need help getting a job

[investor]

Hey all,

I'm now 23 years old. It's been 1 year since I graduated college with a BS in Accounting. I can't seem to get a job doing anything. The only job I had in my life was 3 months working as a tax preparer at H&R Block--- that ended in April (and I didn't like the job because the people are psycho). Now I have no other experience, and I wonder if this affects me if I apply to a retail job? I have never worked in a retail job. Once there was a help wanted ad in a deli and they refused to train me to cut slices and make sandwiches which isn't that hard. No one gives me a chance at anything!! I can't do anything and I'm stuck living with my parents. I also have no money to deal with my scalp psoriasis problem.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

thanks everyone

 

[Minus]

It seems that employers want experience but few are willing to let you get it from them. That sounds like what you ran across at the deli. You just graduated with a BS in Accounting. From what i have seen locally, openings in that area are usually looking for people with one or two years experience before they will even consider you. On a more positive note, some employers will consider an accounting degree in lieu of experience in that area.

Having never worked retail i have no idea what they generally require.
It would seem that you have to keep on trying until someone is willing to give you a chance.

One of the things that i am trying is that i am working part time as a bookkeeper, without pay, in an attempt to get the experience that is required by so many. I don't know how long i can afford to keep that up and may have to go back to looking at the field that i was working in.

 

[melly]

I'm not sure where you are located but can tell you that in UK it will generally affect your future chances if you settle for retail job and sadly I am speaking from experience. Have take a job which was to fill a gap so it is now looked as career break in negative light and it was twice as hard to climb back to where I was previously, almost had to start again.

I think a job in retail will drive you nuts although obviously it would bring in money. Have you tried apprenticeship route? Even if there are no openings just write letters to comapnies you would like to work for asking if they can consider you for apprenticeship. You will need to be prepered to get little less money as you will be classed very junior but you can pick up a lot of experience and the fact you had an office job in the correct department will give you much more help when it comes to jobhunting next time around.
In UK maybe you can try apprenticeship in public sector not just private companies.

Good luck

 

[Sci-Fi]

Yeah, like Minus said, so many employers want experience but no one is hiring to give that experience. Personally, I mainly hire the people that I work with so I don't look for experience I look at their qualifications.

The one thing that would work against you is your education. Some places will think you are over qualified to be working in a retail store, unless they are looking for someone to do their accounting.

Something you can do, if your area has them, are temp agencies, that way you get experience and possibly a full time job out of it as well. Most temp agencies will try to place you in jobs that you are qualified for.

 

[investor]

It seems that employers want experience but few are willing to let you get it from them. That sounds like what you ran across at the deli. You just graduated with a BS in Accounting. From what i have seen locally, openings in that area are usually looking for people with one or two years experience before they will even consider you. On a more positive note, some employers will consider an accounting degree in lieu of experience in that area.

Having never worked retail i have no idea what they generally require.
It would seem that you have to keep on trying until someone is willing to give you a chance.

One of the things that i am trying is that i am working part time as a bookkeeper, without pay, in an attempt to get the experience that is required by so many. I don't know how long i can afford to keep that up and may have to go back to looking at the field that i was working in.

Hey Minus,

I like that suggestion about trying bookkeeping without pay. How do I inquire about that. Should I call up bookkeepers? or CPA firms? I never tried it. I am currently in New York City and am working on becoming a "Quickbooks Pro Advisor". It costs $500 and allows you to take these certifications to make you an expert and start a small bookkeeping business. I got the idea from looking at websites of cpa firms and reading people's credentials. Also, do you think it would be weird to contact them via facebook?

thanks

 

[Minus]

Yes you could contact firms and explain what you are trying to do. Basically it is an internship to gain experience. It doesn't have to be a CPA firm. A lot of smaller businesses do their own bookkeeping as oppose to hiring a firm to do it for them. Sometimes they are willing to utilize free help. It would be the owner or someone in a hiring position that you would approach, just like applying for a job. That probably wouldn't be the bookkeeper. Even as an unpaid position not everyone will feel that they need the help.

I really don't know how facebook fits into the business world for that type of thing. I see it as weird but then i see facebook its self as weird so i am not a good judge of that. You could always try it but i suspect that just like hiring someone, facebook may not be the best choice to approach them. I could be completely wrong about that.

The Quickbooks Advisor certification sounds like a good idea. That is probably the most common software for small business bookkeeping and a lot of users do have questions about it. While most of these questions are pretty basic and you probably can already answer them, with the certification you become more of an official 'go to' person.

 

[IgnoredOne]

Hey all,

I'm now 23 years old. It's been 1 year since I graduated college with a BS in Accounting. I can't seem to get a job doing anything. The only job I had in my life was 3 months working as a tax preparer at H&R Block--- that ended in April (and I didn't like the job because the people are psycho). Now I have no other experience, and I wonder if this affects me if I apply to a retail job? I have never worked in a retail job. Once there was a help wanted ad in a deli and they refused to train me to cut slices and make sandwiches which isn't that hard. No one gives me a chance at anything!! I can't do anything and I'm stuck living with my parents. I also have no money to deal with my scalp psoriasis problem.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

thanks everyone

I would strongly consider getting my MS in Accounting, allowing me to remain in an academic environment and keeping my eyes open to join professional clubs or opportunities to network. Accounting does seem to strongly encourage students to get a MS, and my friends who do have accounting jobs generally had a dual track BS/MS professional pursuit while in college.

 

[LostInside]

Apply for more jobs. Just keep applying and people will get back to you. Also don't get discouraged because sometimes it literally takes months. I applied to a job and it took them two months to respond to me, but they want to interview me. I've applied to about 50 or so jobs and I keep applying. Job searching reminds me of target practice or darts or something. You can throw and throw darts and in order to get a bulls eye that only needs to happen once, not every time.