Destroying My Career

This is excellent advice

If you follow this advice make sure you have a good exit plan with solid job prospects. Otherwise you will be bagging groceries at Whole Foods.

Dude it's big 4. There's a reason most people jump ship after 3 years. Many of them have to torture themselves to make it that long. I got an accounting degree and completely avoided public accounting. There are plenty of other good options. Get and find something else. If someone asks about the gap between your graduation date and now don't mention the job and just say you wanted to take a break before you started working.

There is a need for more professors of accounting, or so I've heard. You'll need a PhD, though.

HangIn wrote:

Hang in there for at least 1 year - get some references and try and find a job elsewhere or even ask for help from someone internally you would consider a mentor.

This is the correct advice. Cant believe any other answer was given.

AndyinMn wrote:

I say give it a year or two and than focus the job hunt on a smaller firm or find a nitch. When I worked at a big Fortune 50 company, most college grads left in 2 years and got the company's name on the resume and left. Company expected that as well.

The challenge is you will find most companies want people with 4-5 years on their resume not 0-2.

niche .... not nitch

Stick it out, man. My buddy (and fellow Letsrunner) is at pWc.. he got in straight after college and just made Partner and it's changed his life. He is basically set for life now. He started in 2000, so 16 years to make Partner, and many of those years were out of the country, just putting in time. Yes, his fitness declined, but now he's on the rebound, running marathons again, etc., because it's paid off. He had to move again, but just bought a $1.8M place which is gorgeous. Kid came from nothing.

there is a big pay off if you are good at what you do and successful.

Boring and tedious is not a good reason to leave.It certainly doesn't rise to the level of torture. Stay at least a year. Be ready to leap into your new job at that point.

Honestly, did you think accounting would not be boring and tedious?

Misled not mislead.

Hey man,

I was in a similar place to you 3 years ago. I started in a management consulting firm; and it was just so different than what I expected. I, too, had the same thoughts of leaving. In the end, I stuck it out and was with the company for just over 3 years. I'm glad I stuck it out - I gained a lot of valuable experience, made some good friends, and built a reputation for myself among my colleagues. Ultimately, I still left, but to pursue a different opportunities.

The point being - it will likely get better. That said, it might take 6 months or even a year for you to realize that. There's no indicator of this except what you feel in your own heart.

OMG. You don't go into accounting because you are an artist, or want to make beats. Did you not know accounting is painfully boring. Whether it is AR/AP/Budget/small biz/multi national/not-for-profit/cost/managerial/investment.....etc, it is, in general, a desk job of not much more than digging through numbers and spreadsheets and reports and software packages. WTF.

the real world is NOT "like school". (wo)man up. sometimes hard things make us better. you find out things about yourself that other wimps won't dare. challenge yourself to figure out why you don't like this job, what can you do to deal with this "pain", and get better for it.

though, you can bounce now too. sounds like you're not quite ready to grow up yet, so that's ok...someone will take your place. and when you're ready you can try again.

in the mean time go work for a small company or go back to school. that's what you like. which is fine. your grad degree doesn't mean you have to be a high performer.

The real answer is: stick it out for a year, get better, hone your adult self, learn to deal with this kind of "pain", and then start looking for the next better job.

----------------------------

"save the digital trees"

TAA wrote:

Dude it's big 4. There's a reason most people jump ship after 3 years. Many of them have to torture themselves to make it that long. I got an accounting degree and completely avoided public accounting. There are plenty of other good options. Get and find something else. If someone asks about the gap between your graduation date and now don't mention the job and just say you wanted to take a break before you started working.

That's correct, in fact, its their business model. They hire a bunch of young workers and work them like slaves until they either become a manager or they quit.

Like other have said, the payoff is great is you stick it out, but you will have to torture yourself to get there. I don't work for an accounting firm, but I understand that is what the industry is like, so I think it would be reasonable for you to explain it as "it just isn't for me". On the other hand, 3 months is nothing, especially right after graduation, you could also just leave it off like TAA suggests.

I stuck it out for a year and then switched to mid-size firm in Chestnut Hill, MA. Sooooooooo much better. We have Fridays off in the summer and besides Tax season, very flexible hours. I would say at minimum stick it out 6 months (try for a year) and bounce to a smaller firm. Accountants are in high demand.

I did two postdocs and there was a funding hitch after a couple years on that 2nd one so I jumped to a private firm thinking that could fill the gap for a couple of years. Biggest mistake of my life, and I knew it the first week. Had a miserable year and a half in the meantime.

Advice is to hang in there but start looking right away. Don't advertise that at your job, keep it very quiet. Meanwhile, do the best that you can there and keep learning. You'll land on your feet, but it might take another year or so to get into a better situation.

Doug Stanhope!

Are you at Arthur Andersen by any chance? That firm has my highest recommendations!

jorvack wrote:

You sound young -early in your career.

I wouldn't worry about hopping jobs, but the next job you should stay for a year minimum. And...you might like that job less than this one. The main issue would be if there was a pattern of short employment. If you next org is significantly different, smaller dif location, different market, it will make sense on your resume.

this is terrible advice

Miserable wrote:

On a side note, if I decide to pick another career path, what is best for work/life balance. Fitting in running, etc.

teaching.....plenty of time to run

In about 60 years you're going to be on your deathbed. Will you be thinking, "I wish my resume was stronger; I should've stuck it out at the soul-crushing job."

When you go to your next interview, and they ask you about the short tenure, you tell them that you're not prepared to live a half-live in order to please a boss, boost a resume, get a title, or make a nice salary. If I can do those things within accordance of my personal integrity, I'm ready and willing; if it takes a compromised life, I'm not your man. Nothing wrong with that, and I'm certain you wouldn't want to work for anyone who didn't respect that.

We all have lives to live. Jobs merely support that life. They should not be allowed to define it.

So maybe it's just my reading a lot of replies, but I'm sensing that you are not clear about whether you hate accounting or just this firm or, maybe, you hate this firm and are afraid that any other accounting job will be just as bad. I think you'd better sort that part out first.

I worked in accounting (not public) for a lot of years. My wife was a CPA, although not for a big firm. Neither of us is in accounting now. I'm going to point out a few realities that haven't been mentioned:

1. private employers will almost always specify that applicants for more interesting accounting jobs must have a CPA certificate. You aren't going to have one if you quit now because you won't have the experience requirement. So now you've figured out that partner/CFO is not an entry level position. Good. Senior accountant isn't either.

2. Most smaller CPA firms expect that prospective employees will come with a CPA certificate and experience at a bigger firm. They don't have the resources to train newbies. In other words, you aren't going to look that good to them.

3. You do know, don't you, that busy season is 16 hour days, at least six days a week? If that seems "soul crushing" to you, do everybody, including yourself, a favor and go to work at Starbucks.

4. Oh, and private company accounting, small CPA firms don't pay as much. I know. Life sucks and then you die.