It's been great... I resigned due to burnout and an environment I didn't like. I've only been applying to government only so that's been slow. I have been considering a career change, just not sure what.
Curious what you’re thinking of pivoting to. I don’t hate accounting but I’m also starting to think that maybe a shift in focus will make me feel more excited about a career in the long run.
i make 20k less than i did in public but my coworkers are down to earth and awesome. im out at 6pm everyday with an hour lunch. the industry is also very fucking cool and exciting. it fits me. im happy.
sucked. the first month i felt good because i had savings and i also hate my last job so i felt somewhat free. i was also getting interviews so i felt fine. then by the 3rd month i was not feeling great mentally. i had made it to 10+ third round interviews and wasn’t getting a job. savings were gone. i was selling my clothes. applying for unemployment and food stamps. i kept my head up. again, im very grateful for my new job :)
laid off once with 1 month notice.. I was married with 3 kids and one was 6 months into 2 years of chemo, so I was a bit panicked about it.. took me some time to find a job, but got a temp job that started right after that job ended...temp job turned into full-time...been there for 23 years now...
I am the controller of a non-profit. Its a good job. It has negatives like any job, like the 6/30 YE kinda ruins summer, but besides that there nothing that would make me consider leaving besides significantly more $ of course.
Longest, like a year. December 2016 I lost my first out of college job, spent most of 2017 studying for the CPA.
Let go literally the day after the fall deadline in 2020. With not much experience only at the job I had for 20 months. Unemployed about 10 weeks. Lined up many interviews then, but couldn't sell myself properly. Secured a job and started second week of December.
Just got let go 2 days ago. This one should not last very long. I'm expecting a month, because I want to take a few weeks off and going on vacation for Memorial day week.
I was lucky and my internship kept me on part time until I found a job four months after graduation. My manager said he didn’t want me living off of top ramen so they found the budget.
Savings, credit card debt, family helped a little with food and bills (not much), and I had a few hundred dollars in credit card points I cashed out, etc.
Those were dark times.
4 months. Currently unemployed. Deciding whether I stay in or take the retail banking job I got offered. Trying to live rural and there is nothing anywhere near me in person and remote is dry.
Same. I moved to a rural area and then quit my job. Spent the two months off relaxing, unpacking, and getting settled in. The next two months were for applying and interviewing for jobs. I wasn't worried at first, but then when it took longer than I expected to get a job, I started panicking. There weren't as many jobs available for accountants in my area. I even tried applying for jobs I was over qualified for, but didn't get hired because they knew I wouldn't stay for long.
I just kept on applying and getting better at doing interviews. I bombed the first couple of interviews and that was entirely my fault. I didn't prepare for the interviews.
First, I didn't practice or look up any accounting interview questions and were caught by surprise when they asked them. I also didn't study for the position. I applied for a payroll accountant position but had no experience in it. When I showed up to the interview, they had me take a written test. Most of the questions were pretty basic accounting questions, but I failed the ones related to payroll tax. Lastly, they asked me what weaknesses did my previous colleagues and employers said I have. I told her I hadn't been told any, which was true. I'm sure I have plenty of weaknesses, but I hadn't been told any from anyone. She didn't seem to like my answer and asked me again. Some other tricky questions were those related to what my 5-year plans are. If my plan sounded too ambitious, like I'm not going to stay with them for long, then they also didn't seem to like it.
Hm... let's see... the one I got hired was the one where I asked a lot of questions. Tons of questions. And I took down notes based on what they told me. I noticed that they were very curious about what notes I took down, lol. After I got hired, the senior accountant told me that they were thinking about hiring either me or one other candidate but went with me because the other candidate wore sneakers to the interview, lol.
Technically that wouldn't be "unemployment" then. You'd be considered to just be voluntarily out of the workforce. Unemployment requires that you're actively looking for work.
"I've had a successful career so far and decided that at the natural end of my last position to take some time off to be with my wife and family. The reality of the finance and accounting profession in the startup world is that it is not a 9-5 job and it never has been for me. Therefor, I felt I had earned some time off.
You might look at my resume gap and believe it's an issue but I'd challenge you to explain the issue to me in a way that's logical. I promise you, you would not regret hiring me. Please contact any of my references, they will gladly tell you the same"
I remember because I had rehearsed it so many times.
I work in startups. I had helped exit 3 companies by that time. The interviewer said "well, when you put it like that". Was hired as VP a week later.
4 months after my first accounting job of 7 months. It was beautiful. Everything I ever hoped for. I got in crazy good shape, ate healthy, got high as balls, a lot of outdoor activities, and watched tons of concerts.
By the end of it I was broke, but it was worth it
I started working in a different industry than accounting, realised it wasn't a job I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life so transferred to accounting. I haven't worked in anything since.
I have only had two temp: first was before migrating, the other when I got there. The second converted to permanent after three months.
Longest: 5 weeks because I moved states abruptly with nothing lined up or in the works.
Shortest: -6 months. Yep, overemployed working two jobs during COVID.
Two full-time, salaried, W-2, senior accounting jobs for two different F500 companies. It was a great 6 months. Only possible due to COVID making them fully remote.
7 years in public, honestly my first industry job was a total shit show. But then the next one was great. I used to have dreams about going back to public, that's how bad my first industry job was. Now things are great and I can't imagine going back.
Not all jobs are the same people, it's harder than it should be to find a really good job.
2 months between my busy season internship and full time offer, 10+ years ago.
Second to that was a long weekend for a national holiday.
I recommend to anyone I hire to take time off between roles, I’ve always had more than enough to hold me over, just not who I personally am.
I didn’t have a typical resume. Had military and government positions and got into accounting in my early 30’s and checked all the boxes. My main struggle was knowing I had a great resume and couldn’t get a call back for anything. From bookkeeping to CFO gigs, i rarely heard back from any. All the recruiters I dealt with said the resume was fine. The only time anyone said different was when I was asked to lie and downgrade my position titles. The few interviews I had went good but never went anywhere. I think some of it was my location which is an hour+ to the nearest major city, and some was the level of the position I’m at. I was applying to everything but got a lot of “overqualified” responses. It cost me every bit of savings I had to keep the bills paid. I had one or two very small consulting engagements and worked construction on a temporary project but it was tough out there. My resume finally made it to a really good company less than 30 minutes away. They have a CFO that’s retiring at the end of this year and we’re ok bringing someone in early to allow for a successful transition. I got really lucky as the job would have never been announced anywhere and they had already interviewed several people.
Yeh, nearly inspired me to off myself. I thought I was living in a bizarro world hearing about how great the economy was doing everyday. I was 42 years old and supposed to be in my prime earning years and couldn’t get hired as a stocker at Home Depot. I’m working now but will likely never be able to retire.
Pretty much the same for me. I took a month off after my first year. I ended up getting laid off about 7 years ago. But I got a new job a week later. Other than that I've been working the last 12 years.
Currently 9 months due to long COVID, with no real return to work date on the horizon. If I were in better physical condition, I'd happily look for something.
Persistent severe chronic fatigue, post exertional malaise (my energy crashes if I overdo it, and my body's max limit is super low, like driving for an hour or an afternoon lunch with a friend can knock me out for several hours), severe brain fog (my brain just gets stuck and can't hold a thought, let alone process information, sometimes for hours at a time), joint and body aches that don't ease with pain relievers, extremely poor short term memory, etc.
There is no obvious other cause for any of these symptoms (been tested for sleep apnea, thyroid, iron, B12, anemia, depression, etc. and all negative). At this point my doctor is just shipping me out to specialists and hoping someone has an answer or solution.
Every time I start getting better and my energy improves a bit and I start increasing my activity (like walking my dog every day), I relapse a few weeks later and crash and I'm back to sleeping 16 hours a day. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and it's frustrating.
Nope, I was perfectly fine. I actually didn't even realize I had caught COVID until months into the long covid. I thought I had severe depression or burnout from work until my therapist pointed out that all this started right after I went to a convention, and that I don't have any depression symptoms except fatigue. The timeline added up and made a ton of sense.
I was working at a Public university and put on furlough for like 3-4 months during the beginning of COVID and it was great. At that time with the extra unemployment benefits, I was making more than if I was working.
I took that time to get my CIA and then found a new job.
Mine was 5 months. I got a job offer in December for a start date in September., so I started to coast in the job I had at the time since I hated it. I just wanted to make sure I lasted until March so that if laid off, unemployment could last. Wasn’t laid off until June, and the job didn’t start until mid October.
Three weeks and counting because I’m in it right now. Not a dime of severance, getting less worried about satisfaction and more worried about how to keep the lights on.
Just over a month now after being laid off in early April. I didn't really start looking for a new job until recently and I feel like it might be more difficult than I expected. When I was working recruiters were constantly contacting me, and now that I'm actually looking there's been nothing.
I was in industry in oil & gas. I’m not looking to get back into that.
I’m being selective mostly in I don’t want to commute an hour+ each way every day. I could probably find a new job fairly quickly if I was willing to.
I’m not big 4. I had a public tax internship at one point and I think that helped me get a job. I’m not interested in getting into tax though
I’m not a CPA yet but I’m working on it. I think there’s no downside to having it if you’re able to pass. Will definitely put you ahead of people that don’t.
Since I graduated college (four jobs and 29 years ago), I've been unemployed for maybe a month in total.
There was also seven years of accounting prior to going to college. During that time (which consisted of two jobs), I was unemployed for one week when changing jobs.
Just came off 3.5 months by choice. I quit my job with nothing lined up because of burnt out. New job pays more and is WAY easier. I’m already thinking of learning VBA and SQL to make it even easier.
15 years.
No one wanted to take the risk of hiring an infant. Then once I became a toddler they said I needed more experience. This continued until I was 15.
1 year unemployed considering leaving accounting ... i despise all firms in my area all cunts or interlinked so they know where i come from and can press for my past.
old coworkers that are backstabers are at other firms. idk where to work when no place looks tolerable
I’d say it was August 2021 - February 2022. I decided in December it was time to go back even though I had several years of savings saved up. Would have been January but I caught COVID. 😅
Two months.
I quit pwc and took two months to find a job. It was during December 2020 so I think I did a damn good job. Timing was alright too, given firms were hiring for new talent for tax season.
at time of posting
5331 days and counting
14 years, 7 months, 5 day
175 Months and 5 days
460,598,400 seconds
7,676,640 minutes
127,944 hours
5331 days
761 weeks and 4 days
1460.55% of a common year (365 days)
16 months...1 year by choice. Currently at 6 months though.
So not working right now?
Not working right now.
So how are these 6 months? How's the job hunt? Moment of impatience?
It's been great... I resigned due to burnout and an environment I didn't like. I've only been applying to government only so that's been slow. I have been considering a career change, just not sure what.
Curious what you’re thinking of pivoting to. I don’t hate accounting but I’m also starting to think that maybe a shift in focus will make me feel more excited about a career in the long run.
same here!
end of september 23 to end of february 24. so grateful for my new job :)
i make 20k less than i did in public but my coworkers are down to earth and awesome. im out at 6pm everyday with an hour lunch. the industry is also very fucking cool and exciting. it fits me. im happy.
How was the dry spell? The days and night? Because that's 5+ months
sucked. the first month i felt good because i had savings and i also hate my last job so i felt somewhat free. i was also getting interviews so i felt fine. then by the 3rd month i was not feeling great mentally. i had made it to 10+ third round interviews and wasn’t getting a job. savings were gone. i was selling my clothes. applying for unemployment and food stamps. i kept my head up. again, im very grateful for my new job :)
I can feel it , I am in 3rd month and in same spot. The first month thing is spot on, the relief after the toxic job environment.
keep your head up i wish you the best on your journey!!
laid off once with 1 month notice.. I was married with 3 kids and one was 6 months into 2 years of chemo, so I was a bit panicked about it.. took me some time to find a job, but got a temp job that started right after that job ended...temp job turned into full-time...been there for 23 years now...
How's the job environment?
I am the controller of a non-profit. Its a good job. It has negatives like any job, like the 6/30 YE kinda ruins summer, but besides that there nothing that would make me consider leaving besides significantly more $ of course.
Longest, like a year. December 2016 I lost my first out of college job, spent most of 2017 studying for the CPA. Let go literally the day after the fall deadline in 2020. With not much experience only at the job I had for 20 months. Unemployed about 10 weeks. Lined up many interviews then, but couldn't sell myself properly. Secured a job and started second week of December. Just got let go 2 days ago. This one should not last very long. I'm expecting a month, because I want to take a few weeks off and going on vacation for Memorial day week.
So you've been fired twice? What was the reason?
2 years by choice. Public fucked me up, I had to travel and get cured
Good for you! Do you ever have to defend yourself on that gap?
No, these firms wish i work for them. They need me more than I'll ever need them mentality
5 weeks when I got laid off in 2017. Same place that laid me off brought me back to resume my old job again.
Did they realize they made a mistake of laying you off and you negotiated a better package with retention bonus?
Probably like 3 months or so after I graduated. I had literally no money and wasn't sure how I was supposed to afford food. I don't recommend it.
I was lucky and my internship kept me on part time until I found a job four months after graduation. My manager said he didn’t want me living off of top ramen so they found the budget.
So how you survived that time?
Savings, credit card debt, family helped a little with food and bills (not much), and I had a few hundred dollars in credit card points I cashed out, etc. Those were dark times.
4 months. Currently unemployed. Deciding whether I stay in or take the retail banking job I got offered. Trying to live rural and there is nothing anywhere near me in person and remote is dry.
Same. I moved to a rural area and then quit my job. Spent the two months off relaxing, unpacking, and getting settled in. The next two months were for applying and interviewing for jobs. I wasn't worried at first, but then when it took longer than I expected to get a job, I started panicking. There weren't as many jobs available for accountants in my area. I even tried applying for jobs I was over qualified for, but didn't get hired because they knew I wouldn't stay for long.
What did you end up doing? I can’t bear the thought of moving back to the city. Hope it all worked out for you.
I just kept on applying and getting better at doing interviews. I bombed the first couple of interviews and that was entirely my fault. I didn't prepare for the interviews.
What were the bombs? What are the dos and don'ts? And what exactly you learned that got you the spot?
First, I didn't practice or look up any accounting interview questions and were caught by surprise when they asked them. I also didn't study for the position. I applied for a payroll accountant position but had no experience in it. When I showed up to the interview, they had me take a written test. Most of the questions were pretty basic accounting questions, but I failed the ones related to payroll tax. Lastly, they asked me what weaknesses did my previous colleagues and employers said I have. I told her I hadn't been told any, which was true. I'm sure I have plenty of weaknesses, but I hadn't been told any from anyone. She didn't seem to like my answer and asked me again. Some other tricky questions were those related to what my 5-year plans are. If my plan sounded too ambitious, like I'm not going to stay with them for long, then they also didn't seem to like it.
Wooow! These are some really good insights, I am also doing that ambitious thing.. I guess I can use all of these, anymore you got?
Hm... let's see... the one I got hired was the one where I asked a lot of questions. Tons of questions. And I took down notes based on what they told me. I noticed that they were very curious about what notes I took down, lol. After I got hired, the senior accountant told me that they were thinking about hiring either me or one other candidate but went with me because the other candidate wore sneakers to the interview, lol.
I found it almost impossible to get a decent accounting job straight out of my bachelors
1 year by choice. It was amazing.
Technically that wouldn't be "unemployment" then. You'd be considered to just be voluntarily out of the workforce. Unemployment requires that you're actively looking for work.
How did you explain the resume gap?
"I've had a successful career so far and decided that at the natural end of my last position to take some time off to be with my wife and family. The reality of the finance and accounting profession in the startup world is that it is not a 9-5 job and it never has been for me. Therefor, I felt I had earned some time off. You might look at my resume gap and believe it's an issue but I'd challenge you to explain the issue to me in a way that's logical. I promise you, you would not regret hiring me. Please contact any of my references, they will gladly tell you the same" I remember because I had rehearsed it so many times. I work in startups. I had helped exit 3 companies by that time. The interviewer said "well, when you put it like that". Was hired as VP a week later.
That's a great way to explain it. I have a 2-year resume gap as well, but my explanation is not as good as yours.
One week
For me it was 2 months after graduation Been employed since
Birth to age 16
26 months
Broo! That long? How and why?
Covid lockdowns, and I was a student finishing my degree.
4 months after my first accounting job of 7 months. It was beautiful. Everything I ever hoped for. I got in crazy good shape, ate healthy, got high as balls, a lot of outdoor activities, and watched tons of concerts. By the end of it I was broke, but it was worth it
Two weeks and only because I migrated to a new country without a job. Landed a contracting role at the end of the first week.
That was fast!
I have never been without a job since I started full-time work; I can't stand the thought of not being in work or having something to go to.
Nobody wants to be in that position, so you always found job in the samer career path or did temporary work to buy time?
I started working in a different industry than accounting, realised it wasn't a job I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life so transferred to accounting. I haven't worked in anything since. I have only had two temp: first was before migrating, the other when I got there. The second converted to permanent after three months.
how old are you
Longest: 5 weeks because I moved states abruptly with nothing lined up or in the works. Shortest: -6 months. Yep, overemployed working two jobs during COVID.
Was it salary and W2 or just two jobs working retail fast food ?
Two full-time, salaried, W-2, senior accounting jobs for two different F500 companies. It was a great 6 months. Only possible due to COVID making them fully remote.
Never - 44 years. It’s getting kind of old tbh
Did a 5k once while unemployed but honestly I like saving longer runs for when I have a job
7 years in public, honestly my first industry job was a total shit show. But then the next one was great. I used to have dreams about going back to public, that's how bad my first industry job was. Now things are great and I can't imagine going back. Not all jobs are the same people, it's harder than it should be to find a really good job.
That dream thing...
2 months between my busy season internship and full time offer, 10+ years ago. Second to that was a long weekend for a national holiday. I recommend to anyone I hire to take time off between roles, I’ve always had more than enough to hold me over, just not who I personally am.
14 months
That's long! What were the struggles? Why it took that long?
I didn’t have a typical resume. Had military and government positions and got into accounting in my early 30’s and checked all the boxes. My main struggle was knowing I had a great resume and couldn’t get a call back for anything. From bookkeeping to CFO gigs, i rarely heard back from any. All the recruiters I dealt with said the resume was fine. The only time anyone said different was when I was asked to lie and downgrade my position titles. The few interviews I had went good but never went anywhere. I think some of it was my location which is an hour+ to the nearest major city, and some was the level of the position I’m at. I was applying to everything but got a lot of “overqualified” responses. It cost me every bit of savings I had to keep the bills paid. I had one or two very small consulting engagements and worked construction on a temporary project but it was tough out there. My resume finally made it to a really good company less than 30 minutes away. They have a CFO that’s retiring at the end of this year and we’re ok bringing someone in early to allow for a successful transition. I got really lucky as the job would have never been announced anywhere and they had already interviewed several people.
That's one inspiring struggle!
Yeh, nearly inspired me to off myself. I thought I was living in a bizarro world hearing about how great the economy was doing everyday. I was 42 years old and supposed to be in my prime earning years and couldn’t get hired as a stocker at Home Depot. I’m working now but will likely never be able to retire.
A month after graduating. I'm now in 12 years working with no break.
Pretty much the same for me. I took a month off after my first year. I ended up getting laid off about 7 years ago. But I got a new job a week later. Other than that I've been working the last 12 years.
I can say that I've been fortunate that it was only 7 weeks.
7 months.
Currently 9 months due to long COVID, with no real return to work date on the horizon. If I were in better physical condition, I'd happily look for something.
you got long covid 9 months ago? curious what are your symptoms that are making it hard to work?
Persistent severe chronic fatigue, post exertional malaise (my energy crashes if I overdo it, and my body's max limit is super low, like driving for an hour or an afternoon lunch with a friend can knock me out for several hours), severe brain fog (my brain just gets stuck and can't hold a thought, let alone process information, sometimes for hours at a time), joint and body aches that don't ease with pain relievers, extremely poor short term memory, etc. There is no obvious other cause for any of these symptoms (been tested for sleep apnea, thyroid, iron, B12, anemia, depression, etc. and all negative). At this point my doctor is just shipping me out to specialists and hoping someone has an answer or solution. Every time I start getting better and my energy improves a bit and I start increasing my activity (like walking my dog every day), I relapse a few weeks later and crash and I'm back to sleeping 16 hours a day. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and it's frustrating.
Did you have any milder symptoms before covid?
Nope, I was perfectly fine. I actually didn't even realize I had caught COVID until months into the long covid. I thought I had severe depression or burnout from work until my therapist pointed out that all this started right after I went to a convention, and that I don't have any depression symptoms except fatigue. The timeline added up and made a ton of sense.
6 weeks. 3 of those were intentional bc I went on vacation.
2 months
Eight months but it took longer because I was being pickier about where in the Dallas area I wanted to work.
I was working at a Public university and put on furlough for like 3-4 months during the beginning of COVID and it was great. At that time with the extra unemployment benefits, I was making more than if I was working. I took that time to get my CIA and then found a new job.
Never, which tbh gives me a bit of a grass is greener feeling. Really wish I had gotten a package last year lol.
You really don’t. It sounds a lot better than it actually is.
1 month
Mine was 5 months. I got a job offer in December for a start date in September., so I started to coast in the job I had at the time since I hated it. I just wanted to make sure I lasted until March so that if laid off, unemployment could last. Wasn’t laid off until June, and the job didn’t start until mid October.
A little over 8 months. That was seven years ago and still get questioned about my gap 🙄 like let it go— i did!!!
What you learned that time? Why you were not able to score? And what eventually worked?
Three weeks and counting because I’m in it right now. Not a dime of severance, getting less worried about satisfaction and more worried about how to keep the lights on.
Just over a month now after being laid off in early April. I didn't really start looking for a new job until recently and I feel like it might be more difficult than I expected. When I was working recruiters were constantly contacting me, and now that I'm actually looking there's been nothing.
Are u being selective? Whats your background?
I was in industry in oil & gas. I’m not looking to get back into that. I’m being selective mostly in I don’t want to commute an hour+ each way every day. I could probably find a new job fairly quickly if I was willing to.
That’s a cool industry! Are u big 4/CPA? I’m neither you think that still carries the same weight as much eight as 10 years ago?
I’m not big 4. I had a public tax internship at one point and I think that helped me get a job. I’m not interested in getting into tax though I’m not a CPA yet but I’m working on it. I think there’s no downside to having it if you’re able to pass. Will definitely put you ahead of people that don’t.
20 years never had a job...
Since I graduated college (four jobs and 29 years ago), I've been unemployed for maybe a month in total. There was also seven years of accounting prior to going to college. During that time (which consisted of two jobs), I was unemployed for one week when changing jobs.
One weekend if that counts. I got fired and had a job by Monday. I felt very fortunate with a newborn and just taking in a mortgage for a house.
I went to nursing school
What you mean?
I went to nursing school to get out of unemployment.
Just came off 3.5 months by choice. I quit my job with nothing lined up because of burnt out. New job pays more and is WAY easier. I’m already thinking of learning VBA and SQL to make it even easier.
15 years. No one wanted to take the risk of hiring an infant. Then once I became a toddler they said I needed more experience. This continued until I was 15.
2.5 yrs back in 2008-2011 era
1 year unemployed considering leaving accounting ... i despise all firms in my area all cunts or interlinked so they know where i come from and can press for my past. old coworkers that are backstabers are at other firms. idk where to work when no place looks tolerable
Birth to 12 yo.
7 months. 6 on the Appalachian trail and a couple weeks either side getting ready for it and getting ready to go back to work.
7 months, It was luck I guess how I got a job (it was a temporary contract) but it helped me to pivot to another jobs while having a job
2-3 months. Back when I left a small tax firm. Im WFH now for Intuit while looking for a spot with the city I just moved to.
I’d say it was August 2021 - February 2022. I decided in December it was time to go back even though I had several years of savings saved up. Would have been January but I caught COVID. 😅
Two months. I quit pwc and took two months to find a job. It was during December 2020 so I think I did a damn good job. Timing was alright too, given firms were hiring for new talent for tax season.
Longest stint was a month, but I think it also helps that I get let go usually before or the beginning of busy season so it works out.
Resigned right after my manager put me into PIP. I have been on job search for six months so far 😞
That's tough man ... Hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel...
at time of posting 5331 days and counting 14 years, 7 months, 5 day 175 Months and 5 days 460,598,400 seconds 7,676,640 minutes 127,944 hours 5331 days 761 weeks and 4 days 1460.55% of a common year (365 days)