# Accounting Job Hunt



## shailensukul (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi All,

Hoping to benefit from your experience.

Background
I am working in the Bay Area on an E3 visa.
Correspondingly, my wife has a work permit and can work here without restrictions. She is an accountant with a degree from a highly recognized Australian university and has 8 years of accounting experience in Australia.

She has been applying for jobs since January this year, without much success.
It is a little hard since she left a well-paying job to risk coming here with me and right now, the outlook is rather bleak for her, despite appying for hundreds of jobs. 

I am not sure what we are doing wrong as she has ample Australian experience, undergraduate degrees in Accounting/Banking & Finance and will be completing her CPA this year. 

We are at our wit's end and thinking about going back, since it rather selfish for me just to concentrate on my career.

Needless to say that any advice from those who have faced similar situations would be much appreciated. We will try to hang around for a few more months before making our final decision.

Thanks.

Shane


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I notice she has been looking for a job since January. That's not really all that long a time for a serious job hunt. I'm an accountant, too, and every time I've changed jobs, it has taken between 3 to 18 months of serious search efforts.

One small disadvantage she may be running into is that all her experience appears to be in Australia. Some employers are going to be concerned that she isn't up to speed on US accounting law and practice. It could be useful for her to take some classes (even CPA exam prep classes) to demonstrate that she is working on her US background, too.

The other thing is to go find the nearest Robert Half agency and to get some temp work under her belt in accountancy. That will counteract the "Australian experience only" objection and give her a better idea of the US working environment. Half can also give her a fairly accurate picture of what the hiring environment is out there. 
Cheers,
Bev


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

Tell your wife to get something else until something becomes available.

Once upon a time aka before the boom I was earning a great salary with a top engineering firm. The downturn came and I was forced home just after the downturn hit Australia. I've tried something different and believe it or not i'm actaully close of reaching my previous salary again and it feels good.

Also another thing Whether it be USyd or University of Wollongong in the USA its still an Australian degree (not highly rated)

With your wifes experience something will come.

A 25 year old Scottish backpakcer got pretty much beaten to death by a bunch of 10-14 year olds this morning in Sydney so I would be in no rush to come back here.

good luck!


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## shailensukul (Mar 31, 2010)

We have already registered with Robert Half and she is looking applying for fairly junior roles to get some US experience on the board.

Thanks for the suggested timeframe, it gives us some hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Appreciate the advice.

Thanks.



Bevdeforges said:


> I notice she has been looking for a job since January. That's not really all that long a time for a serious job hunt. I'm an accountant, too, and every time I've changed jobs, it has taken between 3 to 18 months of serious search efforts.
> 
> One small disadvantage she may be running into is that all her experience appears to be in Australia. Some employers are going to be concerned that she isn't up to speed on US accounting law and practice. It could be useful for her to take some classes (even CPA exam prep classes) to demonstrate that she is working on her US background, too.
> 
> ...


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## shailensukul (Mar 31, 2010)

Thanks for the advice.

I would not want my wife to work in an unrelated field at this stage as we are not struggling financially. It is quite important from a career perspective for her to get employed in the same field and get her foot into the Accounting industry.

You are partially correct, I think when she finishes her CPA, it will carry much more weight than her degree. 

With respect to Australia, we still think it is the best country in the world and some actions by a bunch of bad seeds is not a cause for disrespecting my country. Do you know how many murders are commited in LA every week?

Thanks.



Weebie said:


> Tell your wife to get something else until something becomes available.
> 
> Once upon a time aka before the boom I was earning a great salary with a top engineering firm. The downturn came and I was forced home just after the downturn hit Australia. I've tried something different and believe it or not i'm actaully close of reaching my previous salary again and it feels good.
> 
> ...


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Getting her CPA is a big step in the right direction. Networking is the next one. From LinkedIn.com to professional organizatins in your market - she needs to get her name out there. I am guessing here but something about her resume does not sell. One way for her to get her foot in the door is temp work. I know it is a bad word but there are agencies who handle nothing but accounting assignments. Some of them long term.


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## shailensukul (Mar 31, 2010)

Thanks to all for your kindly advice.
Based on your feedback and our personal experience, I have noticed the following:

1. Her Australian experience may be the biggest blocker to getting jobs.
2. She has been applying for a lot of temp/contract roles and my advice to her is to simply stop applying for permanent roles until she gets a few months of US experience.
3. We have decided to hang around till September, to give her the maximum possible window to land a role. 9 months is a fair window to look for a job.
4. We are also mining various job websites on a daily basis, including LinkedIn to give her the best possible chance.

Thanks.
Shane


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Can you send me her resume via PM?


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