Too old to job hop, too young to retire

[Mike5380]

Well, my job was just terminated last week. I was Controller/GM at a small business in Central Missouri, been there for 7 years. I'm about 7-8 years from retirement, so the timing really sucks. The business sold last year and the new owner already had a much larger operation up in Michigan, so we all knew that there was a possibility that he could roll the two businesses together. I've actually been out looking for another job for about a year, but now that my position has been terminated, kinda turns the pressure up. Although, I have to admit, I feel relieved at this point just knowing what "the plan" is.

I'm not trying to find an avenue to commiserate with anyone, just wanted share my story to see what others with similar experiences have done to move on. CareerBuilder and Craigslist are so full of scam artists, I tend to scan each of the postings for a bonafid company name, then I go to the company's website and apply through the website. If there is no company name given, or even if it says "private", I just go to the next post. There seem to be a lot of opportunities for accountant or even senior accountants, and at my age that would be fine.

Anyway, I joined this forum so I could stay current on the issues, learn from everyone and maybe even help a few along the way.

Any comments, advise?

Mike

 

[Tripthelightfantastic]

Older CPA Soon to be laid off

Hi

I am a little younger than you. I am about to loose my job (second time in 2 years) and have been applying and even interviewing. However, as soon as they see me, they loose interest. My skills don't matter, my references don't matter, and my education doesn't matter.

I am thinking about doing Tax/Accounting Services/ Grant Writing. But, so is every unemployed CPA.

Good luck to you.

 

[Tripthelightfantastic]

Oh I lost my job last year due to the office closing. This year I am loosing it because all the accountants in my current job are being outsourced to Malaysia. I am a CPA by the way.

 

[Mike5380]

Well, here's what I did ... I went over to our local animal shelter and went through their volunteer program. I took care of the dogs and cats by getting them out of their cages and kennels and walking them around, I helped out at the adoptions desk by helping people with paperwork, I ran the register in their retail store, etc. Then, I met the Controller and I asked if I could help out in her office, ledger transactions, AP/AR, trial balances, financial statement prep, anything! .... 4 weeks later I was offered a full time position.

I guess this is a little bit of a "back door" approach, and I'm back to work in accounting. But I still find myself going down at lunch time and taking a dog out for a quick walk, or stopping by the front desk to talk to someone that is interested in a particular animal, or helping out over the weekends at "adoptathons" and trade shows.

I'm not making as much money as I was, but I don't know that I've ever felt so much reward in my job. Sometimes a transition can be a good thing.

Mike

 

[Ram]

Well, here's what I did ... I went over to our local animal shelter and went through their volunteer program. I took care of the dogs and cats by getting them out of their cages and kennels and walking them around, I helped out at the adoptions desk by helping people with paperwork, I ran the register in their retail store, etc. Then, I met the Controller and I asked if I could help out in her office, ledger transactions, AP/AR, trial balances, financial statement prep, anything! .... 4 weeks later I was offered a full time position.

I guess this is a little bit of a "back door" approach, and I'm back to work in accounting. But I still find myself going down at lunch time and taking a dog out for a quick walk, or stopping by the front desk to talk to someone that is interested in a particular animal, or helping out over the weekends at "adoptathons" and trade shows.

I'm not making as much money as I was, but I don't know that I've ever felt so much reward in my job. Sometimes a transition can be a good thing.

Mike

I like the charity idea. I think I'll apply that to the thread I posted just a bit earlier.

 

[The Finance Writer]

The job market for accounting is hot mostly for recent grads who are CPA candidates. Large accounting firms want fresh graduates who they can work excessively. Some corporations want lower cost non-CPA employees for their finance staffs, but these jobs are not always secure.

One promissing area is smaller local accounting practices that have difficulty filling staff accounting jobs. Most of these entities focus on tax, but also handle general accounting. The work isn’t too difficult and you maximize your income with an ability to prepare tax returns under supervision. If you don’t have any work history in tax preparation, local accounting practices will hire people with no experience as long as they have some proven skills. You can develop tax expertise by studying for the Enrolled Agent exam.

Passing the EA exam is much easier than the CPA exam. However, you need a course that focuses on tax subjects. A free test bank of sample questions is available at Enrolled Agent Exam Review and Study Guide With a quality review course you'll have all the knowledge needed for preparing every type of tax return. A small accounting practice will then train you with software and file documentation procedures.

I’ve advised several accountants to take this avenue in the past three years – including some CPAs who thought they would not like tax jobs. They all ended up enjoying the work at a smaller operation where they had contact with a multitude of interesting clients… despite some long workdays for about six week per year.