USA Career change/education requirements!!!!!!!!!!

[Jeremy Gibbs]

Hi, I am new to this forum and am looking for some real world advice. I currently have a BA in psychology. I have been working in human service/social services for 4 years and have been working at my counties juvenile detention facility for over 5 years. I am currently looking to change careers and am highly interested in becoming an accountant. Im sure there are quite a few people that have asked the same career change question but I would like to know if someone could point me in the right direction.

I have looked at many masters programs in accounting and it looks like I could be accepted if I take 2 introductory to accounting courses as pre reqs but some don't even require that. If I want to get an entry level junior accountant position should I try and get my masters in accounting or a certificate in accounting that is offered at the local community college since i already have a bachelors degree and basically the certificate will be 30 some credits in just accounting/finance. I wanted to see if I could get a consensus as to what most people do to break into the accounting field that already have a bachelors degree from a completely different field of study. I APPRECIATE ANY HELP THAT I CAN GET WITH THIS!! THANKS!!!

 

[lucygoose]

Disclaimer: I am not in the US so the cultural context may be very different

There are two routes you can take: study accounting full-time, or study part-time alongside a job. I have been doing the latter (my degree was in Maths i.e. completely unrelated) and I honestly think having the practical experience has made me both a better accountant and more employable, even if it's been taking me longer to get fully qualified as a result.

When looking at your college I would check whether the courses they are offering give you any professional accreditation, or whether they are purely academic. Maybe scan local job listings - what qualifications do they typically ask for? How flexible are the study options? If you are still going to be working at your current job to support yourself in the meantime, you will need to make sure that the lecture timings are compatible with your commute etc.. If not, is distance learning an option that might work for you?

Hope some of that helps, good luck...