Who works in accounting/finance?

[Porridge]

IndyLady - I am in direct competetion with you for career advice threads I'm so glad someone else is in the same boat as me!!

There may have been threads on this before, but I haven't seen them and the search function is still down, so apologies if I'm repeating something. Who out there works in finance/accounting? How did you get your qualifications? How do you get into your career? I'm asking about general things like job stability, income potential, hours, areas of interest, potential for advancement etc. Would you recommend your career to a woman in her mid-20's? Pheonix, I know you have posted advice on this subject several times, I always enjoy hearing how happy you are with your career choice.

I'm in healthcare right now, and I would like to ultimately get into something like financial management or consulting for healthcare. My other possible option is to try to get into the Faculty of Public Health training scheme in the UK, and do an MPH with healthcare finance/economics. I need two more years of experience before I can apply for this scheme. I have been accepted for the MPH and am trying to decide which route to take. I worry that I might be a little more limited with the direct public health route.

Many of the big healthcare companies (GSK, Johnson&Johnson etc) open for applications in the coming month or so. I have been thinking about applying. (They take grads from any discipline). It would be three years rotation through different parts of the company, and you would work for a professional qualification along the way, ie Chartered Accountant, CFA, Project Management etc. There would be an option for a part time masters also near the end, ie MBA etc.

I wrote a (very long) post (https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/career-crisis-mid-20s-and-very-lost.135695/)a few months ago asking for career advice. I wanted to thank everyone who contributed, you all helped so very much and I still often visit that thread. I have a few more months yet before I reach my personal decision deadline (I wanted to work for one year after graduating - I don't want to seem flaky to employers, and a years healthcare experience can only be a good thing!).

 

[Steel]

I would lean towards in house training with the big companies, rather than external training and then job-hunting.

Best of luck what ever you choose.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

I have a degree in Finance, but sadly am still searching for a job!!! (graduated in December 2009) But I'll be interested in the responses you get from qualified PSers.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I think it really depends on what you want to do in finance. There are jobs that take lots of certifications and others that don't take any. Stateside, insurance, annuities, accountants, etc need certifications. Tax preparers do not. When I graduated from college with an anthropology degree, the first job I got was in the licensing firm of a major financial company. I have good money skills, but nothing on paper that would have made it clear I was good for such a job, although I was. A number of people they hired were insurance agents, so they either had ceritifications. They hired mostly people for that who had been hired by less prestigious firms that sponsored them for the certifications.

 

[Alienor]

I earned a bachelor degree in accounting. I then started working as an accountant for a manufacturing for a year and hated. The hours were terrible, even though the money was really good. I also turned down another job due to hours.
I currently work for the state as an auditor. It pays okay and the benefits are pretty good compared to the private sector.

A lot of people work for big companies for the experience looking really good on a resume. However, keep in mind that accounting/finance is a vast field and many specializations exist. You just need to find what fits you best.

Chloe ==> It took me a while to find the first job when I graduated back in 2007. What helped me was to go through a temp agency to get my food in the door. I highly recommend it. It may not be a great job in great working conditions but it helps getting some much needed experience on a resume.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

Not to threadjack...
but thanks for the advice Alienor!

 

[Shoopy]

I have a BBA in Accounting and a MBA in Finance. I currently do Internal Audit and mostly work on corporate audits and SOX compliance which I LOVE.

I absolutely hate accounting. It's not as glamorous as school makes it seem. If you work for a large company (such as the ones you’ve listed) you are not doing journal entries and then developing financial statements from start to finish. You are sitting in one area of accounting, let’s say accounts payable, and doing the same thing every single day, over and over. And this is especially true in those larger companies as most have automated transactions which only require month-end review and/or month-end manual adjustments. You never see how what you do roll up to the financial statements. Some people love it. It wasn’t for me.

Finance, JMHO, has so much more to offer from an analytical standpoint. Take my company for example. Within finance we have company finance, franchise finance, audit, tax, treasury, consolidation, business development, real estate finance, and mergers & acquisitions.

As for how I started: I used to work for a goverment agency that did audits of public companies. From there I moved in to the company I am with now. I love auditing. I really do. It is one of the best ways to get to know a company as a whole. I have job security as we are a major public company and you can't get rid of audit I work long hours when I have a major project to do but for the most part it's not too bad. Our accounting folks are the ones that work insane hours at month/quarter/year end.

J&J has a phenomenal Finance department BTW. It is extremely competitive and if you can get in, you won't regret it. It'll be long hours for sure but it'll open up so many doors. Their finance dept. is very well respected in the industry.

 

[Porridge]

Thanks Steal that sounds like good advice!

ChloetheGreat best of luck getting a job soon!

BIH and Alienor - thanks for the advice, I am definitely taking my time having a look around for a career that fits.

Firey that's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for, thank you!! From what I've learned so far, finance definitely appeals to me more than accounting. I didn't know J&J had such a good finance reputaion, that's great info, thanks. They're not open for applications here yet but it's something to keep in mind.

 

[AGBF]

Hi, Porridge-

I don't have such a background, but my husband of 33 years does. Like fiery, he loathes accounting. His MBA is in finance. Although he didn't start out in banking (his first job was for the airline industry and we had free passes to fly anywhere the airline went), he joined his first bank at a young age and really spent his career as a banker. His first hurdle was to get the bank to put him through credit training so that he could be a lending officer. It was eons ago, but I remember his agonizing over whether he would be picked for that!

Later he specialized in various areas that were interesting and had a career that was pretty exciting. I think you can do that if you get a degree in finance. If you are already interested in a specific industry, however, you should, of course, work in that industry and allow them to have the privilege of paying for your turition!

Good luck and keep us apprised!

Deb/AGBF

 

[Indylady]

Hey Porridge! Can we make it a party boat?

 

[Porridge]

Definitely Indy - party over here!!

Thank you for your reply AGBF, I'm glad to hear your husband had such an interesting career. I think it's an interesting area, it covers every industry, so to my young eyes the possibilities seem endless!

Ok let's get down to basics; salary. Advancement. Every graduate/careers site I visit says "go for finance, money money money!" I'm assuming, as with every field, the money comes after hard work. But is it a myth? Do only the top 5% hit the 6 figure salaries? Are the rest left in dead end jobs? Would I regret giving up a physiotherapists salary? (Tops out at around €67k here public, €100k+ private after many years and with overheads). Or is advancement really possible within companies like the ones I mentioned originally? Does it mean ridiculous hours and crazy sacrifices? Or could it be that steady hard work will lead to interesting positions and a comfortable life?

I realise this varies hugely from sector to sector etc, just looking for any advice/experience you may have.

 

[HopeDream]

Hi Porridge,

Did you ever come to a conclusion re: accounting/finance, or another career?

I've been thinking about going into accounting too, and I found this thread very interesting.

 

[D&T]

I am currently in Accounting and Finance, SInce we are a small company of 17 people I wear many hats in the office and enjoy it because I get to oversee everything from beginning to end and how it gets on our financial statements and its a diverse environment. when I was in high school i worked in retail for a few good years, then went into healthcare for another five years on the clinical and patient side (as I had a course in high school that gave me credit as well as the ability to get my CNA license which helped me get into another area of healthcare, then onto coordinating a very stressful clinic- nothing big though while i was finishing college I also took a part time job in hotel to earn extra money as well as ski, I also started to have second thoughts on trying to get into med school, although 50% of me still miss Health Care and the patient aspect. I finished my undergrad and didn't pursue the med field as originally then I went onto finishing up my MBA while working at the Boutique Hotel, my manager hired me to "test" me with the intention of me to take over her position when she left - as it was a boutique hotel, I also wore many hats, which led me to my array of skill sets. I moved to another state with better opportunities and I'm where I'm at now because of all the jobs and skill set that I have acquired - back to the first sentence. Hope that helps. Honestly if you asked me this in High School I would have said that I NEVER wanted to go into Business and Definitely NOT accounting, I struggled in High School taking my college accounting course, funny how life takes a spin.

I make a very good salary, and the benefits are awesome for me, as I work a five day work week or three day a couple of days from home if I choose, I come early leave early, I do set my hours. DH always joke about me staying home and he taking over my position as he's finishing up his finance degree. Its a nice set up here for me, as we are private, and my boss is understanding with my family situation having kids, hubby in school. With a bigger corporation, probably not so much, although I did leave a larger public firm before I came here. I was actually found by a good friend of my now owners who use to work indirectly with me at the bigger firm before they merged. If I did want to move up the only other job I can take is my CFO and I'm not interested. Sure I can leave to another firm, and make a little more $ but will my family life be compromise -probably so I stay as I"m happy where I'm at, until DH gets a substantial offer somewhere else that is when I will have to leave--- maybe even then I can still commute unless its out of the country

ETA: ooops saw this was back in the summer

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

I'm a staff accountant with a large publicly traded firm and the majority of my work is journal entries, month-end close, and analysis of our financials, although I also assist with various tax functions too (mostly personal property & local taxes across the states we operate in). I have a BS in Accounting (although I originally went to college to get a BS in Biology or Marine Biology).

My first accounting related job was during my third year of college and I worked as an accounting clerk at a small CPA firm. At that job, I did everything from processing payrolls for our client companies, to helping set up investment accounts on the finance side of the company. I then moved to a much larger city and took a job as an accounts receivable clerk at a private corporation where my primary responsibilities involved auditing invoices - making sure discounts were correct and payments were received and the cash at the clinics balanced.

After that I graduated with my Bachelor's and I went to another private corporation where I took my first staff accountant position. There I learned typical journal entries, month end closing, sales & use tax, personal property tax, etc. etc. Eventually they asked me to take over the payroll for the entire company and I did but that was the end of the enjoyment for that job and I left after being there for two and a half years.

My company now is very departmentalized as others have mentioned about bigger corporations. I think in the future I would like to work more in the tax direction (although I'm not sure I want to be a CPA). But we'll see, I'm sure there will be lots of twists in the next few years!

ETA: As far as compensation, I've been out of school three years this December and I am making very respectable money, pretty solidly middle range for a staff accountant. Compensation can vary a lot by region though.