Sell Yourself: Mid-career CPAs tackle job search challenges - Cover Story

California CPA, May, 2002 by Sharon Ross

Perception is reality.

For the experienced CPA, that can mean the difference between landing a key position or getting stuck in job-search oblivion. Today, many CPAs find that to switch industries or land a new job after a lengthy stay with one company, they must overcome misperceptions about themselves--that they are not adaptable, command too high a salary and aren't trainable.

Add a slow economy too the mix, and mid-career CPAs face a test as challenging as CPA licensure.

UP AGAINST A WALL

"I had never been up against anything like this," says David Shealor, CPA, a manager at Leslie Accountancy LLP in Los Angeles who reentered the job market five years ago after an extended illness. Initially, he received no response to the nearly 100 resumes he sent to firms. Despite his 30 years of combined experience in public practice and private industry, solid CPA credentials and an MBA from Pepperdine University, he was turned away from jobs.

"I wasn't even able to get in the door. I went from being able to just write my own ticket to not being able to even get an interview," Shealor recalls, adding that he thinks his age and lack of current experience didn't help. "Being 50 years old was like the kiss of death."

Gary Bachrach, a CPA in Culver City, says he has contended with similar obstacles, but thinks there are other reasons why there have been few job offers. "I'm sure age is a factor," he says. "It may just be a perception, but I was told not to put the years I was in school or when I worked for Coopers & Lybrand, particularly in a soft market. But the main factor is a lack of good jobs. It's a buyer's market."

EMPLOYERS HAVE THE UPPER HAND

When Bachrach was out of a job in the early 1990s after spending seven years in manufacturing accounting, he found consulting work with relative ease and eventually made a transition to the high-tech industry. But when the dot-coM bubble burst, he was laid off. Consulting work has been scarce during the past year and the competition fierce for open positions. When he interviewed for a position in January, he had to compete with more than 300 other applicants.

"Right now employers can be very specific about what they're looking for," says Rita Steel, director of western operations for Menlo Park-based Robert Half International. "A couple of years ago, there was such low unemployment that it was much easier to switch industries.

"Now, if you have a tech background and want to get into manufacturing cost accounting, you're not going to be at the top of the list. Employers are going to look at all the candidates with manufacturing experience.

Aggravating the recession's impact is a limited number of open mid to senior-level accounting positions and a greater need for staff accountants with two-to-three years of solid accounting experience. "There are fewer positions at the higher end," says Steel.

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that although growth in accounting will be "about as fast as the average for all occupations, competition will remain keen for the most prestigious jobs in major accounting and business firms."

BREAKING THE STEREOTYPE

Mid-career CPAs now must prove that they are just as flexible, trainable and savvy as their younger and less-experienced counterparts, says Laurie Eppler, a former recruiter with Accountants Inc. in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"A lot of hiring managers have a certain mind-set that an individual who has been with a company 10 to 15 years may not be adaptable to other scenarios and situations," Eppler says. "They believe that their skills aren't as sharp if they've been in the same pattern, in the same job and with the same company."

So a CPA who has held the same title for more than 10 years will need to show that they've worn different hats, can change course and have kept up with changes within the company and industry.

"Every company changes and evolves over time," says Eppler. "CPAs need to show on their resumes that they've adapted and continued to impact the company positively. Then they need to back that up with real-life examples in the interview, whether it was a change with a new manager, new software or when the company went through an IPO. They need to show that their duties evolved, even if their job title didn't."

Elaine Soost, a senior tax accountant in Menlo Park, says it's been difficult using just a resume and job titles to get doors to open wide enough to show employers her adaptability, diversity and desire to learn. "Too often, job titles don't tell the whole story," Soost says.

It's critical that job seekers not depend on a job title to define their potential value to a company. Instead, you need to spell out your abilities and former job responsibilities in your resume. Soost, who had been a tax specialist in the real estate industry with the same company for 15 years, says, "At smaller companies, you may wear many hats, and although your title may represent one position, you may actually handle the work for various positions."

That's when redesigning your resume becomes crucial, says Eppler. "The key thing on your resume is to indicate the different types of scenarios in which you've adapted to change. The resume needs to get your foot in the door."