Salaries in accounting is a very slow and steady progression. It has very little to do with how hard you work but more to do with how many years of direct experience you have.
Now if you don't have a CPA and your daddy doesnt happen to to own the company, you make peanuts compared to the amount of work you do. I've seen numerous ads for accounting positions that require 5 years of direct experience and only pay $45k. (this is very common) Accounting is one of the more difficult majors and these low ball numbers are just insane. Not worth it. The supply of accounting professionals is high but every organization needs an accountant.
I work in accounting and I'm trying to switch careers. Just the amount of work and stress in relation to the pay just isnt worth it for me. I have friends who majored in history that make more than me with lot less stressful jobs.
In tax I think much of the time you are kind of stuck with public accounting, unless you live somewhere with major companies that have their own tax department. I currently live someplace that does not have those type companies and have to really work to convince a lot of employers that I am a good prospect, even with the CPA. Hasn't happened yet, but I did have one recent second round interview that I'm hoping will work out.
Agree, the pay is pretty low considering the hours, level of education, and continuing study that you have to put in. Not to mention all the various expenses involved with maintaining a CPA license.
My husband went back to school and finished a degree in accounting precisely because he expected it to be a marketable field; so far he hasn't found a job. The local prospects are really dismal - $35K a year (or even less!) wanting 3-5 years of experience. $45K if you have a CPA and then you still need a couple years of experience.
Pretty much all of the supposedly "recession-proof" careers have turned out to be anything but. I thought about going back for a nursing degree but even on the nursing forums there's a lot of talk about part-time/no-benefits nursing jobs and unemployed new RN grads.
Come to central NJ. We are paying people with very little experience well over 50K. If you have 2 years of public you are probably getting closer to 65K.
I know this doesn't help you out right now, but I believe there are is going to be a huge increase in the need for accountants down the line when IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is required.
They are saying this will be kind of like when SOX came around.
I'm not sure, they've been talking about that for a long time. I agree it will have an impact in areas with a lot of publicly traded companies, the way that SOX did. I'm not sure if it will make as much of a difference outside of places that have a lot of that kind of thing.
Probably will provide more business for the bigger firms, and those are pretty tough to break into if you're above a certain age. Even if you do, it's pretty rough going. I know this from experience, my first and so far last accounting job was with a Big 4.
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