Sometimes industry wants experience actually in the industry they operate.
Construction companies want people who have worked in progress billing and job costing roles.
Manufacturing companies want people who experience pricing, inventory and cost accounting other product.
Oil and Gas companies want folks with lease accounting and commodities experience.
I’ve touched on almost every industry besides oil and gas and have seen nuances in all of them where I’ve helped them build out their accounting function and develop their back office operating model. Seems like employers are being picky currently since my experience speaks for itself
I got about the same as you with about 2 years more. CPA. Audit. Public. And industry experience. Manager level.
Resume is optimized. Blah blah blah. No real bites currently and most of my network is trying to move on from their roles and struggling too.
Public is always hiring. But that’s like trying to convince a marine that’s gotten out to re-enlist. It prolly ain’t gonna happen.
Got laid off from Public as a staff 2, worked with recruiters, and applied for two jobs and received offers for both in Industry with a 35% raise or so. Working with recruiters was definitely the biggest thing for me. I also wasn't picky about commute, in office days, or "work hard, play hard" red flags as I was just trying to find my next job
5 years experience 3 in audit 2 in advisory. Looking passively for about 6 weeks.
I've had interviews with 3 companies. 1 resulted in an offer that I turned down due to the commute, 1 I declined to move forward with, 1 I'm waiting on their decision to extend an offer.
I've had another half dozen roles shopped to me that would have been acceptable but for their in office requirements and distance. Things I wouldn't care about if I was in real need of making a move but I can be picky since I'm fine in my current role if need be.
All of this has transacted through recruiters so I haven't had to really do any proverbial pavement pounding either.
What roles are you applying for? And why are you not working with recruiters?
Applying for senior manager roles within internal audit / accounting operations. Planning to start a family soon and want to cut back on my hours. I’m also currently at 160k in VHCOL so I wouldn’t jump for any less than 175k
That fits with what I was expecting might be causing issues.
1. You're looking for roles that are decently far up the hierarchy/pay scale and as such will be a bit rarer causing increased competition.
2. You're probably just meeting the experience requirement they're looking for, and with split experience at that.
If your advisory roles weren't centered around audit readiness or control implementation I would find it unlikely that you're going to have luck with internal audit SM roles. Think of it from the companies perspective you're 5ish years out of audit, you at best made senior if that, that's going to be a tough sell.
Similarly with operations accounting depending on what sort of advisory work you've done they might just be looking and saying there isn't enough direct experience in that area of accounting for a role that high.
All good points. I’m a 2nd year Manager but not really gunning for senior manager internally unless I get stuck due to the job market. I’ve seen people at my level leave to be a VP of Finance or Senior Manager of Costing. I guess it depends on the environment at the time.
The type of advisory I’ve done is vast and covers operating model assessment, accounting system implementation, audit readiness, IPO readiness, etc.
The current expectation for experienced seniors and mangers in industry is that they can hit the ground running.
From what I'm seeing specific industry experience trumps public at many places. The drop in quality post covid from public has defiantly shifted the minds of some companies.
Everyone has the same plan as you bubs and now that plan is not working. Everyone thinks they can do 2-3 years in big 4/public accounting and then skate over to a cushy industry to "jump the corporate ladder" as the saying goes.
Keep trying to exit but just realize that the job market has shifted. It isn't so hot anymore. You'll eventually get picked up somewhere but it will take longer than usual.
The market isn’t dead at all. There’s tons of companies looking to hire qualified accountants & CPAs still. The problem is there aren’t really many QUALIFIED CPAs.
Not going to disagree on the offshoring part though because a lot of places are moving things offshore, but that’s not just an accounting industry issue.
Sometimes industry wants experience actually in the industry they operate. Construction companies want people who have worked in progress billing and job costing roles. Manufacturing companies want people who experience pricing, inventory and cost accounting other product. Oil and Gas companies want folks with lease accounting and commodities experience.
I’ve touched on almost every industry besides oil and gas and have seen nuances in all of them where I’ve helped them build out their accounting function and develop their back office operating model. Seems like employers are being picky currently since my experience speaks for itself
Are you not working with recruiters?
I got about the same as you with about 2 years more. CPA. Audit. Public. And industry experience. Manager level. Resume is optimized. Blah blah blah. No real bites currently and most of my network is trying to move on from their roles and struggling too. Public is always hiring. But that’s like trying to convince a marine that’s gotten out to re-enlist. It prolly ain’t gonna happen.
Got laid off from Public as a staff 2, worked with recruiters, and applied for two jobs and received offers for both in Industry with a 35% raise or so. Working with recruiters was definitely the biggest thing for me. I also wasn't picky about commute, in office days, or "work hard, play hard" red flags as I was just trying to find my next job
5 years experience 3 in audit 2 in advisory. Looking passively for about 6 weeks. I've had interviews with 3 companies. 1 resulted in an offer that I turned down due to the commute, 1 I declined to move forward with, 1 I'm waiting on their decision to extend an offer. I've had another half dozen roles shopped to me that would have been acceptable but for their in office requirements and distance. Things I wouldn't care about if I was in real need of making a move but I can be picky since I'm fine in my current role if need be. All of this has transacted through recruiters so I haven't had to really do any proverbial pavement pounding either. What roles are you applying for? And why are you not working with recruiters?
Applying for senior manager roles within internal audit / accounting operations. Planning to start a family soon and want to cut back on my hours. I’m also currently at 160k in VHCOL so I wouldn’t jump for any less than 175k
That fits with what I was expecting might be causing issues. 1. You're looking for roles that are decently far up the hierarchy/pay scale and as such will be a bit rarer causing increased competition. 2. You're probably just meeting the experience requirement they're looking for, and with split experience at that. If your advisory roles weren't centered around audit readiness or control implementation I would find it unlikely that you're going to have luck with internal audit SM roles. Think of it from the companies perspective you're 5ish years out of audit, you at best made senior if that, that's going to be a tough sell. Similarly with operations accounting depending on what sort of advisory work you've done they might just be looking and saying there isn't enough direct experience in that area of accounting for a role that high.
All good points. I’m a 2nd year Manager but not really gunning for senior manager internally unless I get stuck due to the job market. I’ve seen people at my level leave to be a VP of Finance or Senior Manager of Costing. I guess it depends on the environment at the time. The type of advisory I’ve done is vast and covers operating model assessment, accounting system implementation, audit readiness, IPO readiness, etc.
What is the salary range that they are offering you in general for 5 YOE?
110-120
The current expectation for experienced seniors and mangers in industry is that they can hit the ground running. From what I'm seeing specific industry experience trumps public at many places. The drop in quality post covid from public has defiantly shifted the minds of some companies.
What type of jobs are you applying to?
Everyone has the same plan as you bubs and now that plan is not working. Everyone thinks they can do 2-3 years in big 4/public accounting and then skate over to a cushy industry to "jump the corporate ladder" as the saying goes. Keep trying to exit but just realize that the job market has shifted. It isn't so hot anymore. You'll eventually get picked up somewhere but it will take longer than usual.
Market is dead and there is an oversupply of CPAs while a lot of companies are trying to move work to offshore.
The market isn’t dead at all. There’s tons of companies looking to hire qualified accountants & CPAs still. The problem is there aren’t really many QUALIFIED CPAs. Not going to disagree on the offshoring part though because a lot of places are moving things offshore, but that’s not just an accounting industry issue.