Out of College and Can't Find a Job

[mastersylar]

I have been out of college since May and graduated with two degrees--accounting and finance. Since then I haven't been able to find a job. I mean this is supposed to be very marketable degrees. I tried to apply for a couple of jobs online through a college job board but none of them have called me back.

I had a recruiter look at my resume and he critiqued it and I fixed those things he said for me to fix, so my resume should be fine. Every job out there requires experience but how do you get the experience if you don't have the job? Anyways, I had a bad freshman and sophomore year so my GPA is that good, but I don't put it on my resume.

I have tried to follow up with some recruiters but they ignore my calls most of the time. What do I need to do, start showing up at the company after I send a resume? It is hard to dodge someone who does that.

 

[Bible_Belt]

monster.com says there's over 200 accounting jobs available in Louisville alone:

http://jobsearch.monster.com/Search...=louisville&rad=20&cy=us&brd=1&re=&JSNONREG=1

Have you applied to all of these? posted your resume? Applied to every temp service? Faxed out resumes to every job in the newspaper classifieds?
What about career services at your school?

 

[Norisman]

Travel abroad and work there, American are in high demand there. Even being a native English speaker will help you jump the queue!
Go to the gulf states like Dubia, Qatar etc. U can make megabucks there and gain some exprience that should make you a bit more marketable in the US, or it may even give you some starting capital for your own business. The only downside is that you won't be getting regular PUZZY or alcohol.
If that troubles you try places like South Korea or...

 

[mastersylar]

monster.com says there's over 200 accounting jobs available in Louisville alone:

http://jobsearch.monster.com/Search...=louisville&rad=20&cy=us&brd=1&re=&JSNONREG=1

Have you applied to all of these? posted your resume? Applied to every temp service? Faxed out resumes to every job in the newspaper classifieds?
What about career services at your school?

But then narrow the search to "under 1 year"; only 3 job appear and those are not even related to accounting. Sure there are plenty of jobs out there but pretty much all require experience.

I have tried to register with two temp agencies and now I am on my third one. The first two have been completely useless, however the third one might be good.

As for school, there is a job board but not many accounting jobs out there. I started accounting after I got my first degree. They had on campus CPA firm interviews, but my GPA was 2.87 and all the firms were looking for at least a 2.9. But I am working with a recruiter for accountants and he seems to think GPA is not that big of an issue. So, I am going to have him talk to some of the firms when On-campus interviews happen.

 

[mastersylar]

Travel abroad and work there, American are in high demand there. Even being a native English speaker will help you jump the queue!
Go to the gulf states like Dubia, Qatar etc. U can make megabucks there and gain some exprience that should make you a bit more marketable in the US, or it may even give you some starting capital for your own business. The only downside is that you won't be getting regular PUZZY or alcohol.
If that troubles you try places like South Korea or...

I might try. are there any good sites or placement agencies that you would recommend?

 

[spesmilitis]

Try craigslist and careerbuilder.com.

Put your upperdivision gpa if your overall sucks.

Did you go to a good school? If so, you need to use networking tactics, not job boards.


Question about working in gulf states. . . .how do you go about doing that?

 

[Norisman]

I might try. are there any good sites or placement agencies that you would recommend?

Hey, i don't have first hand information on this issue. Cousin of mine works in the gulf and he is the one trying to convince me to ditch family business and join his adventure.
I know that you can find most of the information you'll require online. Sites like www.jobsabroad.com may also be helpful. But, you need not rush this. Think carefully and make sure that its really what you want.
Also, try getting American multinationals as you first target. If you can't succeed in having them employ you, then use ONLY american registered companies/placement agencies or their affiliates. that way, they can't be continually screwing people and getting away with it. throughly research everything action you'll be taking. If the deal is too good, increase your research by even finding out where and when the company was registered (LLC)....
i'm sleepy right now but i hope this helps...

 

[Stud]

Did you have an internship during your schooling career? I too am an accounting major and the way my advisor breaks it down is such. You get an internship the summer between your jr. and sr. years, the company then hires you and you begin your career. Did this just not happen for you or what?

My advisor has suggested that I get a finance degree as well as my accounting one because it will increase my marketability as well as give me enough credits (150+) to sit for my C.P.A. exam. Every accountant I have talked to wishes that they had a better understanding of the markets, while most finance majors I have talked to long for a better understanding of balance sheets and such. By getting both degrees has been seen as a plus by everybody that I have talked to. Besides a substandard GPA, what havent you done? Are you planning on becoming a CPA? Did you network properly while in school? Go to all of the recruitment meetings? I do not go to a nationally known school and I know that the big 4 accounting firms regularly recruit from my college, I do not suspect it being that different where you are. Maybe work to get an internship somewhere to get that experience while studying for your CPA exam. Once you pass that, your options are limitless.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

...I have tried to follow up with some recruiters but they ignore my calls most of the time. What do I need to do, start showing up at the company after I send a resume? It is hard to dodge someone who does that.

You waited too long to start marketing yourself. You're competing with the thousands of other recent graduates with the same credentials. Stop looking for jobs in pipelines that everyone use, there's way too much competition.

I'm assuming that you don't have any work experience so that will work against you in large organizations. Focus on small to medium size businesses. Drive around your neighborhood and take note of businesses that are around, not necessarily the "mom and pop" type businesses but those who aren't able to afford huge HR departments.

Surprisingly, many of these smaller companies have a Web presence and advertise their opening on within their own company web sites without posting on sites such as Moster.com or Careerbuilder.com. Start applying to those companies and swallow your pride about the salary. These companies are typically more receptive to hiring recent grads without true working experience.

You need to get job experience so that you can have an advantage over other recent graduates who hadn't worked during their education. Once you've gained experience you can look for other opportunities.

 

[mastersylar]

Did you have an internship during your schooling career? I too am an accounting major and the way my advisor breaks it down is such. You get an internship the summer between your jr. and sr. years, the company then hires you and you begin your career. Did this just not happen for you or what?

My advisor has suggested that I get a finance degree as well as my accounting one because it will increase my marketability as well as give me enough credits (150+) to sit for my C.P.A. exam. Every accountant I have talked to wishes that they had a better understanding of the markets, while most finance majors I have talked to long for a better understanding of balance sheets and such. By getting both degrees has been seen as a plus by everybody that I have talked to. Besides a substandard GPA, what havent you done? Are you planning on becoming a CPA? Did you network properly while in school? Go to all of the recruitment meetings? I do not go to a nationally known school and I know that the big 4 accounting firms regularly recruit from my college, I do not suspect it being that different where you are. Maybe work to get an internship somewhere to get that experience while studying for your CPA exam. Once you pass that, your options are limitless.

Actually I am not a traditional accounting student. I started off as a finance major intending to go into portfolio management. I had no luck finding a job for the semester that I was out. I even tried applying for jobs in Chicago and I had no luck. So, I went back and got my accounting degree in a year.

I had an internship with a smaller firm during tax season. That company has been considering recently but they are looking at their staffing needs, so I
might have a job in a few weeks with them.

The GPA issue isn't as much as I think I am making it out into. I was talking to a recruiter that works with college students and he said he has seen a lot of guys with under a 3.0 go to work at accounting firms.

Last year, I tried to register for interviews and the computer wouldn't let me register b/c I was under a 3.0. This time I am going to call the firms directly and let them know that I was in engineering school for 2 1/2 years, so that is why I have a low GPA.

Also, I am sitting for the Regulation section of the exam in a few weeks. Hopefully, I can get one of them passed before I go in for interviews.

 

[mastersylar]

You waited too long to start marketing yourself. You're competing with the thousands of other recent graduates with the same credentials. Stop looking for jobs in pipelines that everyone use, there's way too much competition.

I'm assuming that you don't have any work experience so that will work against you in large organizations. Focus on small to medium size businesses. Drive around your neighborhood and take note of businesses that are around, not necessarily the "mom and pop" type businesses but those who aren't able to afford huge HR departments.

Surprisingly, many of these smaller companies have a Web presence and advertise their opening on within their own company web sites without posting on sites such as Moster.com or Careerbuilder.com. Start applying to those companies and swallow your pride about the salary. These companies are typically more receptive to hiring recent grads without true working experience.

You need to get job experience so that you can have an advantage over other recent graduates who hadn't worked during their education. Once you've gained experience you can look for other opportunities.

I will do that and I am also going to cold call a lot of businesses. Cold calling can be very effective if you have researched the company and are able to present why you would be effective in helping the company. I am reading a book about this right now.

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

I will do that and I am also going to cold call a lot of businesses. Cold calling can be very effective if you have researched the company and are able to present why you would be effective in helping the company. I am reading a book about this right now.

What's the name of the book?