Young CPA looking to move to Chicago for work

[Chicago60614]

I would certainly look into it, the opportunity for jobs as an accountant in Chicago are obviously going to be much greater than much different than a smaller place like southern Illinois, which is also very "off the radar" for most mainstream accounting companies.

I moved to the Chicago fresh out of school and got my CPA and masters as well, I had absolutely no problem getting a job here after my masters, I actually moved here for the 1-year MSA program at UIC and had a job before school was out, although of course that was before 2008. You should be making well over $50K per year here if you have 5 years experience and an MBA and CPA. I don't know anyone in the accounting field who's having any troubles finding work in Chicago. My company hires fresh graduates with no CPA who are entry level at around $55K min. I went straight into private accounting with Equity Office, then they got bought out and I switched to my current job and got promoted multiple times and have a great salary. I think a lot is personality over the simple fact of if you did public or private. Many many of my friends are in accounting just based on the fact I've been in the industry here for 12 years and when looking back at who started in public or private there's no difference or correlation at all between them. Actually a few who started in public are trailing a bit from other friends who never did public (I never did, only heard the WORST things about it).

Don't just move here with no options though, although if you did, I would expect you could find something. Even my company is hiring one or two new people per month and we're only a firm of around 275 people.

At your level though I would go straight for the senior accounting positions, as with 5 years of expererience you're too much for simple entry level. Most of those are people who are fresh out of school or have worked for a year or maybe two doing something they hate and they're willing to springboard to another entry level just to get away. Senior positions are obviously a little harder to break into than entry level since most people get promoted internally, although it's not impossible or anything. One of my current seniors was hired from outside our company and has worked well.

Wages are going to be a lot lower in southern illinois for that type of work. One of my friends moved from Chicago to northeast Iowa after he got married and was extremelly upset as just how much the offerings for accounting there (for the same work he was doing in Chicago) were compared to Chicago. It's just the nature of this being a huge hub with a lot of large successful companies that can and do pay more to be in the fast moving and higher energy places like the loop.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Parsec

This is good advice, but I didn't say people starting out in private have no chance of breaking into management. It's just a lot harder and you need to have a certain personality. If you start in public accounting you have a very good chance of breaking into management in private industry (I'd say well over 50% chance), whereas less than 10-20% of staff accountants in private industry make it past senior accountant. I'm saying this as I look out at the sea of cubicles from the window of my office at a large investment management firm in downtown Boston. Sadly, many of these people are much older than I am (in my mid 30's) and they will never make it out of cubicle-land. We may disagree on some things, but one thing for certain is there are more job opportunities for finance & accounting professionals in the city core than there are in the far-out suburbs/exurbs of any major city.

Personally, I am starting to wonder how many recent accounting graduates are being hired by the Big 4 accounting firms. My last twenty contacts with the major firms have been with partners, senior managers and senior staff that are foreign nationals - Serbia, Ireland, etc.. Some were educated in the US, most were not. Also, I am wondering how much of the groundwork is outsourced ... I was getting too many emails that were stamped at 2 am in my last contact with Deloitte.

[Chicago60614]

^ going into private is SO much better on your health and personal life. People who go into public end up leaving suicidal about two years later, or so has happened to my friends.

[billiken]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Personally, I am starting to wonder how many recent accounting graduates are being hired by the Big 4 accounting firms. My last twenty contacts with the major firms have been with partners, senior managers and senior staff that are foreign nationals - Serbia, Ireland, etc.. Some were educated in the US, most were not. Also, I am wondering how much of the groundwork is outsourced ... I was getting too many emails that were stamped at 2 am in my last contact with Deloitte.

The Big 4 still hire very large start classes, but I can't compare it to what things used to be like. All the firms are outsourcing work overseas as well (one of the reasons I left was the increase in this activity). There's a lot of international mobility now too--even smaller offices are getting people on rotations from other continents and a lot of my old co-workers are working in Asia or eastern Europe now.

Also, I wouldn't knock public accounting all together. I did the Big 4 thing right out of school, and then moved to a smaller regional firm and its a very different workplace.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Personally, I am starting to wonder how many recent accounting graduates are being hired by the Big 4 accounting firms. My last twenty contacts with the major firms have been with partners, senior managers and senior staff that are foreign nationals - Serbia, Ireland, etc.. Some were educated in the US, most were not. Also, I am wondering how much of the groundwork is outsourced ... I was getting too many emails that were stamped at 2 am in my last contact with Deloitte.

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

^ going into private is SO much better on your health and personal life. People who go into public end up leaving suicidal about two years later, or so has happened to my friends.

I think we are talking about 2 different things. The OP has been working for 5 years and has great credentials, but didn't seem to be going anywhere career-wise if he stayed on that career track. I didn't recommend a career in public accounting, specifically auditing. I think he can get his career off the ground by switching to public accounting for 2-5 years, then switch back to private after gaining some more experience. It will give him exposure to a wide variety of industries too as long as he doesn't go to the Big4. I think a regional or larger local firm would actually be a better choice for him.