Anybody else ever have a job in Accounting?

[Breakaway]

I'm sick and tired of it. I've had several jobs in fields related to accounting work and it just goes against something deeply rooted in my brain's personality. I can't really explain it. I'm good at almost every subject in school (above average to excellenet grades across the board), except for accounting where I"m happy just to get average grades. It is like kryptonite, and ofcourse it is what my parents forced me into doing as a career. (They are accountants too)

School, I can tolerate. 3 hours a week in class + some hours doing homework isn't a lot of time. Working at a job is an entirely different matter. 40+ hours a week is tough on me. I'm still taking classes on top of this for an "accounting designation" which I don't want. Only my parents want it, and I'm about less than a year away from obtaining it if I go through and pass the grueling final courses that I'm registered for.

The fact is that there is no way that I can do accounting as a career. There is something that is extremely un-interesting about it that puts me off, and as a result makes it very hard for me to learn and remember anything in it.

I'm in my mid 20's and feel stuck in a rut. If I tell my parents I'm going to quit the accounting thing, they'll probably get angry that I am going against their plans and tell me that I've wasted the last 4 years taking all these accounting classes. I don't know what to do.

[Dan.Linehan]

Why not get your CPA and work for whatever company you want? It would seem to me that being an accountant is a great way to get paid to travel while learning about all sorts of different business models. For example, internet start-ups who are running through venture capital, or county or state jobs where you can see how tax dollars are allocated. Or a mutual fund so you can learn about financial markets. Or for a restaurant chain to see how much utilities cost in a typical retail space. Or for Paramount Pictures to see how movies are funded.

Accounting is a fully transparent view into the seedy side of resource distribution that most people will never get to see. But you have to be a good accountant to understand that, and you might need to have some life experience to fully appreciate it.

Forget about what your parents think. What will your future self think? Ten years from now? Do you think he'll be impressed that you quit the field without even trying it? You seem to be making some pretty large assumptions that probably aren't true. Like your belief that accounting is always boring, for one.

The accountant at our web company is somewhat of a rock-star type. In fact, before this job he was the accountant at a recording studio. Part of his job was to scout for and help sign new artists. Its probably a lot of fun being the guy who signs the checks and keeps track of the contracts, especially at a smaller company. Just be an accountant for the right type of company. If you go work for a hospital then yeah, it'll be boring. A racetrack, probably not.

[Kevin Givens]

I've done basic accounting work and feel the same way as you. To me, it's uninteresting and tedious.

For awhile I thought about doing Financial Planning. You basically help others build plans for wealth, retirement, college, etc. It was the most appealing career I could imagine (for me) in the financial services arena.

In the end, I decided to go into online business and marketing where I'm in charge of what projects I take on.

Before you go much further you need to figure out what you are passionate about doing. I always recommend the Dan Miller book 48 Days to the Work You Love because it really helped me figure out what careers I would enjoy doing.

Also, don't feel bad about going this far through school only to change your mind. Most people who get college degrees don't go into that particular field.

One last thing. You've got to learn to stand up to your parents. You're an adult and must decide what you want out of life. Trust me, they WILL get over it. Especially once they see you find a career you're happy and successful in.

Just my two cents!

[Lisa McGregor]

What would you rather do?
Lisa

[ahimel]

I have worked in semi-accounting jobs for a while now. (Nothing with "accountant" in the title, but jobs where my duties involved making long columns of numbers add up correctly.) I happen to like it... I receive great satisfaction from entering the data and getting the spreadsheet to actually come out balanced. I'm guessing your parents are the same way.

Sounds like you're not. Not a problem - those of us who like it are definitely in the minority. There are lots of jobs out there that don't involve accounting.

Maybe your parents will think you've wasted 4 years' worth of classes. Maybe you HAVE wasted 4 years' worth of classes. Maybe you've wasted 4 years. But here's the question: Will wasting 5 years make it better?

This state of affairs clearly isn't sustainable - if you keep going the way you're going, you'll end up burned out or crazy. Therefore you have to make a change. If you have to make a change sometime, why not now? No matter how far you've gone down the wrong path, go back.

(Full disclosure: I'm just in the starting phases of a divorce that I wish I'd initiated 5 years ago. I wish to let you learn from my mistake, and not waste any more time. But I also may be pushing my solution on people that don't need it. So judge for yourself.)

[mintyway]

Background: I have a degree in accounting and have been working as a general ledger accountant for 18 months. Just like you, I got really tired of it lately and I've had to do some thinking and research on what kind of occupation I could switch to. (Unlike you, however, I LOVED all my accounting classes).

Anyway, there are two things I can tell you:

- Complete your degree. Having a degree in any particular area doesn't mean having to actually work in that area. The simple fact of having a college degree will show potential employers you're able to accomplish things till the end, and that you're not completely dumb. That's a big step. Thanks to this and to my first serious job experience (as an accountant, but it doesn't matter), I have now found a really cool job as a delivery manager. I won't go into the details of everything that I do here, but I'm the living proof having any degree can lead to varied jobs in which you're always doing exciting stuff, interacting with lots of people and moving a lot outside the building. Quite the opposite of accounting

- Accounting in itself is pretty boring, mostly when you're starting with no experience. But it can lead to various linked consulting jobs that are extremely well paid and interesting. Many small businesses need advice regarding financial matters such as taxes and loans, or marketing ones such as finding new customers, commercial impact of a new product, etc. An accountant is supposed to know at least a bit about all these various topics. Businesses will be happy to pay for external advices coming from a down to earth, numbers savvy consultant.


I hope these two cents can help you a little bit

[Amandaaa]

Do whatever you have to do to make yourself happy.
If you're not enjoying it, then there might be something better for you out there.


(personally, I could never ever ever do Accounting for a living. I've only taken one Accounting class, and that was all that I could take. It's not that it was hard-- it was just the most boring thing that I've ever had to endure in my life... )

[CStrunk]

You should try to rollover the accounting skills you have into something more exciting. My uncle was an Accountant, but he made all of his contacts and now he is in a new business building a hotel in the Florida Keys.

So I believe you won't spend your life doing the boring stuff (auditing makes me cringe a little). Make those contacts.

[Wildside]

If you are less than a year away from finishing your degree I would probably tough it out. You can always change your mind later and do something else...and like someone else already said, having a degree in anything on your resume will help immensely when applying for jobs.

My story is similar to yours. I have a degree in economics (yuck!) the only reason I do is because at the end of my junior year I had to declare a major...I had no idea what to pick, I just looked at my transcript and picked the subject that I had the highest marks in...which was economics. I have never really been interested in economics...heck the only reason I got a degree is because my parents said they would pay for it...so I did the 4 years on their nickel. I wish now I had of waited until I had a more defined picture of what I was interested in before I went...but my parents wanted me to have a degree then, so I went.

A year after I graduated I went to a technical college for a year and have worked in computers ever since. Even though I never worked in anything related to economics I can tell you for a fact that having that economics degree on my resume was the main reason I have gotten the tech jobs I have gotten. So, it's really not that important what your degree is in...you can always change it later...it's just important to have A degree.

The funny (or sad, depending on how you look at it) thing about my story is, is that I am really not that interested in computers either lol...but that's another story for another time.

[boogie85]

Originally Posted by Breakaway

I'm sick and tired of it. I've had several jobs in fields related to accounting work and it just goes against something deeply rooted in my brain's personality. I can't really explain it. I'm good at almost every subject in school (above average to excellenet grades across the board), except for accounting where I"m happy just to get average grades. It is like kryptonite, and ofcourse it is what my parents forced me into doing as a career. (They are accountants too)

School, I can tolerate. 3 hours a week in class + some hours doing homework isn't a lot of time. Working at a job is an entirely different matter. 40+ hours a week is tough on me. I'm still taking classes on top of this for an "accounting designation" which I don't want. Only my parents want it, and I'm about less than a year away from obtaining it if I go through and pass the grueling final courses that I'm registered for.

The fact is that there is no way that I can do accounting as a career. There is something that is extremely un-interesting about it that puts me off, and as a result makes it very hard for me to learn and remember anything in it.

I'm in my mid 20's and feel stuck in a rut. If I tell my parents I'm going to quit the accounting thing, they'll probably get angry that I am going against their plans and tell me that I've wasted the last 4 years taking all these accounting classes. I don't know what to do.

Breakaway, I really feel that I am in the same boat with you on this one. I am almost done with accounting and I just can't see myself in it. I want to picture myself having lots of money and feeling important, but I think I hate accounting. I was talking with my dad just yesterday about it because I'm going through depression. He thinks that my trying to like something that I hate is what's causing my depression. I think it plays a big part of it. I feel I'm doing accounting for my parents and all those who expect great things out of me. I'm like you, with any other subject I'm usually A+ but with accounting I'm lucky to get a C now. I also kinda feel that if I just pack up and leave accounting that I've wasted 4 years of my life. I'm really thinking on this stuff heavily. I plan to finish my degree since I'm so close, and I'm probably going back to school to do something totally different. Good luck!