New to Accounting

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Permalink Reply by Terry Preston Baze on September 14, 2009 at 8:27pm

I think that it is really unfair that businesses are not willing to hire newly graduated accontants so that those graduates can gain experience in the accounting filed. Although I am still attending college, getting a bachelor's degree in accounting, I have found that where I live. businesses are unwilling to hire anyone who doesn't have at least 5 to 10 years experience. What they don't realize, is that those who have graduated have a lot of knowledge about accounting and just need some experience. Until the economy recovers fromthe recession, I can't see that changing either.

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Permalink Reply by Steven Thompson on September 15, 2009 at 7:53am

I agree with your outlook Terry. It is difficult to find a business that is willing to take the time to train new accountants due to the economic situation that we are currently experiencing. I graduated with my bachelor's in business accounting. After posting my resume and applying for positions locally, I began noticing that many organizations want accountants with at least 3 years experience and a bachelors degree is not necessarily required in some areas. I have begun networking with staffing agencies and co-workers at my new part time job to see if anyone knows some information that I might have overlooked. I also looked to my college to find a mentorship program. I have also seen the AICPA website offer student memberships and job shadowing with local CPA's that I am also looking into.

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Permalink Reply by Marci Grossman on September 15, 2009 at 8:07am

It is tough. I know I had trouble finding my first job. I started sending out resumes to small accounting firms that were local in the hopes that I would fill a need before they knew they had it. It did work and I eventually got in with a small CPA firm. I was doing temp and part-time accounting jobs until it came up. In this economy it is easy for businesses to be picky. There are jobs out there, they are just harder to find and paying less than you might expect. All the reports I have seen have listed accounting as a profession in need of more practitioners. You might have to open yourself up to private instead of public and be willing to apply to jobs that aren't listed.
Let's see if anyone else has some ideas.

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