Please help? (22 y/o, recent college grad not having luck in job search) (2015, collect)

[514gal]

Originally Posted by 2nccoast

You are lucky that strangers would set aside that much time to talk to you. If I got such a cold call, I would decline to take it. If you are referred to me by someone I know, then it's a different story and I would most likely take your call.

It is actually effective about 60% of the time which is high considering every last one of the people I contacted were total strangers. It works best if you target alumni from the same school as you or people who studied the same subject. There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about it but if you do it properly you can make a lot of useful contacts this way. Sites like Forbes recommend it as a job search strategy.

[2nd trick op]

Is the OP really sure that the strongly hierarchical and territorial word of accounting is what he wants to do or the rest of his life?; or what he might do if he finds this to be the case after investing a few more years on top of his education, at entry level? -- and with the intrinsic value, if there ever was any, of his credentials depleted?

With Labor Day, and all the annual rites of fall (new school year, preparation for the Holidays, etc.) approaching, many cyclical businesses will be gearing up. My advice would be to seek one of these jobs (I personally favor distribution centers). You'll get exposure to a wide variety of personalities -- many of them young and neither jaded nor pigeonholed into a narrow role. And accounting training can relate to a large number of economic activities as a peripheral skill.

And you might want to look into preparing consumer income taxes after the first of the new year as well.

[Rickyism]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, much appreciated. I went on several interviews during college but received no offers.
Would it be a good idea to take the business cards I received and reach out to some of those companies? I figure it can't hurt though I don't want to seem too desperate.

And yes, I definitely want to go into accounting. My plan is to work for a few years and then look into taking the CPA exam. Pretty much every senior accounting major was able to land a job, which makes it all the more frustrating.

[High Altitude]

Originally Posted by Rickyism

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, much appreciated. I went on several interviews during college but received no offers.
Would it be a good idea to take the business cards I received and reach out to some of those companies? I figure it can't hurt though I don't want to seem too desperate.

And yes, I definitely want to go into accounting. My plan is to work for a few years and then look into taking the CPA exam. Pretty much every senior accounting major was able to land a job, which makes it all the more frustrating.

Yes, contact them all, but you better be able to talk about all the good stuff you have been doing since you talked to them last.

Also, contact all the people you knew/know when you went to school. If they all got jobs as you say, that is a lot of good contacts.

The problem with accounting, or any major really, is the longer it takes to get hired after graduation, the worse it looks to the employer.

I mean, if no one has hired you, there must be a reason, right?

(that is what the employers are thinking)

Just keep moving forward, but you might want to also look into other fields of employment and self employment in the mean time. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

You need to dig deep and pull out all the stops working as hard as you ever have in your entire life. You need to be doing something all day, every day towards getting a job. Seriously.

Also, having a personal brand on the internet is getting to be more of a big deal now. Some people even believe it is going to replace the resume. I don't know about that, probably for some jobs at the very least.

Start a blog about accounting or start a non profit like your very own VITA group (heck, do both!!!), get on social media, and put yourself out there as being someone. Create a buzz about yourself. Prove to the employers that you are someone worth hiring.

I am dead serious. You need to do everything you can.

If you aren't the kind of person willing to come out of their skin and show people who you are, you better start learning.

Just filling out apps, sending some resumes and making some calls is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Now, how bad do you want a job?

Get busy.

Rickyism, you are being left behind and this could easily have life long consequences. Get pissed, get motivated and show everyone, including yourself, they are wrong for not hiring you. Don't get depressed or lazy and let the system beat you. You still have time. It is way too early to bail out.

[High Altitude]

and report back after you land that accounting job, you got this!!!

[mkpunk]

Originally Posted by Rickyism

I'm sure there have been threads like this in the past but I don't have anyone to turn to and could really use some input on my situation!

I just graduated college with an accounting degree (and a minor in finance). I have a good enough GPA, leadership/extracurricular experience in college, and internship experience. I didn't have a job set up upon graduation, so I've been using Indeed with my resume uploaded to search for entry-level accounting positions. I live in New Jersey but am seeking to relocate as I'd like a fresh start. I've applied for lots of positions in different cities/areas, but haven't received much in the way of a response so far.

How should I go about this? I really don't enjoy sitting around never receiving a response. I'm sure my credentials are good enough. Whatever you can recommend would be appreciated - other job search websites to use, people I could possibly reach out to, etc.

I'm not trying to sound mean but what is a "good enough GPA"? I ask because I had a 3.33 and 3.34 GPA while in college on track to my General Business associates and Bachelors in Business Management (my major GPA was about 3.2 btw.) That and Disney intern experience only really got me cable tv/satelite sales (those annoying guys in Sam's, Costco and Walmart) or insurance sales job interviews despite a LOT of hustling with attending just about as many job fairs as possible when it came to finding work. Then again Arizona's 2012 economy (the summer I graduated) was basically the America of 2010. I nearly worked at one agency but failed the test and didn't take it again. Come to find out it would have led me to no job in a few months due to a massive change at the office that dumped all of the managers due to the head manager cooking the books on sales.
I even tried retail and many of those silly "personality tests" kicked me out because I answered honestly.
I ended up unemployed almost 16 months (a brief period in August/September 13 I had found work at a gas station but I was set up in that job and was given the mouth by my trainer who didn't even train me the right way on the mid-shift) before I found my first of the now two jobs I have now. It takes time but you'll land on your feet and figure it out.

[payutenyodagimas]

best bet is to apply in a small auditing firm. pay is low and the work brutal but it will be rewarding when you get the audit experience

[ezoe008]

Have you ever thought about seeking a headhunter or career counselor to help you in your job search?

[JanND]

I wonder if there are programs in the Gov't sector where you sign up to work somewhere like IRS in exchange for payment's/forgiveness of student loans? I know there are such programs for Attorney's, Dr.s, Teachers and Nurses.

Maybe research job related options on the IRS page, or look on pages related to your field for intern or paid positions. Any kind of experience on the job helps when you're a recent Grad. Maybe visit your campus and talk to your professors and ask questions. And, if you like to further your Ed, you might even look at opportunities to go for your Masters if there are programs such as TA or such on your campus.

Best of luck on everything, and please keep us posted even if it is just for us to encourage you.

Check on programs such as AmeriCorps http://www.indeed.com/q-Americorps-Program-jobs.html

[SiouxSue]

Stop applying for jobs! DO increase your networking -- calling those companies you interviewed with in college, reaching out to college friends and professors. Go on informational interviews, and do the following:

1. Join LinkedIn! I haven't seen any mention of LinkedIn in this discussion. A LinkedIn Profile is not optional for most professional jobs, including accounting. MOST employers (over 90% according to a recent JobVite survey) will Google you to compare your resume/application with your LinkedIn Profile, assuming that the profile you make public to friends and family is probably more accurate than your application.

LinkedIn is the "happy hunting ground" for most recruiters. It's the FIRST place they look for qualified candidates (because most of the applications to job postings are from people who aren't obviously qualified for the jobs they apply for).

If you don't have a LinkedIn Profile, set it up. NOW! Be sure to include a nice, professional headshot photo of you looking like you would in an office - no friends, pets, cartoons, or other distractions. Just you, looking like an accountant.

Then raise your visibility inside of LinkedIn --

* Connect to as many people inside LinkedIn as you can, friends from school, family, neighbors, etc. Because of the way that LinkedIn search works, your visibility inside of LinkedIn is usually dependent on the number of people you are connected to.

* Join LinkedIn Groups, particularly the Software & Technology Group which has nearly 1 million members and is where thousands of recruiters hang out because it is free for them to contact other members of the group.

* Join Groups for your target location, for accounting and accountants, for your school's alumni, for your hobbies and other interests. "Lurk" for a while, and then, carefully, raise your visibility. "Like" and comment on discussions. Post discussions (good articles that are relevant to the Group's topic and compliant with the Group's rules). No politics or religion or sports -- information related to your profession.

* Click on the "Jobs" link at the top of your LinkedIn home page, and then click on "Preferences" to make yourself more visible to recruiters and employers.

* If you are a decent writer, post an article you have written on LinkedIn Pulse. The best topic would be something related to accounting (NOT how hard it is to find an accounting job!) that would demonstrate your knowledge and interest in the topic. Maybe management accounting for people who run their own small businesses?

2. Practice Defensive Googling. Now, Google yourself (employers and recruiters will!) to see what they find.

* Anyone else using the same name who has done something an accountant would never want to be seen doing? Breaking the law, being evil, being nasty, etc. Potential employers will eliminate you from consideration without knowing that the evil person isn't you.

* Anyone else with the same name who is very famous? If there is, you won't be visible on the first page of search results, maybe not on the second or third page. Few people look past the top of the first page.

* Any pictures of you drinking too much or smoking pot?

* Any rants on sites like this where you have been nasty to someone or ranted about politics, religion, or sports?

3. Choose - and consistently use - a professional version of your name. For example, let's assume that your name is "James Earl Jones" - just like the movie star. If you use that version of your name, you will never be found in a Google (or Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.) search.

So, change the version of your name you use professionally to minimize confusion. Become James E. Jones (or Jim Jones) so no one looking for you runs into all of the search results for James Earl Jones. Then, use that version of your name for LinkedIn, resumes, applications, business cards, name tags, etc.

4. Clean up your online reputation. If there is content that will reflect poorly on you, remove/delete as much of it as you can, AND --

Build up your professional visibility with sites like Twitter.com, Medium.com, Google Plus, and (of course) LinkedIn. Visibility in those sites will push the bad stuff down off the top of the first page, gradually.

5. Focus on being found. After you have built up your LinkedIn Profile, using the professional version of your name, then you can go back to applying for jobs, but don't spent more than an hour a day doing it. In fact, spend more time being active and visible on LinkedIn than you do applying for jobs.

Hopefully, your next job will find you!