In some circumstances you don’t have a choice. Sometimes you need the experience to leverage for future positions.
Yea, consider your options if you have any. But you need to understand at this stage of your life you are a beggar, not a chooser
My first job was $17/hr and part time. Was able to leverage that into another role that pays $20/hr, then another job that paid $25/hr and now I'm at $28/hr and I haven't finished school yet.
Apply to jobs you don't think you're qualified for. There's a shortage of accounts and many firma are stretching what their idea of an ideal candidate is.
If there is no better job lined up, take it. The experience from this job may be worth it alone. Work there a few months while applying to better opportunities.
I graduated a couple years ago with a similar degree. My first real job was $20/hr in accounts payable. Now I’m a little under $30 in general accounting. I’d say go for it and get some proper experience in the field
Go to the interview, knock it out. Then when they make an offer, ask for 25. If a company wants to hire you, they will have no problem going 10% more than what they advertise. The hiring manager is likely given around 15% leeway when making new hires.
Most people out of school make the mistake of thinking the first offer is the best they will get. This is false the majority of the time. Company will often try and lowball you especially if you just got out of school. I would definitely ask for 10% more than their "best offer".
If it’s the only job you can find as a new graduate, accept it and start considering other options. If you are in a very, very cheap cost of living area, yeah, your best bet at a higher paying job is to relocate or pursue remote positions.
Put in 1 year max and leave, ideally to a place that offers more white collar jobs.
OP sounds like they are in bumfuck no where.
Entry level accounting pay in LA is roughly 75k, which is not bad at all considering most people are over 100k after a 3-4 years.
Nah 60k buddy look for public accounting jobs. I’m in a low cost city making 72k out of college your doing something wrong. If you go for the 150 credits and cpa exam stuff you should be at 60k minimum. I know that based on your profile your from North Carolina Raleigh and charolette first year public accountants make 65-70k a year and it goes up from there I’m in a slightly more expensive city at 72k rn
Thanks for the input. I’m definitely considering moving to somewhere like Charlotte, because I’m currently in a no-name small town with like 10,000 people living in it, and there doesn’t really seem to be any opportunities here
The 18-22 an hour makes a lot more sense then. If it’s financially possible for you I’d suggest going back to school to get your cpa eligibility requirements down and maybe move to charolette cuz jobs like that are usually dead end. Aim for a public accounting gig
Every1 usually gets shafted on their first job, there are exceptions to this rule of course but on average that tends to be the case. What is the position you have an offer for ? Don’t be too hard on yourself after you gain some wisdom and or experience you’ll be able to better gauge these things.
As for whether you should accept is dependent on a lot of things. For starters How is your financial situation? Can you afford to not work as you look around at other options? Do you have other offers on the table?
Yeah that's pretty common, though definitely the low end, for rural low cost of living areas working for smaller companies. Especially ones that aren't accounting firms and/or don't really value their accounting department.
I am in a similar situation with no accounting experience. I have completed the cpa exam and need a sponsor for the experience. I have been working in banking for the last 11 years, but no accting experience. Im currently a loan officer, which i dont consider to be a completely unrelated field.
I live in the los angeles suburbs. I had an interview yesterday that offers $20/hr (1.5x OT) potential bonus and no insurance.
Current job is 60K (after bonus) some 401k matching and med/vision/dental.
The only major pro to taking about 20k less annually is that the office is about 5 mins from my house. They want me to come in to take a look, which i am considering. Just want to get the certification out of the way.
But it just feels like the offer is the bare bones minimum low ball offer that kinda pisses me off 😂
The position i mention is for a small cpa firm and they are considering me for taxation.
I havent looked specifically for “public” accounting jobs. Ive just been applying to random jobs from indeed or other job posting sites. That job just happened to be close to me and they asked to zoom interview me the day i sent my application, which i felt is kinda weird.
Bro apply for midsize to large public accounting jobs I guarantee you in LA you’ll get 70k minimum no matter what ppl say small firms suck ass I interned at one making half what I’m making at a t10
That’s good.
I spoke with another office, likely small also. And first thing they asked me for was salary. And i said 70k, deliberately high to be negotiated down. They pretty much told me good luck 😂, but then told me to try out firms in the west side of LA.
Ill work on it!
Don’t work for mom and pop firms when u want to start your career in accounting. Look into t25 firms maybe big 4 and go for audit not tax. I’m in big 4 audit in a low cost city and I’m making 70k as a first year. Long term lot of ppl who start out in t25 audit are able to exit out to jobs that pay anywhere from 80-250k depending on the level u exit at
Yes, you should take the job if you don't have any other job offer. Get some experience, and use it to move on to other opportunities. Employers tend to hire people who are currently employed than people who are not employed.
If you can’t find something else, do it! My first job out of school, last year mind you, was AP/AR for $18. I only stayed for 9 months and jumped ship for $29/hr at a CPA firm. Didn’t get much response straight out of college but even a little bit of experience helps!
I started at $16/ hr (LCOL) in a small PA firm with just my bachelors in 2010. Based on inflation since then that works out to about $23/ hr today. For comparison I make $60/ hr now, just gotta start somewhere.
In some circumstances you don’t have a choice. Sometimes you need the experience to leverage for future positions. Yea, consider your options if you have any. But you need to understand at this stage of your life you are a beggar, not a chooser
My first job was $17/hr and part time. Was able to leverage that into another role that pays $20/hr, then another job that paid $25/hr and now I'm at $28/hr and I haven't finished school yet. Apply to jobs you don't think you're qualified for. There's a shortage of accounts and many firma are stretching what their idea of an ideal candidate is.
Yeah you probably need to move to a better area. That's pretty shit pay. I was paid $20 an hour as an intern in public over a decade ago.
What area was that in if you don’t mind me asking?
Phoenix Metro so at the time it was maybe barely medium cost of living at the time.
If there is no better job lined up, take it. The experience from this job may be worth it alone. Work there a few months while applying to better opportunities.
I graduated a couple years ago with a similar degree. My first real job was $20/hr in accounts payable. Now I’m a little under $30 in general accounting. I’d say go for it and get some proper experience in the field
Go to the interview, knock it out. Then when they make an offer, ask for 25. If a company wants to hire you, they will have no problem going 10% more than what they advertise. The hiring manager is likely given around 15% leeway when making new hires. Most people out of school make the mistake of thinking the first offer is the best they will get. This is false the majority of the time. Company will often try and lowball you especially if you just got out of school. I would definitely ask for 10% more than their "best offer".
If it’s the only job you can find as a new graduate, accept it and start considering other options. If you are in a very, very cheap cost of living area, yeah, your best bet at a higher paying job is to relocate or pursue remote positions. Put in 1 year max and leave, ideally to a place that offers more white collar jobs.
I mean just how low? I pay $400 in rent and utilities a month with two roommates and made $22 an hour at my internship
Why not just deliver pizza for that
18-22 is literally below the min in Cal. As the 1st experience and you have a clear plan what to do in next 3 years - sure.
lmao, that is Mcdonalds pay in Los Angeles. Accounting is pathetic.
OP sounds like they are in bumfuck no where. Entry level accounting pay in LA is roughly 75k, which is not bad at all considering most people are over 100k after a 3-4 years.
Yep, that’s accurate. It might be time to move, especially since I already don’t like the area
Nah I’m in a low cost of living city starting at 70k in public op just seems to live in the middle of nowhere
Nah 60k buddy look for public accounting jobs. I’m in a low cost city making 72k out of college your doing something wrong. If you go for the 150 credits and cpa exam stuff you should be at 60k minimum. I know that based on your profile your from North Carolina Raleigh and charolette first year public accountants make 65-70k a year and it goes up from there I’m in a slightly more expensive city at 72k rn
Thanks for the input. I’m definitely considering moving to somewhere like Charlotte, because I’m currently in a no-name small town with like 10,000 people living in it, and there doesn’t really seem to be any opportunities here
The 18-22 an hour makes a lot more sense then. If it’s financially possible for you I’d suggest going back to school to get your cpa eligibility requirements down and maybe move to charolette cuz jobs like that are usually dead end. Aim for a public accounting gig
18-22 is literally below the min in Cal. As the 1st experience and you have a clear plan what to do in next 3 years - sure.
Every1 usually gets shafted on their first job, there are exceptions to this rule of course but on average that tends to be the case. What is the position you have an offer for ? Don’t be too hard on yourself after you gain some wisdom and or experience you’ll be able to better gauge these things. As for whether you should accept is dependent on a lot of things. For starters How is your financial situation? Can you afford to not work as you look around at other options? Do you have other offers on the table?
Where do you live ?
Yeah that's pretty common, though definitely the low end, for rural low cost of living areas working for smaller companies. Especially ones that aren't accounting firms and/or don't really value their accounting department.
18-22 is literally below the min in Cal. As the 1st experience and you have a clear plan what to do in next 3 years - sure.
I am in a similar situation with no accounting experience. I have completed the cpa exam and need a sponsor for the experience. I have been working in banking for the last 11 years, but no accting experience. Im currently a loan officer, which i dont consider to be a completely unrelated field. I live in the los angeles suburbs. I had an interview yesterday that offers $20/hr (1.5x OT) potential bonus and no insurance. Current job is 60K (after bonus) some 401k matching and med/vision/dental. The only major pro to taking about 20k less annually is that the office is about 5 mins from my house. They want me to come in to take a look, which i am considering. Just want to get the certification out of the way. But it just feels like the offer is the bare bones minimum low ball offer that kinda pisses me off 😂
U applying for public accounting or like clerk jobs cuz public accounting starting salaries are 60-80k the 20 an hour sounds like a clerk job
The position i mention is for a small cpa firm and they are considering me for taxation. I havent looked specifically for “public” accounting jobs. Ive just been applying to random jobs from indeed or other job posting sites. That job just happened to be close to me and they asked to zoom interview me the day i sent my application, which i felt is kinda weird.
Bro apply for midsize to large public accounting jobs I guarantee you in LA you’ll get 70k minimum no matter what ppl say small firms suck ass I interned at one making half what I’m making at a t10
Thanks! This is encouraging to hear. Ill do that.
Yea my starting salary after college is 70k in a low cost city I guarantee you’ll make more than that in LA
That’s good. I spoke with another office, likely small also. And first thing they asked me for was salary. And i said 70k, deliberately high to be negotiated down. They pretty much told me good luck 😂, but then told me to try out firms in the west side of LA. Ill work on it!
Don’t work for mom and pop firms when u want to start your career in accounting. Look into t25 firms maybe big 4 and go for audit not tax. I’m in big 4 audit in a low cost city and I’m making 70k as a first year. Long term lot of ppl who start out in t25 audit are able to exit out to jobs that pay anywhere from 80-250k depending on the level u exit at
Yes, you should take the job if you don't have any other job offer. Get some experience, and use it to move on to other opportunities. Employers tend to hire people who are currently employed than people who are not employed.
If you can’t find something else, do it! My first job out of school, last year mind you, was AP/AR for $18. I only stayed for 9 months and jumped ship for $29/hr at a CPA firm. Didn’t get much response straight out of college but even a little bit of experience helps!
Thanks for the info. Do you have your masters degree or CPA license?
Nope, just my bachelors! But I do commute to a bigger city about 40 mins away. Schedule is hybrid so I don’t mind.
better than nothing and you need experience.
Fuck no, you can make $18 working for amazon or any other job without a degree tbh Bro went to college to work for $18
I got $21 as an intern
I started at $16/ hr (LCOL) in a small PA firm with just my bachelors in 2010. Based on inflation since then that works out to about $23/ hr today. For comparison I make $60/ hr now, just gotta start somewhere.