How to get experience?

You need to start by scrutinizing the approach you have taken and adjusting it because so far it hasn't worked.

Start with your resume.

"dfdfd" wrote

As Joe said, take a look at your approach to the job hunt.

Also, it may be jst the location you are searching. Not all areas of the country are thirsting for accouting positions.

And to add to whatever it is you are currently doing, get out there and network. Tell everyone you know and meet that youa re looking for a job, and ask everyone you know and meet to let you know if they hear of anything. Especially all of the local accountants, and don't just be focusing on the public firms. Many private/industry accounting positions are filled by word-of-mouth.

In the meantime, get into all of the local accounting groups that you can, like the local chapter of the state CPA society, etc, go to Chamber of Commerce events, and otherwise get involved in the community at as many levels as you can. The more people you know, and the more that know you, the better your chances of landing a job that will never see the inside of the newspaper.

Open your own bookkeeping and tax preparation business.

Ask your adjunct profesors.. they know what you can do..

Prepare yourself.. act as if you have a job and find accounting projects (your household, your relatives, financial reports) to stay sharp on..

Consider tax-prep services.. but don't really advertise that on your resume.. because it will commoditise you..

Go to meetings where accountants are known to circulate (eg continuing ed).. and be the bright-eyed bushy-tailed student who asks all the clever questions no one ever thought about (don't start asking questions until the fifth meeting).. someone may tap you on the shoulder and ask you to look into the problem on their behalf..

Understand the difference between niche and commodity.. eg, the tax-prep is commodity.. eventually that stuff will first be offshored then (when the offshore countries are no longer poor) be automated..

Accounting is concepts not calculations.. learn to understand the concepts.. (Pacioli as a monk: Accounting is a striving for objectivity that will never be attained, anyone who claims to have attained it is too lazy and dishonest to keep striving)

Subscribe to magazines in the field and start reading them.. initially you will really struggle.. in a few years, you'll breeze through.. when you breeze through, switch to a higher-level journal or magazine.. get on mailing lists of the big CPA firms for their free newsletters.. not only will you learn the important issues, sometimes the names of the people who will hire you are listed along with their emails..

Never deal with headhunters, human relations or placement offices.. they will grind you down to an unemployable commodity.. most headhunters are unemployable individuals trying to racketeer their way in by making you a quantum meruit "prior"..

- = - Vasos-Peter John Panagiotopoulos II, Columbia'81+, Bio$trategist BachMozart ReaganQuayle EvrytanoKastorian

---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---[Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos] [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]

It's also a good idea to specialise in an industry. Don't pick one everyone is going into, because by the time you get good at it, it will dry up. Pick one that seems reasoanbly promising. Understand risk will be rewarded (accountants hate that) so that a field which requires some dry time in the beginning will pay off more later.

- = - Vasos-Peter John Panagiotopoulos II, Columbia'81+, Bio$trategist BachMozart ReaganQuayle EvrytanoKastorian

---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---[Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos] [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]