[Martina]

I'm not sure what board this goes to but I do want some responses so please don't just move it to a board that no one visits.

I need some advice on my career. I thought I was doing fine in my current job, but I am not happy. Yet that seems to be a common thing for me. I can't hold down a job very long. The longest I have ever held down the same job was 3 years, and that was a movie theater job in high school. The longest I've held down a "real" job (post-college) was 2 years. I have been fired twice, both times related to my mental illness. The first time, I was skipping out on work doing crazy things in a manic episode (although at the time I was not yet diagnosed, still thought it was depression). Refused to tell my boss where I was, and I got fired. Then in 2008, I had a serious mental breakdown with multiple hospitalizations, and missed so much work that my boss let me go for too many sick days. I was fired in January 2009, and unemployed for 9 months.

I finally found my current job in September 2009. But I was grossly overqualified for it. I am a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) with part of an MBA degree, and 8 years of corporate accounting experience. I'm making $12.75 an hour. That job I got fired from in Jan. 2009 I was making $48,000 a year, and that was before I got my CPA license - with that license I would likely have been making over $50,000.

But here's the deal. We moved to this small town 3 years ago, for that job. There are two types of accounting - public, and corporate. In public accounting, working at a CPA firm, I'd have to do taxes, and work the crazy hours during tax season, and probably do audits. In corporate accounting, it's steady 8-5 hours all year long, with only a little bit of overtime. And just the actual work I'm doing...I actually prefer corporate.

But in this small town...there is only ONE company big enough to do the type of corporate accounting I want to do. And that's where I'm working now, for $12.75 an hour. I know I could probably pay my dues and work my way up and get a promotion - it's a big company. But that could take years. And it's not just the pay. I am bored to death. The job started out as a part-time temporary position, but they liked me so much they hired me on permanent full-time...but never gave me any more work to do! So for the last 2-3 weeks of every month, I'm sitting on my butt with nothing to do. It drives me insane. And I've once again developed my internet addiction, at work. It's not good. I need to be challenged at work. I am not. I feel like I'm wasting all that knowledge I learned, studying for the CPA exam. I'm going to lose it all, if I don't use it. I feel like my CPA is wasting away.

But if I go for a job at a small CPA firm...is that wise? What if the stress of tax season kills me? I did have that MAJOR mental break right after my first tax season in 2008. That can't be just a coincidence.

I've thought of opening up my own CPA business from home, and setting my own schedules...but there's so much risk involved. How do I find clients, startup costs, all that.

We are drowning in debt, thanks to me. When I was manic I racked up a lot of debt, plus there's medical bills from the psych ward, and we dipped into line of credit while unemployed. We have $75,000 in debt including both cars and my student loans and other debt. We're almost bankrupt. The thought of making close to $50,000 is very tempting. Should I go for a job at a small CPA firm?

They probably won't be hiring until late summer, anyways - it's the slow season right now. But I have time to think about it and get my resume put together.

[splitimage]

In a lot of ways I'm in a very similar situation to your's. I'm also an accountant with an MBA. But I've always worked in corporate accounting, so I don't know what it would be like to be in a public accounting firm except I've heard it's insane around tax time.

I had a very high paying job as a finance director that I held for 7 years. But I got fired due to missing too many days due to a drinking problem and MH issues. That was in Dec. 06. I took 2007 off completely to concentrate on getting sober and healthy which included a lengthy IP stint.

When I started looking for a job, I knew I couldn't handle the stress of my old job, so I deliberately looked for a more junior position. I'm now the only accountant in a small company, so I do everything from AR/AP, to payroll to financial reporting. I'm massively overqualified for the job, I'm bored out of my mind 80% of the time, and there are weeks when I don't have enough to do. I also had to take a huge paycut which has meant major lifestyle adjustments. But the company offers me great flex time so I'm able to take 2 1/2 days off a week to attend addiction treatment. And there's almost no overtime. I've had to come into work on the weekend twice so far this year, once during the audit, and once during a software upgrade where everyone in finance & IT had to work to roll out a new software upgrade. I've now been in this job 2 years.

I'm still struggling with maintaining sobriety and know I don't have the emotional / mental energy to put into job hunting right now. So I'm hoping to stay in this job until next summer and concentrate on maintaining my sobriety and building my confidence back up.

Could you stay in this job, and view it as a short period where you're getting your health back in order before moving into a higher stress job?

Or could you stay in your current job and start your own business doing books / taxes on the side in evenings and weekends. That would give you a taste for what running your own business is like while still having the security of a paycheck.

Don't look at where you are now as a permanent set back. Try to look at it as a chance to get healthy.

Take care.

Splitimage

[Perna]

Personally, if I were in your position, I would look at the sorts of accounting tasks you enjoy doing and maybe look for a job in a non-accounting company, in their accounting department; try to work my way up to CFO? It might be more "exciting" and certainly would be more work but wouldn't be quite as crazy as February through June is for CPA's doing tax work :-) Like SplitImage's experience!

But working in a business, even if you have to start as just Accounts Receivable/Payable; you'd probably still be able to command more than $12.75 (I always made more than that in those sorts of positions). Too, if you pick your company right, you might be able to start out as CFO (in practice if not in name). But if you took a job and decided later you really didn't like it, I don't think it would hurt your chances for working in an accounting firm later, as you'd have actual "field"/trench experience, which is always valuable.

I worked in accounting in a privately-held company that had no knowledge of computers or accounting so had to do a lot of educating (which wasn't easy because the owner had his own ideas of "accounting" which weren't exactly GAAP-standard :-) and the poor CPA who had to figure stuff out every few months (and work with the owner on his own finances too, what with owning the company, etc.) was more than grateful for the grassroots work I started. Now the company is GAAP-compliant/CPA-auditable and the owner's daughter, who was going to school in accounting all the years I was with the company, and beyond (she was a high schooler when I first started there and had a lot of moves/life issues/marriage, etc. that made her schooling/initial work to get her CPA/advanced degree take like 10 years) is her father's company's CFO. She still prepares everything for the same, previous CPA but I'm sure his work is MUCH easier now, LOL.

[shezbut]

((Martina))

Both members above had helpful advice, imo.

I used to work in accounting years ago, and I understand what you are talking about very well. Personally, I struggled working in offices. The stress level was high for me. Seemed to always have cliques ~ which I never fit into! I could not wait to escape that M-F 8-5 job. The days draggggged on for way too many hours for me. It was living hell!

After a few years of absolute misery at work, I couldn't take it anymore. I finally gave up and went back to waiting tables & going to school. That was the best decision for me at that time of my life. There was a financial impact, that's for sure. I haven't made that kind of money ever since. BUT...it's also what I needed to do for myself.

[Queen of Disorder]

I am really in no position to answer this, as I am horrible at accounting for myself and have no professional experience or education to do it. Secondly, I have the same disorders as you, so I could be telling you the worst thing to do possible. However, I would THINK that trying the small CPA firm route would be best because you won't have time to be bored and you'll have a lot less time to dwell on your problems. You are more stable now (I am assuming) then you were last tax season when you had your breakdown... only you know what your chances of success are, but I think you can handle it! Anyway, nothing is in stone... if it doesn't work out... find something else!

My view is you would be happier starting your own business. Alternatively, perhaps you could go with the small CPA firm with the understanding that you will need to limit your hours during tax season for health reason.

My brother is a CPA who worked for a manufacturing company. He quickly advanced to comptroller and then into management.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[sugahorse1]

I suffer from bipolar and have been battling more and more in the corporate world. The idea of opening my own business really appeals as my work time could be flexible, to an extent, around my episodes. And I don't have anyone but myself to report to.
It is something I'm strongly considering at the moment

How are you doing, Martina?