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Making a career change is never easy, especially when transitioning into accounting without a traditional background in the field. Many aspiring CPAs wonder, “Will I be able to secure an accounting job with my non-accounting background and experience? Is completing the CPA program enough to land a job?” The answer is yes. Career changers have so much to offer to employers – the key is how they leverage their non-accounting experience to stand out.
This February, CPABC brought together a panel of recruitment professionals and hiring managers to pull back the curtain on how career changers can successfully pivot to accounting. Our guests were Haidar Waled, senior manager at Hays; Jaskirit Randhawa, CPA, senior manager, international tax at BDO; Katie Gordon, CPA, senior manager, talent attraction at KPMG; and Naomi Scavington, CPHR, director, people and culture at Davidson & Company LLP. Here’s what they had to say.
How do you view candidates who are actively pursuing their CPA designation but don’t have any accounting work experience yet? Will they still be considered as potential candidates?
Katie: In the context of campus recruiting or early talent recruiting – will we give you an offer if you have no accounting experience? Absolutely yes, most people don’t have accounting experience. Don’t stress if you’ve only ever worked in retail or at restaurants. That is fantastic experience. We are looking for people who have transferable skills. For example, if you’ve worked at Starbucks, you are working with your team to fulfill orders and communicating with your customers, so you have teamwork and communication skills. Those are just as valuable as experience from a very basic bookkeeping role.
Naomi: Employers recognize that there are benefits to working on the education component of the CPA program and the experience simultaneously. You don’t need accounting experience to get your foot in the door. Some of you have international experience and some of you are coming from completely different fields. There’s a ton of transferable skills in that. If you can show that you can apply those transferable skill to an accounting role, you will be successful.
Haidar: From the industry perspective, the biggest question is, “Does this person have a CPA or are they pursuing one?” Being part of the CPA program shows your commitment and your ability to deliver. Industry is catching up with public practice firms when it comes to benefits such as subsidizing your CPA program fees. This signals how industry perceives the value of CPAs and candidates.
How can career changers identify and articulate transferable skills from previous roles that will resonate with hiring managers in accounting?
Katie: Read the job description, start to finish, several times. It’s going to help you pick out what skills that role is looking for. If the job description says a company is looking for someone who is very organized, think about how you demonstrated this in your previous job or volunteer work. Then, make sure you explicitly highlight these skills and how you have demonstrated them in your resume.
Naomi: In public practice, it’s all about your interactions with people like clients and different team members. Think about how you can highlight your previous experience with customer service, client relations, or people management and how that aligns with the job you are applying for. Project management is another good transferrable skill. In public practice, you are managing different engagements with clients from start to finish, so think about how you have managed projects in the past.
Haidar: If you are applying for a specific industry, it’s advantageous to showcase your knowledge of the industry. If you are switching from a non-accounting job to accounting but within the same industry, retail or real estate for example, then highlight your in-depth knowledge in the industry. If you have a good understanding of their business models, operations, or revenue-generating activities, you can sell that in your job application.
Jas: Stop thinking about the skill from an industry perspective but focus on the function of the skill. As career changers, you’ve likely developed analytical, data management, research, or people skills in various jobs. It doesn’t matter where you developed those skills; hiring managers want to know how you will apply them to the accounting or finance related role you are applying for.
What are the most common mistakes career changers make in job applications or interviews for accounting roles?
Naomi: Sometimes people are overprepared to the point where they are robotic and we can’t see your personality. Always remember that interviews are a two-way conversation where you can also evaluate whether or not a company is a good fit for you. If you find interviews too nerve-wracking, you can also meet company reps at career fairs or events so we can get to know you in a more casual setting.
Jas: One of the pitfalls is when candidates explain in an interview how they developed their skill sets but they continuously focus on the past. Try expanding it and make it relevant to the job you are applying for. For example, you can say that you developed analytical skills by doing ABC at your previous work and that is important because you can apply it to XYZ aspects of the job you are interviewing for.
Katie: Have a clear understanding of what kind of jobs or roles you want to focus on and tailor your job search. You can only have a really strong application for so many different jobs. Some people apply to essentially every available job at a company in hopes of landing something, which is not an effective job search strategy. Remember, recruiters can see how many jobs you apply for.
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Put your best foot forward at your next career fair! If you haven’t already, sign-up for CPABC’s Career Site to gain access to CPA job postings and information about upcoming career fairs and events.
Jinny Sim is a talent development officer at CPABC.
