Career Advice: Ask Amy

Get answers to your career and employment questions from a career expert and fellow CPA, Amy Langer. Answers will be featured on the MNCPA Web site.

	Recent Questions

I'm new to my firm and want to make a good impression on my boss and be a better candidate for promotions in the future. Do you have advice for what sorts of programs, groups or events I can get involved in to strengthen my resume?   – Asked 5/8/2008

Congratulations on your new position! The first thing I would do is get your bosses ideas of what she would like you to be involved with. It is possible that your firm has a list of organizations they would want to be involved in and there may be a current hole. A good well rounded employee will not only participate in internal firm sponsored events (for example you could volunteer to run a committee in your current firm) but also the community (both business community and greater community). The MNCPA offers many avenues to get involved, either in the Young Professional group or you could ask to be involved in committees that could eventually lead to a Board seat. There are also TEI (Tax Executive Institute) or the IIA (Institute of Internal Audit) depending on your area of focus.

I would also look at how you can be involved in the wider community – is there a non-profit you are interested in? You could work at volunteering with the organization and again work your way to a Board position. This not only feels good but also shows initiative and leadership outside of your everyday position.

There are many ways to get involved, my recommendation would be to find one or two things that you are very interested in and put a lot of effort there. If you are going to get involved, make a difference.

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I work in public accounting and want to make more business contacts. What are some ways I can make connections to increase my business?   – Asked 2/28/2008

This is a very good question and is very important that you look at it not only to increase your business but also to personally grow. There are many options for you to consider.
• Start with the MNCPA, getting involved with the events, CPE classes and even at a leadership level will give you opportunities to network.
• There are many award events that are hosted by local/regional media. For example, the Business Journal holds many different events throughout the year to honor small businesses, growth businesses, CEO of the year, women led businesses. The Minnesota Monthly Magazine has a Small Business Success Story and hold an annual awards ceremony. These events are largely attended by business owners and their friends/families/employees.
• Join a Board. Find your non profit passion and pursue a Board position. This will enhance your leadership but will also put you in contact with other people in the community. Make sure to search for something that holds appeal and get involved. If you are not interested in a Board position, get involved in a committee. Many non profits are looking for people to assist in gala events, golf events, capital campaign drives, etc.
• Join a social club/golf club. This is a great way to network at a social level and many times at a business level. It many also be fun for your family.
• Create your own club. I know a group of people who wanted a networking group, so they created their own. It started with 3 professionals and they pursued different people in the community to round out their group. For example, they have an attorney, a CPA, a wealth manager, a realtor, a recruiter, etc. They network with each other and bring in guest speakers.

Congratulations on recognizing this is important and I wish you luck. Please let us know how it goes.

Amy

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What is the next step?

I am currently a CPA working at a public firm doing audits and tax. I would like to continue in these areas. What is the next goal I should set for myself? Should I work towards an MBA, CFP, CFA or something else? Thank you.   – Asked 9/23/2007

The best thing about your current position is you have many, many possibilities. I need more information before I can direct your next step. Here are some questions to consider:

• What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now? 10 years from now?
• What motivates you about your current job?
• What would you like to do in your current position that you aren’t able to do now?
• What are you passionate about?
• Do you like working with clients? Do you like managing people? Or would you prefer something that is more focused on the numbers?
• It sounds like you are a generalist (working with audit and tax), do you like that variety or would you prefer to specialize in a particular area?
• Do you see yourself as a partner of that firm or pursuing interests outside of public accounting?

With the current foundation that you have, there are many possibilities. Answering these questions should help point you in a direction about what is next for you. Each of the things you mentioned (MBA, CFA, CFP) will take your career in different directions. If you would like to talk further, I would be happy to. If you are unable to answer some of these questions, I would suggest that you start talking to other people and finding out different employment options, find a mentor or two. Good luck.

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My career question concerns seeking work in a smaller CPA firm in outstate Minnesota. I hope to get my CPA license this fall (two more sections to go!). I am an older candidate with a great deal of industry experience and an MBA degree. I have been working for the state for the past two years as a sales and use tax auditor.

My preference would be to work for a smaller firm once I have my license-preferably as far north as I can get. It does seem as if the smaller firms look for people who already have a number of years of public accounting experience. I am concerned that I may have difficulty finding a position that is a good fit for me.

I have a great work ethic, excellent people skills, and experience-just not in public accounting. Do you have suggestions for me on how to go about identifying opportunities in this area?   – Asked 8/10/2007

I suggest that you put together a plan to go about targeting CPA firms in northern Minnesota.
• First, you need to determine an area where you would like to live (at least narrow it down).
• Secondly, you will need to determine what firms are located in those cities in which you desire to relocate. To do this, I would contact the MN Society of CPA’s or do a Google search for the cities of interest. I just did a quick search for “Brainerd, MN CPA” in Google and got about 5 firms as potential to pursue.
• Third, call the firms and ask for the person that does the hiring. Find out who you should talk to/send a resume to. I would try to talk with a specific person at each firm prior to sending a resume.
• Fourth, put together a resume and cover letter including the fact that you are interested in moving to that particular city. Send the resumes. Always follow up with a phone call to make sure they got the resume.
Be cognizant that some firms don’t want to offer a relocation package so if you are open to moving yourself, please mention that. I hope this helps. Good luck with your final 2 parts on the CPA exam.

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I am a recent college graduate who started my career in industry as an internal audit. I promptly added CPA and CIA designations. If I want to get into public accounting, is there a best time to make the move? If I wait a few years, my current employer offers a generous tuition assistance program so I could have a MBA virtuously cost free. But if I wait I may miss out on the opportunity to get public accounting experience sooner that would help me advance my career in that firm. I have a goal of getting my MBA and am on track to complete the program in a little more than a year. Would this degree actually be a detriment to my goal of moving into public accounting? I have heard from CPA firm recruiters that there are always positions at any level of experience and qualifications. However, I believe that CPA firms are most interested in retaining their existing talent and hiring new undergraduates. I feel like there is also a limbo period of industry experience between 2 and 5 years where at only two years of industry experience, despite a CPA designation, a candidate would be placed in an entry-level position a public accounting firm. However, at 4 or 5 years of industry experience, but no public accounting experience, a candidate would also be placed near entry-level because of their unfamiliarity with public accounting firm processes and a need to ‘grow’ up through the system.   – Asked 7/26/2007

You are on track with your thinking and clearly have some priorities to weigh. CPA firms are looking more and more at “experienced hires” to bring into their employment. You are right, the further you get in your career, the harder the direct correlation into a CPA firm. CPA firms typically look at overall experience and audit experience as they are making considerations for employment however typically with no audit experience, you would be brought in at a staff level. The experience of working in public accounting is very valuable and so it is very good to consider this. Also, it is not out of the question that a public firm would help with tuition reimbursement, especially if you were looking at a Masters degree that would be directly benefit the firm (i.e., Masters in Tax). You could always do informational interviews with a few firms to get more information and weigh options.

It is great that you are pursuing your MBA and that your current employer will pay for it. That is not something to overlook and a very good benefit. You have to really look at what you want for your career. I wish you luck and if you would like to talk further, I would be happy to give you more information.

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