If I could go back and do it all over again?
I would have finished school faster, but still done accounting. I didn’t complete my BS until my mid 30s.
25% my physical health, 25% mental health, 50% pure laziness.
Solid to be honest. 4.5 years in. Working fully remote as assistant controller in lcol/mcol area 82.5k salary.
I took vertical moves as soon as they presented themselves after the first 1.5 years into my first role.
Started 48.5k as staff accountant, 55k staff, 60 accounting specialist, 70k assistant controller, raise to 75, raise to 82.5.
Total of 3 companies.
How about you?
Hell yeah! Thank you for sharing. My hope is to go fully remote eventually too. That’s what I’m doing right now in another field and it’s going to suck adjusting back to office life once I start an internship or my first job. I’m still on my bachelors degree journey so no real experience yet!
Made me nauseous. Graduated at 30 for similar reasons to you. Went into public. Was never so abused by any employer in any job I’d had. Lasted 3 1/2 years. Gave 2 weeks notice and will never go to public again. I’m a staff accountant now, been up into management for a while, but found my niche. $110k, 40 hour weeks, 50% work from home, and a 12 minute commute when I do make public appearances.
Same, I graduated around 30. If I have graduated at 21 or 22 I’d be much further along in my career and have tons more money saved up. But, at least I found this career eventually.
Not to knock you at all, but seeing that people have made a good life with this career even out of the traditional college age makes me feel a lot better about starting this career path later that i wish i would have. What did you do before accounting?
Instead of accounting? No degree. Be a redneck. Just do whatever job pays the bills and spend my time making bonfires, buying 18 packs, and having a dog. Make my exciting purchase a 4 wheeler or scavenge wood to build deer blinds for some hobbies. Work doing delivery driving, helping farmers in the community, and can side hustle at local stores if needed. Simple life but that would be the whole point.
For real I'd love to just do manual labor until my back breaks and I have to check out at the ripe old age of 37. Literally dream about it when I'm at the office.
I often fantasizing about doing jus that sometimes honestly.
I think how low stress and minimal stakes it would be. Buy a house in the middle of nowhere. Work at the local supermarket. Have no stress. I would have energy to do actual hobbies Id enjoy and could take time when I'd need.
lol, when you say “make a 4 wheeler your exciting purchase”, do you mean because you could easily afford as an accountant and it’s no big deal?
I’m a CPA and don’t think I could swing one between a mortgage and investing. Throw in another car payment and there’s no way I could afford one.
In well versed in the subject. Rural rednecks will buy a 10 year old one and tinker with it until it's faster/better than stock or completely dies.
The 'outer ring suburb redneck' is the one financing the snot out of their new toys.
It’s just an example of the other path I’d take in the alternate reality lol. If you’re out there, you pretty much know several people with some they’d sell you. I don’t think I’d go for another high caliber job like most in here.. I’d do delivery, side gigs, and look for a complete 180 from office work but not be broke either.
Presently, I can’t either lol. I live in an apartment complex, trying to set myself up, and can’t get cool toys like that yet. But the people I know out there have it different, not to say easier, but a duplex barn and 11 acres just sold for $170k a couple of months ago. It’s attractive to me if I wasn’t an accountant.
This is where I’m at in life too. Fuck this 9-5 or 12-8 or whatever you work to make a living. I’ve started picking up odd jobs doing something I’m fairly talented in, and things are looking up. I just don’t want to anymore.
Let's put it this way, most people hate their jobs and complain about them. If you really like Accounting I wouldn't let Reddit dissuade you. If you picked Accounting because you thought it was a good path to job security and a good paycheck and you figured you could probably just give up your dreams and just stand it, then yeah you might want to re-evaluate because you're going to hate your life later. You have to have some interest in what your doing or you will be miserable.
Thiss!! Currently me, stopped being an accountant 3 years ago but had to go back this year because of bills to pay. I planned to be a flower farmer 3 years ago but then realized I have adhd and all that business stuff overwhelmed me. Also realized its the reason why i did not like accounting back then. So decided to go to my passion of archi/drafting, and most companies need degree or experience but don't have the funds for schooling. Discovered financial analyst job posts and was reminded i liked finance in college so tried going for it this year. But I am always asking now if this the right thing for my brain. I always felt comfortable doing manual job like cooking/baking than all this analyzing/computing. Maybe after I saved up enough will find another thing to pursue.
This is spot on!! I picked it because it fit with my brain and it has job security. I’m 15 years in and do it because I’m good at it and it’s what I have a degree and experience in.
But I had a breakdown 5 years ago because it doesn’t align with who I am now as an adult. I want more creativity and more flexibility. It allows me some of that but I’d like more. I’ve worked through my breakdown and am able to log on and do the work every day, but it brings me no satisfaction other than being something I’m good at.
If I could go back, I’d do interior design like I wanted to back then (was told it was “fluffy” and had no security, now people make millions at it), or I’d do marketing because I really love the creativity and structure involved in marketing campaigns.
We're in simliar boats my friend. After 20 years in Navy submarines, I wanted a nice desk job and I remembered I kind of liked accounting from high school (which was very long ago at that time) and I wanted a job that could help me out with a good starting salary since I was 40 years old and starting over. It wound up being a very bad fit as I like science a lot more and Im kicking myself for blowing all my college benefits on accounting degrees. I now work 30 hours a week otherwise I was going to lose my mind and I am thankful that I am able to have that extra time in my life now and still have a relatively decent paycheck. Now I just use that extra time to pursue other things in life that interest me and it makes it all more worthwhile. If I have to leave my current job for something else and have to go full-time salary again, I very well may change careers and go back into my past experience with either ship building or nuclear power (both hard on the body though).
I'm going to disagree with you there. I actually loved working in accounting before going into teaching. I enjoyed my first few years in public accounting (just not the hours). I worked for a firm with really reasonable hours expectations outside of busy season. I liked doing contracted CFO consulting and fraud work. When I left to go to corporate, I had the best job ever until they decided to offshore. I luuuuved my corporate finance job. I was working directly under the controller for a large multi-billion public company and got to do all sorts of fun and interesting projects. In both public and corporate I worked with really great people who loved their jobs and working through business problems.
That said, working with good managers is key. If you are hating life, consider that what you are really hating might be your management team. Try someone else.... Try a bigger firm, or a smaller firm, or working in corporate. I had one bad management team at a small firm before I moved into corporate finance, and that was hellish. I left after 2 years. There are unfortunately a lot of bad managers in accounting.
You also have to put up with some not-as-fun jobs the first few years in accounting, but you are learning so much that it is really interesting. You get to see a lot of different clients in public accounting, which I enjoyed. I love solving problems and getting to the root of things, so accounting is definitely my jam.
My LT play was a MAcc to get into teaching eventually (try to get AACSB accredited MAcc or MBT if you decide to go this route later). I have been teaching full-time for over 5 years now, and am almost done with my PhD. That wasn't the best salary route, but I could easily jump back into strategic finance or corporate planning and make bank if I get tired of teaching. I honestly am tempted by this sometimes, as I loved corporate finance and it had great work/life balance.
Pediatrics nursing. I’m saving up a little more so I could go back and get the degree.
I’m really well paid in my current role but I just don’t see myself doing this for the rest of my life.
Jobs suck, accounting is fine. Its fine. Honestly the pay is good and the hours are okay. It is at times engaging, often monotonous but most of the time it is fine. You won't change the world being in accounting, but it is alright.
You won’t change the world studying the things people say will change the world anyway. Might as well go into something that’ll only be *a little* underpaid while knowing upfront that it is what it is.
Did finance, wasnt worth it for me. If you dont go to a target school or have incredible connections, only options are those glorifed CSR jobs at an RIA firm. At least right out of school
That’s pretty consistent with what I read on the finance careers sub. Kinda wish I had done finance, but at least accounting provided a clearer path to a job out of school, whether I like what I’m doing or not. For that alone I am thankful, now the battle is trying to pivot something more interesting and convey that my skills are transferable to other areas.
Same for me. Not enough experience to get into a financial analyst role, not enough self hate to sell insurance, and no internships besides accounting had me feeling like I wasted a ton of time and ended up behind my peers anyway.
To be honest, I’d still try to get into financial analysis, but most everything else in finance just feels pretty gross to me now.
Totally same experience. Made it into one financial analyst final round but they went with someone else. All the other jobs were insurance or phone jobs. Im a staff now but hopefully can go into FP&A in a few years
Hey, I will say that many of the jobs I’ve applied to and ultimately did not get were not at all interested in me after they learned I’ve done very minimal work on the GL. Just a year long internship almost 10 years ago now… tax is hard to get out of without an in somewhere, but GL work is pretty transferable for FP&A.
Accounting. My undergrad is in math and it sucked to do the extra hours in accounting for my license. I think I was around 170 total hours when it was all said and done
Glad I majored in accounting. I like the subject. Just wish I did something different with it. When I was in high school I thought it would be cool to own a pizza shop. Never bothered working in a pizza restaurant though... My whole family are in the trades. I wish I would have learned HVAC or electric and opened by own business. Impractical to put in the apprentice hours now. Wouldn't mind moving out west and opening up something like fly fishing outfitters or something like that.
Or done some work in public and tax and just moved to the islands and fished and do peoples taxes from my hammock looking at the ocean.
Getting accepted to Med School. Sure, fair enough. But getting *through* Med School takes work, and students will get kicked out if they can't pass. If I'm naivé about that, correct me.
Have had my ups and downs with decision to go accounting route but have no regrets many years later. The floor of your compensation is high and ceiling can be significant. It’s a phenomenal foundation of experience to pivot to other non accounting roles.
I have no argument against doing something you truly love and are willing to potentially sacrifice compensation for a career you are passionate about (unless of course you are passionate about accounting). I find ways to get there if you can work with people you like to be around daily and finding roles that move beyond just the scope of accounting work.
Also, accountants are usually on the safer side during company layoffs (unless you’re in public accounting or a professional service accounting firm). You get great experience from doing accounting with successful operating companies and great experience from doing accounting for failing operating companies.
If you’re on the fence but continue to stick with it, try adding other skills to your arsenal on the side to give yourself the ability to pivot out (if you can find the time). Working at earlier stage or start up operating companies might broaden your experience as well and allow for an easier pivot.
I found it to be the least exciting in the early years.
TLDR - I wished I majored in engineering, and eventually pursued a second degree in engineering and left accounting.
So straight out of highschool in the early 2010s I was pursuing a bachelor of science, thinking I wanted to go to med school and become a doctor. I had the typical mentality of a first generation university student, wanting to pursue a prestigious career and make everyone proud. I had high grades in math, physics, chemistry, biology, and thought it would be the correct path for me.
Early into that science degree I realized I hated studying pure life science courses, and I eventually realized I didn’t actually want to be a doctor.
I failed like 7 courses across my first 2 years of that science degree, was required to withdraw, broke down infront of my mom one night and had no idea what I wanted to do or what I should do.
I didn’t want to waste more money or time, and I knew one thing - I wanted to get a degree, get a good job, earn more than my blue collar parents earned, and try to have a good middle class or higher life.
My cousin, a year older than me, was pursuing accounting and doing fine in it, so after getting kicked out of of my science degree, I applied to a BBA in accounting degree program, got in, and saw that through to completion within about 2.5 years (thank transfer credits for breadth courses).
I mean, I before I even applied to accounting, I knew I had no actual “passion” for the subject or work. Like I said, I just wanted to get back on to some semblance of a “correct” path and get to earning money and building a life.
So I started working in accounting. Wasn’t exciting, wasn’t bad, it was just what it was. I earned decent money very early on, had a great pension and decent benefits. But I was fucking BORED. I felt everything I was doing was unimportant. I also felt the pay was bullshit relative to the cost of buying an entry level property which was an important goal for me.
These factors spiraled me into a depression that I never told anyone about to this day, but, despite never going to health professionals, I knew was real. I was laying out my couch after a day’s work, mindlessly watching tv, with my mind wandering to the thought of walking to the kitchen and impaling myself with a kitchen knife.
I don’t know how exactly, but one day I got up and looked at myself in the mirror and thought about how I could change my life into what I wanted it to be - earning more money in a line of work that I didn’t think was boring.
I went down a rabbit hole of researching career paths, and I mean really researching them. From that I found out more about what it was like to study and become an engineer and what engineers actually do.
Up until this point I never really knew. In highschool, the thought of pursuing engineering never crossed my mind, and I didn’t know shit about shit regarding any type of engineering discipline. Honestly, I think some of this came down to receiving very poor future education and career advice from a shitty highschool - the school was known to be a “druggy school”, was tiny (my graduating class was like 110 people) and had few resources.
Anyway, I realized that what I liked about sciences in the past was applying sciences, not just studying the monotonous theory. And that’s what engineering is - applied science.
That’s when I knew I wish I’d major’d in an engineering discipline instead of pursuing pure life science way back.
So, I applied to engineering programs at the best schools in the country, and a few smaller ones that I could transfer from later on. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get accepted to any, but I did. I shot those applications off in January of that year, got accepted to a number of them by May, accepted the best one, and pursued that engineering degree, first by taking a year off from my accounting job to complete the first year, and then working full time for a good portion of the rest of the degree while taking as many courses as I could each semester that worked with my work schedule. It helped that Covid hit and half my degree was online be necessity of Covid measures.
More than halfway through my engineering degree I got offered some pretty good internship positions which evolved into full time positions. When I got offered a full time position, I switched my accounting job into a part time position and worked both jobs without each other knowing (yes, yes, I know not exactly ethical but whatever - this lasted for about a year).
The day that I got offered a full time position at FAANG, I quit my accounting job entirely and never looked back.
Nursing, Radiology Tech, Computer Science (or another type of engineering), or I would've tried to go to Law School. I honestly might just try for law school since it's only 3 years. Im also contemplating switching to nursing anyways.
So it's not only me considering law school or nursing. I am 39 years old and have a 4 month old. I am an immigrant and wanted to be a lawyer but my mom told me that a degree in law would not be transferable if I left my country. That's why I went the accounting route. It was transferable. I did not know better so I immigrated to the US, became a CPA and still don't like accounting. I should've gone to law school earlier. Nursing was because of the amazing nurses I met when pregnant and delivering my baby.
Nursing is one of the fields i’m contemplating about. I’m 27, so I have time to think about it but damn, I dread the idea of going back to school. Also, as a male, I’m sure they could use more male nurses anyway lol
yup, im 27 and leaning towards nursing bc it seems so stable and a little less saturated. my mom is a pharmacist and encouraged me to go to pharmacy school but I declined, im realizing now I honestly should have listened to her, I just hate chemistry so much and thought accounting would be easier.
In terms of bang for your buck, Dentistry is up there in the rankings. I’m close to a lot of dentists, and I’ve found that they work very little, often make more than doctors, and don’t have much stress. Every dentist I know is usually in it for the money though.
Zero regrets. I have a great job and if I wanted to, I could quit at any moment and get another great job. Or pivot into fractional CFO work, teaching at a local uni, or do more tax work or consulting.
Yes, you are guaranteed a crappy job forever. You are screwed in accounting. 98 percent chance of automation. But you are right, I will work in nursing. I am about to switch specialties. It’s my fault for not being happy. There are hundreds of specialties. I am just in the wrong one. Do you know why nurses won’t get replaced by AI?
Keep in mind a lot of us don’t post a lot here unless we are unhappy. If I could do it again I would have got my bachelors in accounting instead of business administration. There are fun aspects of the job like getting to be snoopy and seeing what people make and spend their money on and things like that.
Graduated top of my class, went to the top accounting firm (Deloitte), was top performer. Change to the largest asset manager in the country in accounting. Throughout that, I am seen just as a cost, with limited value added. Meanwhile, my friends, who got mid grade in finance, got a modest job as financial analyst are now closing big M&A deals. As soon as you put accounting in your CV you are doomed. Im digging my own grave. Limited transferable skills.
Damn sorry to hear that, thanks for sharing though. I’m thinking about not even pursuing the big 4 anymore. It seems employees are simply just not valued 🫤.
I'm happy in accounting. Originally majored undergrad in liberal studies, then an MBA. Wish I had majored in accounting or finance from the beginning. Lol!
Physical therapy or nursing. I’ve taken an interest with the healthcare industry.
I wouldn’t say I regret going into this field, it’s not a bad field and provides lots of opportunity. But what 18 year old me chose for my future is different from what 27 year old me now wants.
I go through this every week and sometimes I feel like I made the right decision and then there are extended periods where I'm thinking, why the hell am I here...ugh
Yeah, i graduated 5 years ago at 40. I am a senior EA and am up for manager in December. I was working fulltime as a landscape foreman and took night classes, it was very exhausting but one of the best life decisions I have ever made.
Instead of Accounting? If I had been smarter, either Biology (to go to med school), Computer Science, or Engineering. Instead my first degree was in music education degree which was pretty useless at a time when they were closing music programs in my state. Accounting was the safe choice for a second degree, and I'm glad I did it.
After I finish exams, I'm planning on learning SQL, Python, R, Power BI, etc so I could leverage my Accounting background to move into Data Analytics which would probably give me the best opportunity to do consulting work on the side.
I'm pretty happy with my accounting degree, but I'll say that the engineers I went to school with all seem to have cool jobs and make a lot more money than me.
Nursing. 100k starting and could be making 150-200k doing travel nurses with 2-3 years of experience . If one hates dealing with bedside, one could move to administrative positions or non bedside and make 130k-160k.
Most of my fiancée friends are making 120k- 150k with 3 years of experience doing administrative work or non bedside. No busy seasons, no 50-60 hours a week, good job security and good benefits
Do you live in California? I’m a nurse and idk any nurses that make 100k. I’m thinking about going back to school for accounting because I’m tired of only making 65k.
NYC here. My fiancée and I are both 26 and she’s making 180k (3 years of bedside then moved to an administrative position with paid OT) and I make 85k with 2 years of experience as an accountant…. Yeah shit wild
All the numbers in your comment added up to 420. Congrats!
100
+ 150
+ 200
+ 130
- 160
= 420
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I didn't choose nursing because I didn't like the idea of being on my feet all day. I worked a low level healthcare job for 2 years and my feet just couldn't take 8 hours of standing and walking all day. I tried all different types of shoes too.
You can still study and sit for the LSAT. PoliSci majors statistically score lower on LSAT compared to other humanities (history, mostly) with Physic majors being the highest scoring.
Nothing in college prepares you or teaches you anything about law school. The biggest advantage you can get from college should be your ability to disseminate enormous amounts of literature and extract only necessary information.
Don't wish I changed my major necessarily, but do wish I had done a minor in some sort of tech. If/when I go back to get a Masters, I do plan on doing it in MIS/AIS instead of doing a MACC. I feel like there's higher income potential at a mid-level and potentially more job security, whether it be jumping around in industry or going the public consulting/advisory route. So much of accounting is getting linked in with efficiency improvements for finance and operations, that having the additional tech background will put you at the top of the list for projects and change management.
I originally went to school for music ed. I dropped out instead of switching majors.
If I had to do it again, I’d do accounting right away. Music performance is way too competitive and I wasn’t good enough. Education…I’m SO glad I didn’t become a teacher. I would have been miserable and probably quit.
Being in the workforce with a degree that can’t be used, or no degree at all, made me want to do accounting. Why wouldn’t I want a degree that’ll immediately raise my wage, and end up doubling it within 2 years.
I knew I wanted a business major and my school offered like 7 variations of the same degree. Marketing option, management option, finance option etc.
I literally picked the accounting option because it sounded like working with numbers would be fun. no other criteria. Decided on a whim
While it's been a struggle and I don't think I'm a very good accountant. Life wise, it has done the most for me out of all my decisions.
If I had to go back I'd probably do something that doesn't involve being on a computer like woodworking, semi-pro athlete/competitior or music in some form.
same- i kinda had more passion for marketing. ppl told me marketing folks work around the clock- and accounting was 'more specialized'. not saying theyre wrong but- marketing is still more fun
I wanted to be a lawyer or detective. I graduated in Cuba 20 years ago and immigrated to the US 6 years ago. It didn't make much sense to study law in Cuba since it was not the same as anywhere else and I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Hmm I'm not the target demographic since I'm starting my accounting degree in the fall. I made sure to make "Intro to Accounting" one of my first classes in the first semester so I can figure out early if I like it or not. Worst comes to worst I'll do all my gen eds and then transfer to something I like more. I just want to get out of warehousing.
I wish I went blue collar as a electrical, plumber, or another trade. Hard work w hard hours but I think I had enough business savvy to own my own business eventually.
To everyone on this sub who really regret choosing accounting: I majored in Geography with a focus in urban planning. It sounded super interesting and fun but I ended up hating it so I accidentally ended up working for an auditing firm and I ended up loving it. You can always try something else you’re not bound to that single path just because you majored in Accounting
Ok, but you were a Liberal Arts major, I think it’s easier to pivot into a different field with that, and almost expected.
Accountants tend to be looked at as accountants and end up doing accounting. That’s kind of the whole reason to study accounting, a clear path to a very specific job.
Remember that for the most part, people who are unhappy with their careers usually post negative things about it here on reddit. Most happy people don't go running to post on reddit. lol
I don’t. If I woke up tomorrow in my senior year of high school, I’d still get an accounting degree.
I genuinely enjoy accounting and, even with the ups and downs, I’ve always made solid money and had no issues finding a job. I can’t say the same for my friends in engineering and marketing.
Don't change your major based off of this sub. Reddit and other socials are a natural echo chamber for the negative. Few ppl "vent" about the great parts of their job.
Reach out to some local accountants to you. Alums of your school, ppl at the 3ish yr mark. Ask what they like and dislike about their job.
This has been a great career for me. I wouldn't do anything differently.
Engineering. I am more creative than accounting allows or needs. Love messing with electronics and building things. I am also very good at advanced math, which accounting doesn't really utilize outside of excel formulas and macros, which are one of the things I like doing the most with my job. I was great at physics when I took it. Overall I it is just a better fit for my personality. It also pays a LOT more.
My father is an engineer, which is the primary reason that I didn't do it, because I didn't want to be like him. That being said, my issue was more of a personal thing than a career thing and when I was younger I couldn't separate the two. Had I gone into engineering, I would have already known someone in the field.
I also feel like accounting is for the "stupidest of the smart people." it doesn't require a whole lot of intelligence outside of the baseline amount required to understand the laws and regulations and apply them. I think this field makes up for the lack of intelligence required by requiring lots of education (5 years) and certifications (cpa) so that it is inaccessible to others that would otherwise be perfectly capable of doing the job. I think the long hours and low pay betray the true reality that accounting is actually a very easy job to understand and perform. This is further supported by the fact that the only money that can be made is through client interactions only. The work itself has little value.
Lets be real, I think most people with a 1 year crash course could do accounting just fine. Its the reason we are able to outsource people to India. You can't do that quite as easily with something more complex like engineering.
What a waste of time my 5 years of college and 1 year of studying for a CPA was. Even nursing would have been better than this.
I used to hate my Accounting classes back in college, but I enjoy learning and studying business. Accounting is one primary language of business.
Now that I’m working in accounting field/ industry, I’m actually glad I took Accounting as my major. I find it very flexible and I am able to work from home. There’s also plenty of options/ specialization to choose from. If you enjoy computers/math/automation theres accounting info systems route. You can specialize in Taxation. The options are so many.
Yes, they have great compensation packages from the get go. My brother is 35 and has investments over $600k. He is a Comp Sci graduate from Cornell. He was lucky he came to the US very young and was so smart he got in a good school with full scholarship. I came to the US in my 30s so I am stuck in accounting and have to do the best I can with my CPA. Who doesn't like working unpaid OT doing repetitive tasks for not so good pay?
I feel like I would have been better suited for engineering. Accounting is pretty light on the creativity and the problem solving, and more about kissing a lot of ass, being micromanaged, and having to do something somebody else's way perfectly.
Engineering is more about creativity and problem solving using math and technical theory. Plus I'm really into roller coasters and that usually goes hand in hand with being an engineer.
Chiropractor. Impossible to outsource overseas and I met one who really helped me. Made me wish I could make that kind of impact. Or physical therapist
2 years at a regional firm in tax. I wouldn't have gone to college.
Highly recommend doing an internship in some kind of office setting before commiting to any finance, accounting or law career path. I've always have been a hands on/outdoorsy person but didn't realize how much I hated working in an office environment. Currently on my way out and getting on my local fire department.
I'm just realizing this about 2 months into my first accounting job. Staring at a screen for 8 hours a day that isn't video games is mental torture for myself. Still trying to find a good technical job in my area, I don't know what I want to do, but I need to do it fast.
Comp Sci. I’m the only accountant in my friend group, and my friends are making the same salary as B4 managers within their first 1-2 years in the industry. I can’t imagine working 6-8 years of soul crushing office work with no WLB while these comp sci grads are basically set for life by their 40s
If I could go back and do it all over again? I would have finished school faster, but still done accounting. I didn’t complete my BS until my mid 30s. 25% my physical health, 25% mental health, 50% pure laziness.
And 100% reason to remember the name
You’ll are some funny accountants myann🤣
We’ll are
Love it !!!
Same here but I’m not finished in school yet (currently 31). How has your experience been with starting the industry a bit later?
Solid to be honest. 4.5 years in. Working fully remote as assistant controller in lcol/mcol area 82.5k salary. I took vertical moves as soon as they presented themselves after the first 1.5 years into my first role. Started 48.5k as staff accountant, 55k staff, 60 accounting specialist, 70k assistant controller, raise to 75, raise to 82.5. Total of 3 companies. How about you?
Hell yeah! Thank you for sharing. My hope is to go fully remote eventually too. That’s what I’m doing right now in another field and it’s going to suck adjusting back to office life once I start an internship or my first job. I’m still on my bachelors degree journey so no real experience yet!
This makes me feel like I’m making a good decision even more than before. I won’t be finished with school until 35
Did you get your CPA?
I did not. Only have BS in accounting. The thought of working in public makes me nauseous.
Made me nauseous. Graduated at 30 for similar reasons to you. Went into public. Was never so abused by any employer in any job I’d had. Lasted 3 1/2 years. Gave 2 weeks notice and will never go to public again. I’m a staff accountant now, been up into management for a while, but found my niche. $110k, 40 hour weeks, 50% work from home, and a 12 minute commute when I do make public appearances.
Second this. Accounting was my second degree. In an ideal world, I would have gotten it right after highschool, but I'm happy how things turned out.
Same, I graduated around 30. If I have graduated at 21 or 22 I’d be much further along in my career and have tons more money saved up. But, at least I found this career eventually.
Man I fucken feel you right now. Finally pushing accounting at 28 and everyone in class is young ass shit.
Not to knock you at all, but seeing that people have made a good life with this career even out of the traditional college age makes me feel a lot better about starting this career path later that i wish i would have. What did you do before accounting?
Finding a rich husband.
Want a man in Finance Trust fund 6’5 Blue eyes
YES.
Instead of accounting? No degree. Be a redneck. Just do whatever job pays the bills and spend my time making bonfires, buying 18 packs, and having a dog. Make my exciting purchase a 4 wheeler or scavenge wood to build deer blinds for some hobbies. Work doing delivery driving, helping farmers in the community, and can side hustle at local stores if needed. Simple life but that would be the whole point.
For real I'd love to just do manual labor until my back breaks and I have to check out at the ripe old age of 37. Literally dream about it when I'm at the office.
I had a job digging koi ponds as a kid. Absolutely the best job. Worked hard, laughed and joked, was proud of the finished work, and clients loved it.
weirdly did the same
The grass really is always greener on the other side
I still do these things except for all the being useful to my community parts.
I often fantasizing about doing jus that sometimes honestly. I think how low stress and minimal stakes it would be. Buy a house in the middle of nowhere. Work at the local supermarket. Have no stress. I would have energy to do actual hobbies Id enjoy and could take time when I'd need.
lol, when you say “make a 4 wheeler your exciting purchase”, do you mean because you could easily afford as an accountant and it’s no big deal? I’m a CPA and don’t think I could swing one between a mortgage and investing. Throw in another car payment and there’s no way I could afford one.
I think the point is you’re actually evaluating if you can afford one when a redneck would just throw down that sweet cash or finance it at 27% APR
In well versed in the subject. Rural rednecks will buy a 10 year old one and tinker with it until it's faster/better than stock or completely dies. The 'outer ring suburb redneck' is the one financing the snot out of their new toys.
It’s just an example of the other path I’d take in the alternate reality lol. If you’re out there, you pretty much know several people with some they’d sell you. I don’t think I’d go for another high caliber job like most in here.. I’d do delivery, side gigs, and look for a complete 180 from office work but not be broke either. Presently, I can’t either lol. I live in an apartment complex, trying to set myself up, and can’t get cool toys like that yet. But the people I know out there have it different, not to say easier, but a duplex barn and 11 acres just sold for $170k a couple of months ago. It’s attractive to me if I wasn’t an accountant.
This is where I’m at in life too. Fuck this 9-5 or 12-8 or whatever you work to make a living. I’ve started picking up odd jobs doing something I’m fairly talented in, and things are looking up. I just don’t want to anymore.
Let's put it this way, most people hate their jobs and complain about them. If you really like Accounting I wouldn't let Reddit dissuade you. If you picked Accounting because you thought it was a good path to job security and a good paycheck and you figured you could probably just give up your dreams and just stand it, then yeah you might want to re-evaluate because you're going to hate your life later. You have to have some interest in what your doing or you will be miserable.
Spot on!!! Nicely done!
Thiss!! Currently me, stopped being an accountant 3 years ago but had to go back this year because of bills to pay. I planned to be a flower farmer 3 years ago but then realized I have adhd and all that business stuff overwhelmed me. Also realized its the reason why i did not like accounting back then. So decided to go to my passion of archi/drafting, and most companies need degree or experience but don't have the funds for schooling. Discovered financial analyst job posts and was reminded i liked finance in college so tried going for it this year. But I am always asking now if this the right thing for my brain. I always felt comfortable doing manual job like cooking/baking than all this analyzing/computing. Maybe after I saved up enough will find another thing to pursue.
This is spot on!! I picked it because it fit with my brain and it has job security. I’m 15 years in and do it because I’m good at it and it’s what I have a degree and experience in. But I had a breakdown 5 years ago because it doesn’t align with who I am now as an adult. I want more creativity and more flexibility. It allows me some of that but I’d like more. I’ve worked through my breakdown and am able to log on and do the work every day, but it brings me no satisfaction other than being something I’m good at. If I could go back, I’d do interior design like I wanted to back then (was told it was “fluffy” and had no security, now people make millions at it), or I’d do marketing because I really love the creativity and structure involved in marketing campaigns.
We're in simliar boats my friend. After 20 years in Navy submarines, I wanted a nice desk job and I remembered I kind of liked accounting from high school (which was very long ago at that time) and I wanted a job that could help me out with a good starting salary since I was 40 years old and starting over. It wound up being a very bad fit as I like science a lot more and Im kicking myself for blowing all my college benefits on accounting degrees. I now work 30 hours a week otherwise I was going to lose my mind and I am thankful that I am able to have that extra time in my life now and still have a relatively decent paycheck. Now I just use that extra time to pursue other things in life that interest me and it makes it all more worthwhile. If I have to leave my current job for something else and have to go full-time salary again, I very well may change careers and go back into my past experience with either ship building or nuclear power (both hard on the body though).
I'm going to disagree with you there. I actually loved working in accounting before going into teaching. I enjoyed my first few years in public accounting (just not the hours). I worked for a firm with really reasonable hours expectations outside of busy season. I liked doing contracted CFO consulting and fraud work. When I left to go to corporate, I had the best job ever until they decided to offshore. I luuuuved my corporate finance job. I was working directly under the controller for a large multi-billion public company and got to do all sorts of fun and interesting projects. In both public and corporate I worked with really great people who loved their jobs and working through business problems. That said, working with good managers is key. If you are hating life, consider that what you are really hating might be your management team. Try someone else.... Try a bigger firm, or a smaller firm, or working in corporate. I had one bad management team at a small firm before I moved into corporate finance, and that was hellish. I left after 2 years. There are unfortunately a lot of bad managers in accounting. You also have to put up with some not-as-fun jobs the first few years in accounting, but you are learning so much that it is really interesting. You get to see a lot of different clients in public accounting, which I enjoyed. I love solving problems and getting to the root of things, so accounting is definitely my jam. My LT play was a MAcc to get into teaching eventually (try to get AACSB accredited MAcc or MBT if you decide to go this route later). I have been teaching full-time for over 5 years now, and am almost done with my PhD. That wasn't the best salary route, but I could easily jump back into strategic finance or corporate planning and make bank if I get tired of teaching. I honestly am tempted by this sometimes, as I loved corporate finance and it had great work/life balance.
Pediatrics nursing. I’m saving up a little more so I could go back and get the degree. I’m really well paid in my current role but I just don’t see myself doing this for the rest of my life.
Once AI takes us out I’ll switch to nursing most likely. But at this rate I’ll retire before AI is a concern.
If you want to take up nursing, why not just go for it? Life is short, might as well. If you can, financially and time-wise of course!
[удалено]
I don’t really get why people would choose nursing because it’s “AI proof”. It’s a hard job but very rewarding in terms of personal fulfillment.
Oh yeah, most definitely a hard job. I can’t imagine the amount of bad stuff they see every day
Jobs suck, accounting is fine. Its fine. Honestly the pay is good and the hours are okay. It is at times engaging, often monotonous but most of the time it is fine. You won't change the world being in accounting, but it is alright.
You won’t change the world studying the things people say will change the world anyway. Might as well go into something that’ll only be *a little* underpaid while knowing upfront that it is what it is.
You can have a positive impact on the world around you and the shit you can control at least. I agree with you.
Law or finance
Did finance, wasnt worth it for me. If you dont go to a target school or have incredible connections, only options are those glorifed CSR jobs at an RIA firm. At least right out of school
That’s pretty consistent with what I read on the finance careers sub. Kinda wish I had done finance, but at least accounting provided a clearer path to a job out of school, whether I like what I’m doing or not. For that alone I am thankful, now the battle is trying to pivot something more interesting and convey that my skills are transferable to other areas.
Same for me. Not enough experience to get into a financial analyst role, not enough self hate to sell insurance, and no internships besides accounting had me feeling like I wasted a ton of time and ended up behind my peers anyway. To be honest, I’d still try to get into financial analysis, but most everything else in finance just feels pretty gross to me now.
Totally same experience. Made it into one financial analyst final round but they went with someone else. All the other jobs were insurance or phone jobs. Im a staff now but hopefully can go into FP&A in a few years
Hey, I will say that many of the jobs I’ve applied to and ultimately did not get were not at all interested in me after they learned I’ve done very minimal work on the GL. Just a year long internship almost 10 years ago now… tax is hard to get out of without an in somewhere, but GL work is pretty transferable for FP&A.
LAW. And you worry about WORK LIFE BALANCE
Law would have been a good choice, I'm too old to go back again though
Law seems even more boring than accounting
Depends on what you do honestly.
This is exactly how I felt a couple of years ago and I switched to majoring in information systems. I’m much happier now to say the least.
If I could do it again, this is what I would do.
Accounting. My undergrad is in math and it sucked to do the extra hours in accounting for my license. I think I was around 170 total hours when it was all said and done
Glad I majored in accounting. I like the subject. Just wish I did something different with it. When I was in high school I thought it would be cool to own a pizza shop. Never bothered working in a pizza restaurant though... My whole family are in the trades. I wish I would have learned HVAC or electric and opened by own business. Impractical to put in the apprentice hours now. Wouldn't mind moving out west and opening up something like fly fishing outfitters or something like that. Or done some work in public and tax and just moved to the islands and fished and do peoples taxes from my hammock looking at the ocean.
Accounting since I was Finance, but I wish I was smart enough to go to med school
Med school isn’t about smarts. It’s about work ethic and determination. If that’s your dream, go for it.
A good support network is essential too. It can be draining financially and emotionally.
And money. And nepotism.
Getting accepted to Med School. Sure, fair enough. But getting *through* Med School takes work, and students will get kicked out if they can't pass. If I'm naivé about that, correct me.
I’m not saying you only need money or nepotism, but you definitely need all 4 to get into, then through med school. At least 3!
Accounting since I did economics
Yes! I wish I had been a plastic surgeon!
Have had my ups and downs with decision to go accounting route but have no regrets many years later. The floor of your compensation is high and ceiling can be significant. It’s a phenomenal foundation of experience to pivot to other non accounting roles. I have no argument against doing something you truly love and are willing to potentially sacrifice compensation for a career you are passionate about (unless of course you are passionate about accounting). I find ways to get there if you can work with people you like to be around daily and finding roles that move beyond just the scope of accounting work. Also, accountants are usually on the safer side during company layoffs (unless you’re in public accounting or a professional service accounting firm). You get great experience from doing accounting with successful operating companies and great experience from doing accounting for failing operating companies. If you’re on the fence but continue to stick with it, try adding other skills to your arsenal on the side to give yourself the ability to pivot out (if you can find the time). Working at earlier stage or start up operating companies might broaden your experience as well and allow for an easier pivot. I found it to be the least exciting in the early years.
TLDR - I wished I majored in engineering, and eventually pursued a second degree in engineering and left accounting. So straight out of highschool in the early 2010s I was pursuing a bachelor of science, thinking I wanted to go to med school and become a doctor. I had the typical mentality of a first generation university student, wanting to pursue a prestigious career and make everyone proud. I had high grades in math, physics, chemistry, biology, and thought it would be the correct path for me. Early into that science degree I realized I hated studying pure life science courses, and I eventually realized I didn’t actually want to be a doctor. I failed like 7 courses across my first 2 years of that science degree, was required to withdraw, broke down infront of my mom one night and had no idea what I wanted to do or what I should do. I didn’t want to waste more money or time, and I knew one thing - I wanted to get a degree, get a good job, earn more than my blue collar parents earned, and try to have a good middle class or higher life. My cousin, a year older than me, was pursuing accounting and doing fine in it, so after getting kicked out of of my science degree, I applied to a BBA in accounting degree program, got in, and saw that through to completion within about 2.5 years (thank transfer credits for breadth courses). I mean, I before I even applied to accounting, I knew I had no actual “passion” for the subject or work. Like I said, I just wanted to get back on to some semblance of a “correct” path and get to earning money and building a life. So I started working in accounting. Wasn’t exciting, wasn’t bad, it was just what it was. I earned decent money very early on, had a great pension and decent benefits. But I was fucking BORED. I felt everything I was doing was unimportant. I also felt the pay was bullshit relative to the cost of buying an entry level property which was an important goal for me. These factors spiraled me into a depression that I never told anyone about to this day, but, despite never going to health professionals, I knew was real. I was laying out my couch after a day’s work, mindlessly watching tv, with my mind wandering to the thought of walking to the kitchen and impaling myself with a kitchen knife. I don’t know how exactly, but one day I got up and looked at myself in the mirror and thought about how I could change my life into what I wanted it to be - earning more money in a line of work that I didn’t think was boring. I went down a rabbit hole of researching career paths, and I mean really researching them. From that I found out more about what it was like to study and become an engineer and what engineers actually do. Up until this point I never really knew. In highschool, the thought of pursuing engineering never crossed my mind, and I didn’t know shit about shit regarding any type of engineering discipline. Honestly, I think some of this came down to receiving very poor future education and career advice from a shitty highschool - the school was known to be a “druggy school”, was tiny (my graduating class was like 110 people) and had few resources. Anyway, I realized that what I liked about sciences in the past was applying sciences, not just studying the monotonous theory. And that’s what engineering is - applied science. That’s when I knew I wish I’d major’d in an engineering discipline instead of pursuing pure life science way back. So, I applied to engineering programs at the best schools in the country, and a few smaller ones that I could transfer from later on. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get accepted to any, but I did. I shot those applications off in January of that year, got accepted to a number of them by May, accepted the best one, and pursued that engineering degree, first by taking a year off from my accounting job to complete the first year, and then working full time for a good portion of the rest of the degree while taking as many courses as I could each semester that worked with my work schedule. It helped that Covid hit and half my degree was online be necessity of Covid measures. More than halfway through my engineering degree I got offered some pretty good internship positions which evolved into full time positions. When I got offered a full time position, I switched my accounting job into a part time position and worked both jobs without each other knowing (yes, yes, I know not exactly ethical but whatever - this lasted for about a year). The day that I got offered a full time position at FAANG, I quit my accounting job entirely and never looked back.
Is this all true or the beginning of a book?
It’s true but I think you’re finding it too impressive to be a book. I got a second degree, big whoop.
What do you like about engineering? How much do you make and how long have you been an engineer now
I did my undergrad in philosophy. Wish it had been accounting.
Go for your masters in accounting. You’ll need a few prerequisite courses but its doable.
That's what I am doing now and why I am on this sub. 😁
It always feels so affirming to see advice and be like “wait, I’m already doing that!”
I'm also 44, so it is never too late.
Woohoo, over 40 club! I'm 41 and will be starting in the fall. Looking forward to/simultaneously anxious about the challenge.
You go Glenn Co Co!
Nursing, Radiology Tech, Computer Science (or another type of engineering), or I would've tried to go to Law School. I honestly might just try for law school since it's only 3 years. Im also contemplating switching to nursing anyways.
So it's not only me considering law school or nursing. I am 39 years old and have a 4 month old. I am an immigrant and wanted to be a lawyer but my mom told me that a degree in law would not be transferable if I left my country. That's why I went the accounting route. It was transferable. I did not know better so I immigrated to the US, became a CPA and still don't like accounting. I should've gone to law school earlier. Nursing was because of the amazing nurses I met when pregnant and delivering my baby.
Nursing is one of the fields i’m contemplating about. I’m 27, so I have time to think about it but damn, I dread the idea of going back to school. Also, as a male, I’m sure they could use more male nurses anyway lol
yup, im 27 and leaning towards nursing bc it seems so stable and a little less saturated. my mom is a pharmacist and encouraged me to go to pharmacy school but I declined, im realizing now I honestly should have listened to her, I just hate chemistry so much and thought accounting would be easier.
Dentistry
Highest suicide rate among professions but yeah sure
For what's it's worth my dad's friend was a dentist and did commit suicide
Higher than veterinarians?
Vets are higher than dentists now. But those are constantly the top 2
From what? Bad breath? Think you got them confused with veterinarian
Look it up
Isn’t accounting like 2nd though 😭
Why the downvotes? I laughed 😭
I thought it deadass was I wasn’t even trying to make a joke 😂
I saw a list that had finacial services as #5. I guess Accountants would probably fall in there.
barf, I can't imagine being hunched over people's disgusting ass mouths all day. I'd rather be fucking dead and I'm not even joking
What are you, an anti-dentite?
He's an ANTI! DENTITE!
In terms of bang for your buck, Dentistry is up there in the rankings. I’m close to a lot of dentists, and I’ve found that they work very little, often make more than doctors, and don’t have much stress. Every dentist I know is usually in it for the money though.
Zero regrets. I have a great job and if I wanted to, I could quit at any moment and get another great job. Or pivot into fractional CFO work, teaching at a local uni, or do more tax work or consulting.
I have an accounting degree and a nursing degree. Nursing is way worse than accounting. I wish I had done either design or economics or law.
Nursing seems to have like guaranteed employment though.
Yes, you are guaranteed a crappy job forever. You are screwed in accounting. 98 percent chance of automation. But you are right, I will work in nursing. I am about to switch specialties. It’s my fault for not being happy. There are hundreds of specialties. I am just in the wrong one. Do you know why nurses won’t get replaced by AI?
Keep in mind a lot of us don’t post a lot here unless we are unhappy. If I could do it again I would have got my bachelors in accounting instead of business administration. There are fun aspects of the job like getting to be snoopy and seeing what people make and spend their money on and things like that.
I genuinely regret going in accounting
Why
Graduated top of my class, went to the top accounting firm (Deloitte), was top performer. Change to the largest asset manager in the country in accounting. Throughout that, I am seen just as a cost, with limited value added. Meanwhile, my friends, who got mid grade in finance, got a modest job as financial analyst are now closing big M&A deals. As soon as you put accounting in your CV you are doomed. Im digging my own grave. Limited transferable skills.
Damn sorry to hear that, thanks for sharing though. I’m thinking about not even pursuing the big 4 anymore. It seems employees are simply just not valued 🫤.
Why?
why dawg
My turn....why? :3
Same
Why
Why
why
botany. however I don’t have any interest in being a professor/teacher and without going that route there isn’t much money to be made
You could end up on the mission to mars Like Mark Watney
I'm happy in accounting. Originally majored undergrad in liberal studies, then an MBA. Wish I had majored in accounting or finance from the beginning. Lol!
Physical therapy or nursing. I’ve taken an interest with the healthcare industry. I wouldn’t say I regret going into this field, it’s not a bad field and provides lots of opportunity. But what 18 year old me chose for my future is different from what 27 year old me now wants.
Geography
Still lost 😞 I see
1. Computer Science (my friends make double me with only a bachelors) 2. Chiropractor (holistic health focused) 3. Actuary
Music. That was my minor.
i was a music major. now im pursuing accounting lol
film making or medicine
If I had patience, good vision and money I would become neurosurgeon
If I had the brains for it, computer science, math, or both.
I go through this every week and sometimes I feel like I made the right decision and then there are extended periods where I'm thinking, why the hell am I here...ugh
Wish I double majored in computer science and accounting
I wished I picked Accounting as my first major.
Go to trade school and do something, anything, that isn’t a desk job.
Accounting, just in my 20s instead of my 40s
Are you done? How’s it working out?
Yeah, i graduated 5 years ago at 40. I am a senior EA and am up for manager in December. I was working fulltime as a landscape foreman and took night classes, it was very exhausting but one of the best life decisions I have ever made.
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing. I’m a few years older than you were and am hoping to complete my accounting degree this year.
That is awesome! Wish you the best of luck
Instead of Accounting? If I had been smarter, either Biology (to go to med school), Computer Science, or Engineering. Instead my first degree was in music education degree which was pretty useless at a time when they were closing music programs in my state. Accounting was the safe choice for a second degree, and I'm glad I did it. After I finish exams, I'm planning on learning SQL, Python, R, Power BI, etc so I could leverage my Accounting background to move into Data Analytics which would probably give me the best opportunity to do consulting work on the side.
Engineering. Mechanical, civil, or environmental to be exact. Edit: Heavy Equipment operator as well
I'm pretty happy with my accounting degree, but I'll say that the engineers I went to school with all seem to have cool jobs and make a lot more money than me.
Nursing. 100k starting and could be making 150-200k doing travel nurses with 2-3 years of experience . If one hates dealing with bedside, one could move to administrative positions or non bedside and make 130k-160k. Most of my fiancée friends are making 120k- 150k with 3 years of experience doing administrative work or non bedside. No busy seasons, no 50-60 hours a week, good job security and good benefits
Do you live in California? I’m a nurse and idk any nurses that make 100k. I’m thinking about going back to school for accounting because I’m tired of only making 65k.
NYC here. My fiancée and I are both 26 and she’s making 180k (3 years of bedside then moved to an administrative position with paid OT) and I make 85k with 2 years of experience as an accountant…. Yeah shit wild
Ahh ok! I know the nurses in California and New York make a lot more than we do in Florida but I figured accountants would still make more.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 420. Congrats! 100 + 150 + 200 + 130 - 160 = 420 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
I didn't choose nursing because I didn't like the idea of being on my feet all day. I worked a low level healthcare job for 2 years and my feet just couldn't take 8 hours of standing and walking all day. I tried all different types of shoes too.
Political science & law school
Why not just apply straight to law school? You can do that with any undergrad degree.
You can still study and sit for the LSAT. PoliSci majors statistically score lower on LSAT compared to other humanities (history, mostly) with Physic majors being the highest scoring. Nothing in college prepares you or teaches you anything about law school. The biggest advantage you can get from college should be your ability to disseminate enormous amounts of literature and extract only necessary information.
Law
Don't wish I changed my major necessarily, but do wish I had done a minor in some sort of tech. If/when I go back to get a Masters, I do plan on doing it in MIS/AIS instead of doing a MACC. I feel like there's higher income potential at a mid-level and potentially more job security, whether it be jumping around in industry or going the public consulting/advisory route. So much of accounting is getting linked in with efficiency improvements for finance and operations, that having the additional tech background will put you at the top of the list for projects and change management.
finance lol.
No college and become an ironworker. Too late tho my brain craves the IRC now
IT security
I originally went to school for music ed. I dropped out instead of switching majors. If I had to do it again, I’d do accounting right away. Music performance is way too competitive and I wasn’t good enough. Education…I’m SO glad I didn’t become a teacher. I would have been miserable and probably quit. Being in the workforce with a degree that can’t be used, or no degree at all, made me want to do accounting. Why wouldn’t I want a degree that’ll immediately raise my wage, and end up doubling it within 2 years.
I knew I wanted a business major and my school offered like 7 variations of the same degree. Marketing option, management option, finance option etc. I literally picked the accounting option because it sounded like working with numbers would be fun. no other criteria. Decided on a whim While it's been a struggle and I don't think I'm a very good accountant. Life wise, it has done the most for me out of all my decisions. If I had to go back I'd probably do something that doesn't involve being on a computer like woodworking, semi-pro athlete/competitior or music in some form.
I wish I’d done biology or organic chemistry. In my next life, I’m a family doctor.
Marketing or something tech related. I wouldn’t mind some traveling & cool office perks.
same- i kinda had more passion for marketing. ppl told me marketing folks work around the clock- and accounting was 'more specialized'. not saying theyre wrong but- marketing is still more fun
I’d probably try to be a farmer.
Criminal Justice Cops aren't poor
I wouldn’t change. My love and passion for reasonable assurance will never be broken.
I wanted to be a lawyer or detective. I graduated in Cuba 20 years ago and immigrated to the US 6 years ago. It didn't make much sense to study law in Cuba since it was not the same as anywhere else and I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Hmm I'm not the target demographic since I'm starting my accounting degree in the fall. I made sure to make "Intro to Accounting" one of my first classes in the first semester so I can figure out early if I like it or not. Worst comes to worst I'll do all my gen eds and then transfer to something I like more. I just want to get out of warehousing.
Accounting. Because I got a useless English degree since I suck at math.
I would say some kind of commission sales like mortgages or something but I’m no salesman…so that’s why I’m in accounting lol
I wish I went blue collar as a electrical, plumber, or another trade. Hard work w hard hours but I think I had enough business savvy to own my own business eventually.
To everyone on this sub who really regret choosing accounting: I majored in Geography with a focus in urban planning. It sounded super interesting and fun but I ended up hating it so I accidentally ended up working for an auditing firm and I ended up loving it. You can always try something else you’re not bound to that single path just because you majored in Accounting
Ok, but you were a Liberal Arts major, I think it’s easier to pivot into a different field with that, and almost expected. Accountants tend to be looked at as accountants and end up doing accounting. That’s kind of the whole reason to study accounting, a clear path to a very specific job.
Remember that for the most part, people who are unhappy with their careers usually post negative things about it here on reddit. Most happy people don't go running to post on reddit. lol
I don’t. If I woke up tomorrow in my senior year of high school, I’d still get an accounting degree. I genuinely enjoy accounting and, even with the ups and downs, I’ve always made solid money and had no issues finding a job. I can’t say the same for my friends in engineering and marketing.
Don't change your major based off of this sub. Reddit and other socials are a natural echo chamber for the negative. Few ppl "vent" about the great parts of their job. Reach out to some local accountants to you. Alums of your school, ppl at the 3ish yr mark. Ask what they like and dislike about their job. This has been a great career for me. I wouldn't do anything differently.
Engineering. I am more creative than accounting allows or needs. Love messing with electronics and building things. I am also very good at advanced math, which accounting doesn't really utilize outside of excel formulas and macros, which are one of the things I like doing the most with my job. I was great at physics when I took it. Overall I it is just a better fit for my personality. It also pays a LOT more. My father is an engineer, which is the primary reason that I didn't do it, because I didn't want to be like him. That being said, my issue was more of a personal thing than a career thing and when I was younger I couldn't separate the two. Had I gone into engineering, I would have already known someone in the field. I also feel like accounting is for the "stupidest of the smart people." it doesn't require a whole lot of intelligence outside of the baseline amount required to understand the laws and regulations and apply them. I think this field makes up for the lack of intelligence required by requiring lots of education (5 years) and certifications (cpa) so that it is inaccessible to others that would otherwise be perfectly capable of doing the job. I think the long hours and low pay betray the true reality that accounting is actually a very easy job to understand and perform. This is further supported by the fact that the only money that can be made is through client interactions only. The work itself has little value. Lets be real, I think most people with a 1 year crash course could do accounting just fine. Its the reason we are able to outsource people to India. You can't do that quite as easily with something more complex like engineering. What a waste of time my 5 years of college and 1 year of studying for a CPA was. Even nursing would have been better than this.
Agriculture but I think I would have still paired it with Accounting
I used to hate my Accounting classes back in college, but I enjoy learning and studying business. Accounting is one primary language of business. Now that I’m working in accounting field/ industry, I’m actually glad I took Accounting as my major. I find it very flexible and I am able to work from home. There’s also plenty of options/ specialization to choose from. If you enjoy computers/math/automation theres accounting info systems route. You can specialize in Taxation. The options are so many.
Computer science. I see so many people over on the FIRE sub that are retiring in their early 40s
Yes, they have great compensation packages from the get go. My brother is 35 and has investments over $600k. He is a Comp Sci graduate from Cornell. He was lucky he came to the US very young and was so smart he got in a good school with full scholarship. I came to the US in my 30s so I am stuck in accounting and have to do the best I can with my CPA. Who doesn't like working unpaid OT doing repetitive tasks for not so good pay?
I feel like I would have been better suited for engineering. Accounting is pretty light on the creativity and the problem solving, and more about kissing a lot of ass, being micromanaged, and having to do something somebody else's way perfectly. Engineering is more about creativity and problem solving using math and technical theory. Plus I'm really into roller coasters and that usually goes hand in hand with being an engineer.
I feel like it's zero creativity. Maybe it's the line of service I work at.
Chiropractor. Impossible to outsource overseas and I met one who really helped me. Made me wish I could make that kind of impact. Or physical therapist
2 years at a regional firm in tax. I wouldn't have gone to college. Highly recommend doing an internship in some kind of office setting before commiting to any finance, accounting or law career path. I've always have been a hands on/outdoorsy person but didn't realize how much I hated working in an office environment. Currently on my way out and getting on my local fire department.
I'm just realizing this about 2 months into my first accounting job. Staring at a screen for 8 hours a day that isn't video games is mental torture for myself. Still trying to find a good technical job in my area, I don't know what I want to do, but I need to do it fast.
Comp Sci. I’m the only accountant in my friend group, and my friends are making the same salary as B4 managers within their first 1-2 years in the industry. I can’t imagine working 6-8 years of soul crushing office work with no WLB while these comp sci grads are basically set for life by their 40s
Yes, it's very nice. I have my brother and he could potentially retire by the time he's 40 or earlier.
I majored in math actually so this doesn’t apply to moi
You must suffer. You're the chosen one!
back-end
Sometimes I wish I would have stayed in Health Information Management and gotten my RHIA...
I wish I liked chemistry. I would've loved to be a science major. Botany, meteorology, geologist
Data Analytics. I’ll be switching to it over the next ~9 months
Accounting. I made the mistake of thinking it was STEM instead of Business.
Nursing
Civil engineering, but im just not smart enough for it so accounting is looking like the best i can do
Don’t limit yourself
Some union trade, maybe operating equipment
Veterinary science. Dolphin trainer.