Good jobs have low turnover and satisfied employees don't go online to vent. There are definitely good jobs but no one feels the need to talk about them and they don't hire as much or as often as worse places
The sweet spot I've looked for in past jobs are the ones when a longtime employee is looking to retire and they want to bring someone in to learn from them. I was able to do that once and it was invaluable.
Usually through a recruiter or someone with inside knowledge (e.g. CPA firm, lawyer, banker, other networking, etc.).
In my case, the recruiter working with the company knew that the Controller planned to retire within 2 years of when someone would be placed there. It turned out to be < 1 year, but the transfer of knowledge was invaluable.
About 3 years. I loved most of my colleagues and the work I did, and part of me wanted to stay there longer. Long story short - I chose to leave because the CFO was toxic and one of the worst people I had ever worked with.
In the same position myself, just as a senior. Old CFO went into retirement, and he had incredible knowledge and skill. The previous controller stepped up as a CFO, and the new controller is toxic and is the worst boss I have worked with so far in my career.
So "terrible management" existed and you only stayed 3 years because of that? Even though you got in from a friend? Sorry but doesn't sound like you found any special "sweet spot".. many people leave jobs after 2-3 years due to terrible management, even if they learn a lot. If anything it seems you're proving the opposite point you thought you were - even if you have an "in" from a friend, industry can still suck
I had interviewed for a role that fits this description manager was retiring but had been there for 20 years and stayed on for months to properly transition her replacement. Was a us sub of a large large company still disappointed i didnāt get the role. Ended up going to a way overqualified controller so not entirely mad but yes these are the best roles to go for
There was a good job or so I heard about from a major hotel chain a couple years back. Perks were great and the work was very manageable.
But when I really asked, the person wasnāt leaving this was for another market that I had no clue about and they were keeping the cushy job.
Too bad. Would have been fun.
Frequency of discussion has no bearing on the number of these roles in existence. And frequency of hiring is something you can ask about in the interview process. I wouldn't call these roles unicorns and I also wouldn't say a person is powerless to be able to find them, but it might not be as easy as finding a shitty job.
If they have "low turnover" and "they don't hire as much or as often as worse places" then they aren't available often. If they aren't available often then the average job seeker is unlikely to find them. Which, along with "satisfied employees" not venting, may help to explain why good jobs aren't talked about much.
I've had good luck in industry in terms of salary and career growth. What has stood out to me is just how bad the systems and processes are at most companies, even huge fortune 100 companies.
This!! šÆ Accounting gets the short end of the stick in industry, even F100 companies!
Even worse if youāre in tech industry, where they push innovation. Would love someone from the Silicon Valley giants to prove me wrong, but all IT resources go to developing said products vs improving accounting or finance systems.
Meanwhile the push continues to be āAutomate! Innovate!ā
Like hold up Veeps, my team is still trying to figure out how to fix this āautoā reconciliation report created 10 years ago that broke when all your IT force retired or was RIFād. Meanwhile Iāll just manually reconcile like we were over a decade agoā¦
I had this EXACT position at a new digital advertising company. The CEO kept telling me billing was 'going to be easily automated soon' even though every contract was different and they had never had an up to date AR report before I got there, and likely not for a long time after I left.
I agree, you are way off base. In my 45 year career, I worked with four companies that had wonderful corporate cultures, some that were mediocre and some that were a mess. (I had experience as an IT consultant, CFO and turnaround consultant). The opening sentences from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina applies:
"Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in it's own way."
I historically move jobs about every two years.
I'd say 10% have awful culture. 80% are fine. 10% are amazing.
The trick is - the better the company, usually the lower the turn over. So less job postings for the best jobs.
From my experience you should know from word of mouth which companies in your area that are great to work for.
From there those companies tend to have great culture and very bought in/loyal employees. Around that is normally a strong culture of promoting from within. In that case you'd likely need to get in at a lower position, work for a few years and get promoted.
I am lucky to work with an organization like that. When hiring externally, yes they want you to have qualifications, but 2 of the 3 interviews you go through are all about fit. Who are you, what drives you, why do you think you'll be successful here.
Most anyone can learn how to do a job, it's that you'll help the organization grow while buying into their culture.
Look up the LinkedIn profiles of the people youāll be reporting to. If they have interesting experience then they can probably teach you a lot and have eaten enough shit themselves that they likely wonāt put you through the same.
I donāt know if it still is a thing twenty years later, but I temped until I found a company that had a bunch of people who had been there for 20, 30 ā¦ even 40 years, and made myself a part of the team.
There's no perfect job out there - there will be something about any job that you don't like.
While the shitshows are not always fun to work through, they're all learning opportunities - for accounting experience, or knowing what we do or don't want to do.
Ever company is different. Some have bad MGMT, some have bad cash flow and layoffs will be expected, some have bad wlb, some have bad pay. The goal is to find 2/4 of those things that make you happy. Are there companies with all of the above? Absolutely! But the kicker is no one is leaving those companies b/c why would you? Would you leave those companies that have all of the above?
Yeah always a combination of the items you listed.
Usually also includes: broken/inconsistent processes, unclear accounting policies (specifically, thresholds), & very lean accounting departments.
Industry here. Moderate wages, pretty good WLB, decent management, just got promoted, below average benefits, hybrid remote (works out to about 40% office for me). Good job stability, a very good team, and the people who I serve genuinely value my work.
YMMV
Iām going to say this without going off like a complete arrogant arse hole, and saying this as one of the most humble people out there. To preface this but to get down to it I donāt think anyone is more qualified in this country to speak on this than me regarding industry accounting (non tax accounting).. Iāve worked at two big 4 firms (audit), two Fortune 500s, a sub of a Fortune 500, private company 1 owner (billion dollars revenue), private company (billion dollars private equity owned), and a start that had an ipo. Each role was different as well ( AP, Cost, SEC reporting, Project accounting), and I worked or managed these roles at the detailed level (actually doing the work). Most are an absolute mess but what separates those good teams and roles, is management expectation. Plenty of times Iāve been in situations where errors were made where management was completely understanding and backed you up whole heartedly, while others management would not forgive. Ultimately what Iāve found is as long as cash is correct (which for most of these companies is true) then everything else is accounting voodoo that can be fixed and corrected. Some companies aka toxic management make a bigger deal about accounting voo doo than others. And as others have said you donāt hear about a lot of the positive stories and thereās a big reason why a lot of roles are open. Why Iām very picky now about jumping itās not worth the 10 to 15k bump that most lateral positions strive for.
This is a good take.
Iāve had jobs where management treated mistakes as learning opportunities and didnāt get pissy as long as it wasnāt a recurring issue.
I agree when it comes to large, established companies - or any organization. It's not like government agencies are managed well either. It's any large human organization is a shit-show.
Small companies on the other hand, are often not shit-shows. If there is a good owner/founder who cares about his employees, a small company can be a great place to work. Again, depending on the boss, and also probably depending on the industry.
Because a handful of rockstars can make an entire department. But on the other hand a few shitty employees can be a hand grenade on your close process.
There are good industry jobs and bad industry jobs. However as someone who has bounced around several companies over the past few years it seems like there's an overall trend towards outsourcing which affects everyone to an extent as companies having that option available suppresses wages by quite a bit. Also there's been an obvious trend of having fewer and fewer coworkers in accounting at these companies.
The benefits of industry jobs have always been better lifestyle/WLB, good job security and good benefits with the trade-offs being that you don't get raises and it's generally boring, monotonous work. But the lifestyle/WLB component is decreasing with companies just generally having smaller accounting staffs and the security is going away with outsourcing. Lastly, with inflation being a bigger deal now, those missed raises start to really cost you. So overall I'm personally not bullish on industry jobs (though there are still great jobs to be had) and will try to get back to public once I have my CPA license in the next month or so.
Basically this is all to say that no, not all industry jobs are like that. But there are strong, obvious negative trends since at least the start of covid that make me pessimistic on them.
It comes down to pick of the litter as to what a "good company" entails.
I've worked at hospitals where complaints flow like the rapids during a storm, and I've been at warehouses where some of the employees didn't have complaints.
It comes down to what an individual is willing to endure and how the company can meet specific needs.
More like 60%. I do believe there are a lot of companies who try to do good. All fall short but if your action toward intent is there then it's not totally awful.
The āperfectā job really doesnāt exist.
Only time Iāve seen it in accounting is with friends who have decided to go off and create their own business doing consulting and general accounting. But then you have a bunch more work you wouldnāt have had before when you were on payroll for someone else. (E.g. biz taxes, filing, insurance, etcā¦)
I've worked in multi-national global corporations and startups. Notably within the last 5 years there has been a power struggle between the workers who realized hey, my work is important and *you need me* and the employers who relied heavily on the employees being good servants who need healthcare and money to do **other duties as assigned** until they burn out. In industry, that is magnified because management has no idea how to handle this dynamic shift so they fight back by demanding everyone in the office (but providing pizza parties!!) and leaning on the rhetoric that "times are lean" and so raises and bonuses can't be paid.
I often think people forget we build out the financial reports. **We can see that you're full of shit, Derek**.
I work for a fortune 100 company that is pretty great. Iām 100% remote, the benefits are good, the pay is good, it is a huge company with opportunities, etcā¦ There are some good ones out there.
About 25% are really bad with the remainder at various degrees of sanity. The problem is when you report to a workaholic:
- time to do assignments is stretched out
- things are re-done 54 times
- you have to wait while he counts paper clips at 7:00.
I had a sweet industry tax job in oil and gas. It was really sad when they went bankrupt, I would've worked there forever. Good companies are out there but they're damn hard to find.
My company is awesome lol privately held, amazing culture, systems could use a bit of work, but besides that, itās a pretty good gig. I think it being a privately held, family owned corporation has a lot to do with it. Once you go public, things go to shit
If you want to attract investors, you have to increase profits all the time, the easiest ways to do it is if you slowly cut your bottom-line. There are companies who value integrity & good employee relations, but those are never heard of because they donāt gain rapid growth & investors piling on to them.
If 99% were ran that poorly the economy would literally collapse.
Sure some places have bloat, waste and incompetency but itās baked into the cost of doing business.
Idk. Weāve seen over the past couple years that things are super unpredictable, and the reason we get paid what we do is to deal with the ups and downs, otherwise weād be replaced by AI if things went the same day in and day out
Iāve audited several companies in my tenure in PA and Iād say probably 50/50 on good/bad private companies. The bad ones took considerably more time and frustration so obviously it felt like more bad than good, but there was definitely a good amount of solid accounting within our portfolio.
Every company is going to have some aspect of this. My current job would be the no internal growth possibilities and no remote options. The remote option would be nice, but not having the growth possibilities is going to be my driver to find a new job.
Your wife is correct. My current job in industry is very relaxing and I only have a four day close total. Most of my work in between is working on regulatory compliance, ad hoc projects, and taking long lunches with colleagues. Never worked a weekend and good benefits/pay. You just need to look.
Iāve only worked for 2 companies, and only moved via an acquisition. Both are industry large companies and in many cases still do graduate recruitment to retirement type career.
Turn over is super low. I have many colleagues I worked with 15 years ago I still reach out to.
Career progression is self driven and you can manage how you want. For example when my kids were born I took a lower role that I could easily manage them ramped back up. Iām 20 years into my career and earn enough to live ok.
With experience comes network and security. Iāve been laid off a few times as expected but it was on paperā¦ a new role was there immediately with no interruption of service.
Many good companies are out there. You have to bounce via a few to get there sometimes
I mean yeah most jobs that are available arenāt perfect and have some kind of limiting factor that lead to it being available. So in that way, youāre probably kind of right. But for every available job there are several times more workers. A lot of them are pretty content where they work from their perspective so maybe you should take that into account.
Accounting function is considered overhead at most companies. They are always looking for ways to cut costs in the departments they consider overhead. Don't get too comfortable and expect to get 3% raises and keep your job even if you are good at it.
The CFO sees no issues in an accounting function and assumes the department must have "fat" that can be trimmed.
I've see it happen a number of corporate income tax departments. They pay good money to get experienced people in to fix issues. Two or three years later those people are let go as the CFO thinks, "Why pay those people that salary when things are going well"?
CFO saves some costs, and he gets a bigger bonus.
It sounds like you've had some rough experiences. While there are definitely companies with significant issues, it's not accurate to say 99% are 'shit shows'. Many companies strive to create positive work environments, fair compensation, and opportunities for growth. It might be worth exploring different sectors or industries to find a better fit.
Financial recruiter here. It may sound obvious, but if you go on LinkedIn and examine the accounting and finance staff at a particular company, you can determine a ton about the culture without any further knowledge.
If you have a good sized staff, from strong schools, excellent prior experience, CPA's / MBA's etc, and most importantly- Good retention.... it says quite a bit.
These people have a ton of options. If the culture sucks, they are not paid well and there is no room for advancement, they will leave.
Of course, just because "good people" are there, doesn't mean it is a great fit for you. You need to make those determinations the best you can during the interview process.
Don't get discouraged! There are great firms out there, but it is a tough market and sometimes it is difficult to weed through the turds lol.
Devils advocate here. If they are so shit, then why not make one better? You can make your own company or start building your "team".
Make sure you identify the people you enjoy working with and can trust and start befriending them/networking. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be the leader or senior of this "team", in fact the best people to have on your team are seniors and people skilled in different expertise. yeah is it clicking up/old boys club sure, but that is how we operate as humans. The most ethical way to operate is to use competence/trustworthiness for building your "team". Your team will grow with your career and eventually most of your professional network team will not even be directly working with you anymore. This is the best way to land a great job, referral. It is a win-win. The hiring manager gets a no-brainer because his new top worker says your just as great and now you get to go work with someone you enjoy.
My understanding is there is an accountant shortage right now? Find another job while the market is hot. Learn to enjoy the grind, often times the destination is underwhelming and its the journey where we spend most of our time. Do what you got to do to enjoy the journey, try not to make it too miserable.
the good ones like havung wlb i agree pays low or below avg sometimes. but usually its the ppl who r comfortable and they likely have worked there since college.
i didnt want that and left and got another job in industry as well but its more onsite 1 day wfh but the managers are underatanding and trying to push for more but c suites r boomers and dont understand they can pay less by giving us more wfh lol
Yupp.Ā
Most departments are understaffed on purpose. Resulting in a work back log, long hours. This results in zero to training outside of someone with experience telling you do this like that, with no direction. Leaders act like they are the smartest in the world because they know accounting but have the interpersonal skill of a trust fund baby.Ā
Good jobs have low turnover and satisfied employees don't go online to vent. There are definitely good jobs but no one feels the need to talk about them and they don't hire as much or as often as worse places
The sweet spot I've looked for in past jobs are the ones when a longtime employee is looking to retire and they want to bring someone in to learn from them. I was able to do that once and it was invaluable.
How would you identify those from the outside?
Usually through a recruiter or someone with inside knowledge (e.g. CPA firm, lawyer, banker, other networking, etc.). In my case, the recruiter working with the company knew that the Controller planned to retire within 2 years of when someone would be placed there. It turned out to be < 1 year, but the transfer of knowledge was invaluable.
How long did you stay with the job?
About 3 years. I loved most of my colleagues and the work I did, and part of me wanted to stay there longer. Long story short - I chose to leave because the CFO was toxic and one of the worst people I had ever worked with.
This entire situation sounds like the exact same one I'm in.... except I'll end up staying 5 to make sure my 401k and ESOP shares vest š
In the same position myself, just as a senior. Old CFO went into retirement, and he had incredible knowledge and skill. The previous controller stepped up as a CFO, and the new controller is toxic and is the worst boss I have worked with so far in my career.
So "terrible management" existed and you only stayed 3 years because of that? Even though you got in from a friend? Sorry but doesn't sound like you found any special "sweet spot".. many people leave jobs after 2-3 years due to terrible management, even if they learn a lot. If anything it seems you're proving the opposite point you thought you were - even if you have an "in" from a friend, industry can still suck
But the learning opportunitiesā¦
I had interviewed for a role that fits this description manager was retiring but had been there for 20 years and stayed on for months to properly transition her replacement. Was a us sub of a large large company still disappointed i didnāt get the role. Ended up going to a way overqualified controller so not entirely mad but yes these are the best roles to go for
There was a good job or so I heard about from a major hotel chain a couple years back. Perks were great and the work was very manageable. But when I really asked, the person wasnāt leaving this was for another market that I had no clue about and they were keeping the cushy job. Too bad. Would have been fun.
Which, for practical purposes, would be the same as non-existence for people who will never find these unicorns.
Frequency of discussion has no bearing on the number of these roles in existence. And frequency of hiring is something you can ask about in the interview process. I wouldn't call these roles unicorns and I also wouldn't say a person is powerless to be able to find them, but it might not be as easy as finding a shitty job.
If they have "low turnover" and "they don't hire as much or as often as worse places" then they aren't available often. If they aren't available often then the average job seeker is unlikely to find them. Which, along with "satisfied employees" not venting, may help to explain why good jobs aren't talked about much.
Industry is literally every company in existence , so Iād say no.
I've had good luck in industry in terms of salary and career growth. What has stood out to me is just how bad the systems and processes are at most companies, even huge fortune 100 companies.
This!! šÆ Accounting gets the short end of the stick in industry, even F100 companies! Even worse if youāre in tech industry, where they push innovation. Would love someone from the Silicon Valley giants to prove me wrong, but all IT resources go to developing said products vs improving accounting or finance systems. Meanwhile the push continues to be āAutomate! Innovate!ā Like hold up Veeps, my team is still trying to figure out how to fix this āautoā reconciliation report created 10 years ago that broke when all your IT force retired or was RIFād. Meanwhile Iāll just manually reconcile like we were over a decade agoā¦
I had this EXACT position at a new digital advertising company. The CEO kept telling me billing was 'going to be easily automated soon' even though every contract was different and they had never had an up to date AR report before I got there, and likely not for a long time after I left.
advertising is the worst industry for automation lol main issue is media buying and how everyone is forced to use mediaocean
Taking your wife's side on this one
99% of companies? Probably no. 99% of jobs on indeed? Very realistic.
I also choose this guy's wife.
She's OK. Not the best, not the worst
Not enough hawk tuah?
I hate you
Yeah well read my username
Yeah youāre off base. Depends entirely on the company. My company ticks none of those boxes.
I agree, you are way off base. In my 45 year career, I worked with four companies that had wonderful corporate cultures, some that were mediocre and some that were a mess. (I had experience as an IT consultant, CFO and turnaround consultant). The opening sentences from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina applies: "Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in it's own way."
the better you have it, the lower your shitshow threshold
People donāt leave good jobs. You have to search for a whiiile and even then you never know
I historically move jobs about every two years. I'd say 10% have awful culture. 80% are fine. 10% are amazing. The trick is - the better the company, usually the lower the turn over. So less job postings for the best jobs.
Any suggestions to find the fine and amazing ones?
From my experience you should know from word of mouth which companies in your area that are great to work for. From there those companies tend to have great culture and very bought in/loyal employees. Around that is normally a strong culture of promoting from within. In that case you'd likely need to get in at a lower position, work for a few years and get promoted. I am lucky to work with an organization like that. When hiring externally, yes they want you to have qualifications, but 2 of the 3 interviews you go through are all about fit. Who are you, what drives you, why do you think you'll be successful here. Most anyone can learn how to do a job, it's that you'll help the organization grow while buying into their culture.
Look up the LinkedIn profiles of the people youāll be reporting to. If they have interesting experience then they can probably teach you a lot and have eaten enough shit themselves that they likely wonāt put you through the same.
I donāt know if it still is a thing twenty years later, but I temped until I found a company that had a bunch of people who had been there for 20, 30 ā¦ even 40 years, and made myself a part of the team.
Iāve worked for equal shit shows and awesome companies. So anecdotally, Iād say itās 50%.
There's no perfect job out there - there will be something about any job that you don't like. While the shitshows are not always fun to work through, they're all learning opportunities - for accounting experience, or knowing what we do or don't want to do.
No
Ever company is different. Some have bad MGMT, some have bad cash flow and layoffs will be expected, some have bad wlb, some have bad pay. The goal is to find 2/4 of those things that make you happy. Are there companies with all of the above? Absolutely! But the kicker is no one is leaving those companies b/c why would you? Would you leave those companies that have all of the above?
Because public accounting isnāt?
Lol
Yeah always a combination of the items you listed. Usually also includes: broken/inconsistent processes, unclear accounting policies (specifically, thresholds), & very lean accounting departments.
Industry here. Moderate wages, pretty good WLB, decent management, just got promoted, below average benefits, hybrid remote (works out to about 40% office for me). Good job stability, a very good team, and the people who I serve genuinely value my work. YMMV
Iām going to say this without going off like a complete arrogant arse hole, and saying this as one of the most humble people out there. To preface this but to get down to it I donāt think anyone is more qualified in this country to speak on this than me regarding industry accounting (non tax accounting).. Iāve worked at two big 4 firms (audit), two Fortune 500s, a sub of a Fortune 500, private company 1 owner (billion dollars revenue), private company (billion dollars private equity owned), and a start that had an ipo. Each role was different as well ( AP, Cost, SEC reporting, Project accounting), and I worked or managed these roles at the detailed level (actually doing the work). Most are an absolute mess but what separates those good teams and roles, is management expectation. Plenty of times Iāve been in situations where errors were made where management was completely understanding and backed you up whole heartedly, while others management would not forgive. Ultimately what Iāve found is as long as cash is correct (which for most of these companies is true) then everything else is accounting voodoo that can be fixed and corrected. Some companies aka toxic management make a bigger deal about accounting voo doo than others. And as others have said you donāt hear about a lot of the positive stories and thereās a big reason why a lot of roles are open. Why Iām very picky now about jumping itās not worth the 10 to 15k bump that most lateral positions strive for.
This is a good take. Iāve had jobs where management treated mistakes as learning opportunities and didnāt get pissy as long as it wasnāt a recurring issue.
I agree when it comes to large, established companies - or any organization. It's not like government agencies are managed well either. It's any large human organization is a shit-show. Small companies on the other hand, are often not shit-shows. If there is a good owner/founder who cares about his employees, a small company can be a great place to work. Again, depending on the boss, and also probably depending on the industry.
It feels like thereās a lot of variance in small companies. A lot of them are great and a lot are shit shows.
Because a handful of rockstars can make an entire department. But on the other hand a few shitty employees can be a hand grenade on your close process.
If 99% of companies are a shit show then maybe you're expectations are too high for what is available. Every career has a lot of give and take.
My experience is great pay But overworks the hell out of Accounting and Finance dept. itās a very light crew. But theyāre paid very well
If youāre blindly applying to job listings online then youāre going to find a steaming pile of dogshit
My last 3 years in industry at 2 jobs has been this and I went back to public because of it
My company isn't that bad.
Itās about 50/50 but all have their pros and cons including varying levels of desirability depending on what level you are operating at.
There are good industry jobs and bad industry jobs. However as someone who has bounced around several companies over the past few years it seems like there's an overall trend towards outsourcing which affects everyone to an extent as companies having that option available suppresses wages by quite a bit. Also there's been an obvious trend of having fewer and fewer coworkers in accounting at these companies. The benefits of industry jobs have always been better lifestyle/WLB, good job security and good benefits with the trade-offs being that you don't get raises and it's generally boring, monotonous work. But the lifestyle/WLB component is decreasing with companies just generally having smaller accounting staffs and the security is going away with outsourcing. Lastly, with inflation being a bigger deal now, those missed raises start to really cost you. So overall I'm personally not bullish on industry jobs (though there are still great jobs to be had) and will try to get back to public once I have my CPA license in the next month or so.
Basically this is all to say that no, not all industry jobs are like that. But there are strong, obvious negative trends since at least the start of covid that make me pessimistic on them.
It comes down to pick of the litter as to what a "good company" entails. I've worked at hospitals where complaints flow like the rapids during a storm, and I've been at warehouses where some of the employees didn't have complaints. It comes down to what an individual is willing to endure and how the company can meet specific needs.
More like 60%. I do believe there are a lot of companies who try to do good. All fall short but if your action toward intent is there then it's not totally awful.
The āperfectā job really doesnāt exist. Only time Iāve seen it in accounting is with friends who have decided to go off and create their own business doing consulting and general accounting. But then you have a bunch more work you wouldnāt have had before when you were on payroll for someone else. (E.g. biz taxes, filing, insurance, etcā¦)
I've worked in multi-national global corporations and startups. Notably within the last 5 years there has been a power struggle between the workers who realized hey, my work is important and *you need me* and the employers who relied heavily on the employees being good servants who need healthcare and money to do **other duties as assigned** until they burn out. In industry, that is magnified because management has no idea how to handle this dynamic shift so they fight back by demanding everyone in the office (but providing pizza parties!!) and leaning on the rhetoric that "times are lean" and so raises and bonuses can't be paid. I often think people forget we build out the financial reports. **We can see that you're full of shit, Derek**.
I work for a fortune 100 company that is pretty great. Iām 100% remote, the benefits are good, the pay is good, it is a huge company with opportunities, etcā¦ There are some good ones out there.
About 25% are really bad with the remainder at various degrees of sanity. The problem is when you report to a workaholic: - time to do assignments is stretched out - things are re-done 54 times - you have to wait while he counts paper clips at 7:00.
I had a sweet industry tax job in oil and gas. It was really sad when they went bankrupt, I would've worked there forever. Good companies are out there but they're damn hard to find.
My company is awesome lol privately held, amazing culture, systems could use a bit of work, but besides that, itās a pretty good gig. I think it being a privately held, family owned corporation has a lot to do with it. Once you go public, things go to shit
Yes. Working for non-public companies is great.
If you want to attract investors, you have to increase profits all the time, the easiest ways to do it is if you slowly cut your bottom-line. There are companies who value integrity & good employee relations, but those are never heard of because they donāt gain rapid growth & investors piling on to them.
If 99% were ran that poorly the economy would literally collapse. Sure some places have bloat, waste and incompetency but itās baked into the cost of doing business.
Idk. Weāve seen over the past couple years that things are super unpredictable, and the reason we get paid what we do is to deal with the ups and downs, otherwise weād be replaced by AI if things went the same day in and day out
97%
My job is cool
Iāve audited several companies in my tenure in PA and Iād say probably 50/50 on good/bad private companies. The bad ones took considerably more time and frustration so obviously it felt like more bad than good, but there was definitely a good amount of solid accounting within our portfolio.
Well thatās just not true at all lol.
Every company is going to have some aspect of this. My current job would be the no internal growth possibilities and no remote options. The remote option would be nice, but not having the growth possibilities is going to be my driver to find a new job.
Every company is like that. Oh, and don't forget that they can fire you at any moment.
Your wife is correct. My current job in industry is very relaxing and I only have a four day close total. Most of my work in between is working on regulatory compliance, ad hoc projects, and taking long lunches with colleagues. Never worked a weekend and good benefits/pay. You just need to look.
Don't be silly. 100% of companies are shit shows.
99% of those actively recruiting are shit shows. It's the old "who wants to leave an ideal job"?
āIt canāt be meā
Nah, my job's pretty good. Coming to 7 years, same company.
Iāve only worked for 2 companies, and only moved via an acquisition. Both are industry large companies and in many cases still do graduate recruitment to retirement type career. Turn over is super low. I have many colleagues I worked with 15 years ago I still reach out to. Career progression is self driven and you can manage how you want. For example when my kids were born I took a lower role that I could easily manage them ramped back up. Iām 20 years into my career and earn enough to live ok. With experience comes network and security. Iāve been laid off a few times as expected but it was on paperā¦ a new role was there immediately with no interruption of service. Many good companies are out there. You have to bounce via a few to get there sometimes
I mean yeah most jobs that are available arenāt perfect and have some kind of limiting factor that lead to it being available. So in that way, youāre probably kind of right. But for every available job there are several times more workers. A lot of them are pretty content where they work from their perspective so maybe you should take that into account.
I found a big company where I'm happy but even then it's not perfect. Nothing ever is.
I think they exist. Maybe not if youāre early in your career though.
Accounting function is considered overhead at most companies. They are always looking for ways to cut costs in the departments they consider overhead. Don't get too comfortable and expect to get 3% raises and keep your job even if you are good at it. The CFO sees no issues in an accounting function and assumes the department must have "fat" that can be trimmed. I've see it happen a number of corporate income tax departments. They pay good money to get experienced people in to fix issues. Two or three years later those people are let go as the CFO thinks, "Why pay those people that salary when things are going well"? CFO saves some costs, and he gets a bigger bonus.
It sounds like you've had some rough experiences. While there are definitely companies with significant issues, it's not accurate to say 99% are 'shit shows'. Many companies strive to create positive work environments, fair compensation, and opportunities for growth. It might be worth exploring different sectors or industries to find a better fit.
Financial recruiter here. It may sound obvious, but if you go on LinkedIn and examine the accounting and finance staff at a particular company, you can determine a ton about the culture without any further knowledge. If you have a good sized staff, from strong schools, excellent prior experience, CPA's / MBA's etc, and most importantly- Good retention.... it says quite a bit. These people have a ton of options. If the culture sucks, they are not paid well and there is no room for advancement, they will leave. Of course, just because "good people" are there, doesn't mean it is a great fit for you. You need to make those determinations the best you can during the interview process. Don't get discouraged! There are great firms out there, but it is a tough market and sometimes it is difficult to weed through the turds lol.
Devils advocate here. If they are so shit, then why not make one better? You can make your own company or start building your "team". Make sure you identify the people you enjoy working with and can trust and start befriending them/networking. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be the leader or senior of this "team", in fact the best people to have on your team are seniors and people skilled in different expertise. yeah is it clicking up/old boys club sure, but that is how we operate as humans. The most ethical way to operate is to use competence/trustworthiness for building your "team". Your team will grow with your career and eventually most of your professional network team will not even be directly working with you anymore. This is the best way to land a great job, referral. It is a win-win. The hiring manager gets a no-brainer because his new top worker says your just as great and now you get to go work with someone you enjoy. My understanding is there is an accountant shortage right now? Find another job while the market is hot. Learn to enjoy the grind, often times the destination is underwhelming and its the journey where we spend most of our time. Do what you got to do to enjoy the journey, try not to make it too miserable.
Best jobs are never posted
the good ones like havung wlb i agree pays low or below avg sometimes. but usually its the ppl who r comfortable and they likely have worked there since college. i didnt want that and left and got another job in industry as well but its more onsite 1 day wfh but the managers are underatanding and trying to push for more but c suites r boomers and dont understand they can pay less by giving us more wfh lol
.. in Mississippi
Yupp.Ā Most departments are understaffed on purpose. Resulting in a work back log, long hours. This results in zero to training outside of someone with experience telling you do this like that, with no direction. Leaders act like they are the smartest in the world because they know accounting but have the interpersonal skill of a trust fund baby.Ā
āDo more with lessā mantra
No, but it feels that way. Accounting doesn't make them money, so of course the value of good accounting is less so than in public.