USA HELP with Accounting Career

[Chicagoguy43]

I am hoping to get some advice on how to advance my accounting career as I seem to be stuck in a rut. I am 43 years old and have been in my current position (Project Accountant with an industrial company) for approximately 9 years. I do have both Bachelor's and Master's degree in accounting from a small, private college but no CPA. I had little accounting experience before I started this position and never worked for a public accounting firm.

I need to find a new position that 1) advances my career; 2) provides a decent increase in salary. I've been applying for senior staff accountant positions and assistant controller positions but have had little luck. The only interest I've had is through recruiters, but none of the leads have panned out either. So I'm hoping for some advice on positions I should be applying for, better ways to market myself, sites I should be applying through, etc. I know I'm way behind where I should be career-wise and am willing to do whatever it takes to get back on track. Thanks in advance!

 

[Steve-LevelUp]

Hi Chicago Guy. Not sure if you are still looking, but I'm willing to provide whatever advise I can.

If you are willing to post your resume (strip out name, company names, etc) then I will try to give some advise as to how to proceed. Not sure if I can, but I will try to help helpful.

Regards.

 

[Tammy Aronson]

I'm just trying to get my foot in the door with the degree I have but with zero luck. No one willing to hire a person with no experience and only a degree. Any advise for that?

 

[Steve-LevelUp]

Sometimes, you need to start with a role that you might not like, but is in a related field. Where are you located? https://www.frontstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Billing-Analyst-RES.pdf

 

[Tammy Aronson]

I'm in California. San Diego to be exact. A lot of the related positions are also requiring experience. All my job experience is from the military in a non related field.

 

[Steve-LevelUp]

Hi Tammy. My best recommendation is to keep trying. There are some people out there that will hire without experience, if they are looking for someone that they can train. However, this is where you might sacrifice salary. Another alternative is to continue your education getting your Masters in Accounting and your CPA. Many that i know that work for accounting firms and as public auditors have both their masters and CPA. It is becoming more and more difficult to stand apart from all of the other candidates. Know that everyone, at some point, had no experience.

 

[Ash789]

just apply for the internships if u are not getting permanent employment anywhere. Internships mostly prove to be the push your career needs to get the first employment letter.

Best of Luck!!!

 

[JR.]

I am 32. I have a Bachelors in Accounting and an MBA. I have worked for a mid-size company as well as a fortune 100. I worked as an Accounting Analyst and Senior Accounting Analyst, but most recently I moved into a Senior Financial Analyst role. With that being said, I would recommend searching for financial analyst positions as well. If you do, I would recommend emphasizing on the analytics and technical skills (ie modeling). In my opinion, emphasis on accounting tasks is not needed given it is expected with the degree and experience.

For tools, I suggest LinkedIn for networking and Indeed for job search. Perhaps, connect with a recruiter, set your bar high, and see what they find you.

Good luck