Recent college grad, need job advice

[Zack]

Originally Posted by rajont

Wondering if this board could offer me any advice. I graduated last year with a Bachelor's in Accounting and haven't been able to find any work (although I haven't been able to start applying until early this year, due to my immigration status). I'll start off and say I am at quite a disadvantage compared to my peers, especially in the D.C. metro area, as I was an F-1 student (meaning, here in the U.S. on a student visa) while studying and was not allowed to work ; therefore I do not have any work experience in the U.S., nor could participate in any internships (although I probably would have focused on my studies full-time anyway).

I have been on many, MANY job interviews; heck, I still probably have had a solid two interviews per week for the past two months, and have not had any offers, I'm assuming for the reasons above. I'm starting to get extremely discouraged, and am not sure where to go at this point.

Any advice???

There's a problem with how you come across in interviews, period. Your resume obviously has what hiring managers are looking for, as you are getting lots of interviews, but your not able to close the deal. Hiring managers generally conduct interviews to confirm what they see on paper and fill their vacancy, not just interview for fun. Accounting has a very low unemployment rate, so I assume for whatever reason, you are off-putting to the interviewers.

My advice is to evaluate all aspects of how you do the interview process.
- Are you dressed and groomed well - well fitted navy or dark grey suit, white shirt, red tie, conservative shoes, clean shaven, and conservative hairstyle. Spend the money on this if there are any gaps, as it'll pay back quickly with a paycheck from the job.
- Do you maintain eye contact when speaking, shake hands solidly, move your hands appropriately, etc. Pay attention to things you may do from your native country that may not go over well in an American workplace.
- Practice answering interview questions over and over. There are job centers and programs that can do mock interviews with you.
- Work on closing the sale. This is hard for someone just out of college, but is what separates those who get jobs from those that don't.

[iwired]

Since you are F1 student, you will probably get 1 year of OPT. After that you require to find H1b sponsored which pretty hard to get nowadays because of too many people trying as well.

Plus, have the job is federal job, you are automatically not qualified since they required at least Citizen or maybe green card.

Have you try other surrounding Cities? T.Rowe based off Baltimore, MD

[rajont]

Originally Posted by Zack

There's a problem with how you come across in interviews, period. Your resume obviously has what hiring managers are looking for, as you are getting lots of interviews, but your not able to close the deal. Hiring managers generally conduct interviews to confirm what they see on paper and fill their vacancy, not just interview for fun. Accounting has a very low unemployment rate, so I assume for whatever reason, you are off-putting to the interviewers.

My advice is to evaluate all aspects of how you do the interview process.
- Are you dressed and groomed well - well fitted navy or dark grey suit, white shirt, red tie, conservative shoes, clean shaven, and conservative hairstyle. Spend the money on this if there are any gaps, as it'll pay back quickly with a paycheck from the job.
- Do you maintain eye contact when speaking, shake hands solidly, move your hands appropriately, etc. Pay attention to things you may do from your native country that may not go over well in an American workplace.
- Practice answering interview questions over and over. There are job centers and programs that can do mock interviews with you.
- Work on closing the sale. This is hard for someone just out of college, but is what separates those who get jobs from those that don't.

Thank you for the advice. I think my "look" is professional, and I think where I am probably falling short is how I answer my questions. Obviously, I'm fluent in English, but could work on elaborating my answers. Interviews are obviously nervewracking for anyone, but especially for me, when I'm nervous I'm thinking in French and not English, and I think maybe my answers are too simple due to the fact. I've looked into career coaches this weekend, so hopefully that will be useful and not too expensive either.

Would it be weird to ask an interviewer why I didn't get a certain job? Of course I'd preface it with not that I'm looking for a second chance, but to see where I can improve and where they thought I fall short.

[rajont]

Originally Posted by iwired

Since you are F1 student, you will probably get 1 year of OPT. After that you require to find H1b sponsored which pretty hard to get nowadays because of too many people trying as well.

Plus, have the job is federal job, you are automatically not qualified since they required at least Citizen or maybe green card.

Have you try other surrounding Cities? T.Rowe based off Baltimore, MD

Again, I am no longer an F1 student as my wife is an American citizen and my Green Card is in process. I make it clear in every interview that I will not need sponsorship.

[Zack]

Originally Posted by rajont

Thank you for the advice. I think my "look" is professional, and I think where I am probably falling short is how I answer my questions. Obviously, I'm fluent in English, but could work on elaborating my answers. Interviews are obviously nervewracking for anyone, but especially for me, when I'm nervous I'm thinking in French and not English, and I think maybe my answers are too simple due to the fact. I've looked into career coaches this weekend, so hopefully that will be useful and not too expensive either.

Would it be weird to ask an interviewer why I didn't get a certain job? Of course I'd preface it with not that I'm looking for a second chance, but to see where I can improve and where they thought I fall short.

Check your look on a site such as Photofeeler and get some unbiased feedback. The volume of interviews you've gone through without getting an offer makes me think, something you are doing or how you look is just off-putting to interviewers. Accounting has really low unemployment, and I've previously worked with accountants who were fired for competency reasons, that I saw had new jobs within a few weeks.

If you ask an interviewer why you weren't selected, you will likely get a canned response from HR that doesn't open the company to any legal liability.

I would check out some of the job centers they have in the counties or with the State. They usually have interviewing classes and can give you advise for free or little money. Career coaches can sometimes be expensive or very expensive.

[TravelNatty]

Look for contracting jobs. Many companies will hire people on 3-6 month contracts to try them out or do short term work. It'll add experience to your resume and it may lead to more work if they like you. At the very least, if you can get good feedback from an assignment, your contracting firm can keep finding you more placements. Examples are Accounttemps (Robert Half) is in your area but more generally, Princeton Information, inScope, and Justin Bradley are some others. I'm sure with some googling, you'll find more.

While I'm not in accounting, I'm familiar with the industry. There are actually a lot of accounting graduates so competition is tough. There may be nothing wrong with how you interview, it's just that there are a lot of candidates to choose from. I've known some other accounting undergrads who also struggled in recent years to find full-time employment. Does your college have an alumni group or career resources that can help? More networking can also be helpful. Good luck.

[thenewjs]

I hate to suggest my hometown but Houston may be a great spot for you. Lots of oil companies that need accountants.

[Ffxdata]

Originally Posted by thenewjs

I hate to suggest my hometown but Houston may be a great spot for you. Lots of oil companies that need accountants.

Absolutely not. Oil companies are laying off people left and right. All the accountants I know are making only around $60k. One got laid off and is going to law school became he couldn't find a better job.

Houston is a great city, but checkout the "Oil and Gas Lay Offs" Thread before proceeding.

[SmartMoney]

I strongly recommend you approach many of the international organizations - Bank FundEmployees FCU, World Bank, World Health Organization.......do a Google for international companies and organizations. Where I work, I am the minority, white American female. I love it! So many cultures freely discussed, questions welcome.

So, without a doubt, I know there is a place for you. Keep at it!

[rajont]

Originally Posted by SmartMoney

I strongly recommend you approach many of the international organizations - Bank FundEmployees FCU, World Bank, World Health Organization.......do a Google for international companies and organizations. Where I work, I am the minority, white American female. I love it! So many cultures freely discussed, questions welcome.

So, without a doubt, I know there is a place for you. Keep at it!

I've certainly looked at the above organizations! I had an interview with IMF about two weeks ago, and was very impressed and got along well with the interviewer (partly because we both were French). According to their site, my application is still "under review"....so yeah.