Linda Dater ⋅ Foothill Ranch, CA retired from TriNet HR Corporation ⋅ 30 years experience

Congratulations on completing your degree! I worked as an HR Director for a "second-tier" CPA firm for more than 5 years. I'd encourage you to consider CPA firms other than the Big 4. At the Big 4, you will be one of many junior-level accountants assigned to large clients. At that experience level, you may never have the opportunity to interface with executives at the client company. However, in second-tier CPA firms, you'll be working on smaller teams for smaller clients (most of the time), and you'll have the opportunity to interact with client executives. Because of this, you may find your career advancing more quickly than being the small fish in a large pond.
Thank you for your service!

James Bishop ⋅ Columbus, OH Morgan Stanley ⋅ 8 years experience

The best ideas here include, if you want big 4 then start at a big 4 and also the conversations on interning. A Deloitte person has offered to help, so did you contact them? Beyond that contact them all, ask about their programs for veterans and at worst ask to intern. They no longer have unpaid internships.

Also, I do not believe an undergraduate degree is going very far at a big 4 or even most CPA firms, but that is my opinion. You mention being a CPA like a designation, but its much more so don't let the cart before the horse question hold you back and apply for a graduate degree that can lead to your CPA (might help you get hired).

Perry GARSOMBKE ⋅ Broomfie, CO University of Nebraska, Omaha ⋅ 40 years experience

Brice,
If you want to be a CPA, first check New York's 150 semester hour education requirements - See more at: http://www.nysscpa.org/professional-resources/becoming-a-cpa-in-new-york#sthash.UxOmhqzW.dpuf. And don't limit your vision to Big-4 (I worked for 2 of them before becoming an educator ) or even CPA. Fortunately, accounting has been one of the top ten job markets for as long as I can remember (some 45 years!) You've gotten great advise from others! Best of luck, Perry G..

Audrey Churchill ⋅ Brooklyn, NY Ultra Operations Management Inc. ⋅ 35 years experience

Brice, consider applying for a position as a Special Agent at ATF, accounting skills are in high demand at this Federal Agency. I have a brother who is the Director of ATF in Pennsylvania and I know that they are always looking for people with prior military experience and accounting skills.

Der-Min Fan ⋅ Fremont, CA Thermo Fisher Scientific ⋅ 35 years experience

Open a free account on LinkedIn and glassdoor, you'll get openings sent to your email account. Why do you want to limit yourself to the big4? You should apply any openings from a good decent company for the first job. It will be much easier to find your dream job once you have some experience and good references.

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Attend a school with an active and thriving alumni network, and a top.notch career center.

Where are you attending school?

Do you have both alumni and faculty who are serving as mentors?

Charles (Chuck) Postma ⋅ Muskegon, MI Alcoa ⋅ 42 years experience

I'm surprised to see only one suggestion in this thread to gain the experience you need by getting a temporary position. Preferably with one of the "big 4". If you are good or show promise thereof you will get an offer. Make money, get experience, and get an offer. Done, done, and done.

Good Luck!

Chuck

Maria Erchul ⋅ Spokane, WA Incyte Diagnostics ⋅ 15 years experience

Brice,
Great news -- on the degree. You're a step closer - WGL has a great Finance group in Wash D.C. - if you're open to relocating - send me your resume.

Thomas Steele ⋅ Riverside, CA Steele Financial Group ⋅ 48 years experience

Great Question. Have your tried applying as an apprentice to a small to medium firm say in Jan...getting your feet wet and then by April working to get up to speed with tax season on the basics.. For MANY accounting firms, they are looking for competent persons BEFORE tax season... April - Oct... Good luck...

Sue Mulcahy ⋅ Holliston, MA Business Knowledge Services ⋅ 2 years experience

Hello Brice,
All good advice and may I add a contract role is sometimes a good option. As long as you find out if they convert the good people over to permanent full time. I place people at a global IT company (with accounting roles) that does this regularly. They particularly have an interest in placing veterans. If I can help in any way, I would be happy to help.Feel free to send me your resume, along with where you would like to work.
I thank you for your service, and wish you and your family the best.
Sincerely,
Sue Mulcahy

June R Massoud ⋅ Burlington, VT School Boards/Teaching, Tutoring Business and Technical Business ⋅ 25 years experience

Maybe you could start off as a bookkeeper at a lower level. Search for bookkeeper jobs online or ask around with people you know. Next, you could consider joining a non-profit and doing accounting for them on a volunteer basis. In the meantime, you could get a job at a hardware store for construction like Home Depot or another chain, working on the floor, serving clients. Once you are already employed, it will be easier to apply to different positions within and externally. Finally, you should try applying to small construction firms and do their bookkeeping for them. You would be surprised to see how many small businesses need help in accounting. That's my advice.
Hoping this helps you out. Regards, June R Massoud

Claudia Pires ⋅ Tampa, FL inspiHRed ⋅ 18 years experience

Brice, congratulations on obtaining your degree and thank you for your service!
The top 4 firms have active military/veteran recruiting programs, which usually include onboarding/management associate type training for those who have the education but lack specific experience. Here are some contacts:
PWC - military.recruiting@us.pwc.com
EY - http://ukcareers.ey.com/militaryrecruitment/
KPMG - http://kpmg-veterans.jobs/
Deloitte - http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/careers/articles/join-deloitte-military-veterans.html

Best wishes!

Barbara Schweihs ⋅ Carol Stream, IL UPS ⋅ 1 years experience

Wow...26 years!! That is amazing and thank you for all of those years! I think joining your local chamber of commerce is a great place to start. You will do a lot of networking which can open a lot of doors for you. I work at UPS and we are always looking for talent and for veterans to hire so please visit our jobs home page. Come back often, they tell me the next two years is the Baby Boomers Retirement age so we will be looking to replace a lot of great upsers. Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to me anytime.

https://upsjobs.managehr.com/

bschweihs@ups.com

J T ⋅ San Diego, CA U.S. Navy, Master Chief Petty Officer ⋅ 30 years served

Hey Brice,
Thanks for your service. I was in a similar situation as you but passed it up due to the entry level salary. However, my daughter graduated last year and took a job with a regional accounting firm. She loves her position, as an auditor, and the company benefits are great. She has heard that at times, the Big 4, isn't all that it's made out to be. good luck!

Ken Friend ⋅ Tecumseh, OK Northrop Grumman ⋅ 20 years experience

Brice,

I am a senior recruiter with Northrop Grumman send me a copy of your resume and I will pass it around for you.

Kenneth.Friend@ngc.com

L L ⋅ Apo, AE U.S. Army, Chief Warrant Officer ⋅ 28 years served

Brice,

I was just speaking to my son the other day about a friend of his who was an accounting major also. It took him nearly a year to finally get an accounting position. Hang tough and keep applying; eventually you will be rewarded for your hard work!!

michael convey ⋅ Longboat Key, FL JH Williams Oil Co ⋅ 42 years experience

Thanks for doing what you do.

I would develop a strong resume with your experience and accomplishments as a blue plate to use, and customize it somewhat, based upon the job you are applying for. Banks, brokerage houses and large corporations are your best possibilities. Most companies post jobs on their websites, so I search out the aforementioned prospects. Executive search firms, the chamber of commerce and employment agencies in markets you want to live is a good source to try.

Best of luck

mike

Michael Del Vecchio ⋅ Killingworth, CT U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant ⋅ 3 years served

Good morning, Brice,

I worked for Price Waterhouse (now PWC) for a number of years. In the early 2000's, they looked for veterans. I no longer have a network there so I cannot help you personally with a contact, try this link - http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/experienced/why-pwc/military-veterans.jhtml. Best of luck. Be prepared to work hard and reap the rewards.

James Oxley ⋅ Clinton, MD U.S. Army Reserve, Sergeant ⋅ 7 years served

Brice,

First of all congrats, I just received my Bachelors degree and now, I am working on my Masters. I would recommend applying at your local banks first. Just get a job where you'll be dealing with and handling money. There are different avenues that you can move around in the banking institution, build your resume, and then apply for the that dream Accounting career.

God bless and much success to you.

Mark Reed ⋅ Frisco, TX Livingstong Global, LLC ⋅ 5 years experience

Brice - You do no need anymore education or experience than you already have in order to earn the Enrolled Agent status. I'd look into it. Also, I further the notion of a potential move to a larger market. Good Luck!

Carlos Castillo ⋅ Fort Drum, NY U.S. Army, Private First Class ⋅ 6 years served

What type of degree do you have? Associates, Bachelor, Masters? It heavily depends on what level of understanding you currently have. Typically, great paying accountant jobs require at minimum a Masters. If you have the ability to pursue that, by all means it will help you in the long run.

If you've graduated from a big school helps too. Look into what programs your school offers for employment, and network!!! That is key,.. Attend events which your school can help you attend.

Hope all this helps.

Corban Caudle ⋅ Tacoma, WA U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 4 years served

Hey Brice,

I don't have any experience with accounting but I graduated with a degree in advertising. In order to get into advertising I had to move twice, take a job that was related but not directly in the industry, do extra learning on my own, and work with clients I found through friends and family. If like me you didn't graduate from a business school that had the right connections and couldn't take any internships because you were working full time while going to college then set out a plan that gets you to where you want to be. It took me five years after graduation but the experience I got across multiple industries has been a huge boon to me both professionally and personally.

I would also highly suggest getting involved in your local Rotary Club, Toastmasters, and any other organization that focuses on personal and professional development. If you have the time then volunteering, your services would also be a good way to get the experience that you need. My final suggestion would be to use LinkedIn to contact recruiters for the jobs that you are looking for. I was able to get a Premium LinkedIn account for my military service and you should be able to do that as well. Make sure you spend some time refining your profile to reflect your service in a light that compliments your degree as well as the courses that you took, which will be valuable to a future employer.

Best regards,

Corban

Deborah Meyer ⋅ Columbus, OH Anthem, Inc. ⋅ 35 years experience

Brice: All great ideas. IF you find yourself having difficulty making connections, consider working through a temporary agency - targeting companies where you would have an interest in working. While a hiring manager will INSIST to us recruiters that individual must have xx experience, when someone has been working temporary and demonstrating excellent work ethic, accountability and skills - they decide to take a chance! Good Luck,
Deborah

Kenneth Williams ⋅ Manasquan, NJ U.S. Air Force, Master Sergeant ⋅ 21 years served

Brice,

I retired in 1998 after 21 years in the USAF. Form there I joined AT&T and they have an extensive program supporting the hiring of veterans. Please look at ATT.com, careers as there are additional links related to Vets.

Matthew Russell ⋅ Houston, TX U.S. Army, Sergeant ⋅ 6 years served

Brice,

Deloitte is very proud to hire veterans and has a very robust program to help transitioning veterans. Send me a private message here and I would be glad to speak to you about the opportunities available.

Lubov Bogopolskaya ⋅ Staten Island, NY A/Z BOOKKEEPING ⋅ 11 years experience

Hi Brice,

For Big Four, if you're already out of school, networking is the gold key.

Have you interned? Do you have recommendations? Have you volunteered at VITA?

I can provide you with some contacts and also an internship/part-time job opportunity at my small business A TO Z BOOKKEEPING.

Email atozbookkeepinginc@gmail.com
Phone 650-503-3910 (Call or Text)
Website http://atozbookkeepinginc.wix.com/accttax

Jeremy Serwer ⋅ Woodstock, CT The Serwer Company, LLC ⋅ 30 years experience

Hello Brice --

I'm not an accountant, but it seems for that entry level experience a State or Federal position could work. While government may not seem attractive after serving in the military, they too need accountants -- bunches of them, and they would also have a greater incentive for hiring vets. They better!

Good luck, Jeremy

Robert Padgett ⋅ Beaver, PA Ohio North East Health Systems, Inc. ⋅ 40 years experience

Brice:
You may want to try smaller CPA firms in your area. They often hire new grads and train them.
Best of Luck,

Bpb

Keith Van Sickle ⋅ Menlo Park, CA Tensilica ⋅ 25 years experience

Brice,

As Seth mentions, you may need to move to get the job you want. Often, the Big Four have lots of candidates pursuing jobs in desirable areas but many fewer in less-desirable areas (of course, what is desirable is a personal preference.) So you might try to find out where the Big Four are having trouble staffing and make it clear you would be willing to locate there.
You should also expand your search beyond the Big Four. There are plenty of smaller accounting firms that can give you excellent experience as well as put you on the path to CPA certification.
Best of luck to you.

Seth Lynch ⋅ Plano, TX Hewlett Packard ⋅ 15 years experience

Brice,

If your goal is to get to a Big Four as an accountant, you really need to start there. What school did you attend? Usually most business schools have direct relationships with at least one of the major accounting firms. Go back to your school's career management program lead and see if they can get you into their next student career fair. Those career fairs are designed to pull in recently minted BS Acct. majors with no previous experience into their companies. If your school doesn't have those type of relationships with the firms, send an email to your favorite professors and ask them to help connect you to past students or colleagues in those firms. They can guide you thorugh the entry level processes.

A second avenue is for you to contact the JMO recruiters like Orion, Lucas Group, etc. They work with junior officers and senior NCOs transitioning out of the military. You become their product, so they will have an incentive to align you to the companies they work with. They may not have an accounting job opening, but would likely be able to get you to a company where after a year or two in an initial position, you could move to the finance/accounting organization.

Expect to have to be a little personally uncomfortable as well. You are competing for entry level professional positions, so that may very likely mean commuting to Manhattan or even moving somewhere completely different. I'll assume one of the reasons you keep seeing the minimum previous experience requirements is you are looking at companies that don't have the costing and training structure to onboard and utilize an entry level accounant. Companies with those costing and training structures are usually in major hubs and not the suburbs or smaller cities.