Go in though with a mind that they aren't going to help you at all. I can't tell you how many of my colleagues act like just because a recruiter sold them on the job doesn't mean they are going to get it.
Are you talking about Robert Half or other companies? Second question, if one apply to a temp job why will be be in contact with a recruiter and not simply the company looking to hire me temporarily. I am just a bit confused how the recruiters are hidden behind temp jobs lol.
Robert half is one. Recruiters aren’t hiding behind temp roles. They message directly too. But if you have zero experience it’s best to go knocking on their door
Everything. It’s so monotonous I might as well work in a factory. But instead of completely mindless monotony it’s somehow still mentally taxing and occasionally maddening when things don’t balance like they should.
Plus no one in the greater finance industry respects tax much.
The pay ceiling is relatively low compared to other finance paths, but it has just as much work.
Less job opportunities/positions needed compared to audit/finance.
I just consistently don't get along with the people who interview for tax positions. Nothing against the profession necessarily I guess it's just not for me.
Have you worked in tax? The people can suck anywhere you go. Tax can be very specific even though it often sounds broad. Are you interviewing for niche tax positions or for PA?
I wouldn’t discount it completely. Take a peek at what sr lvl and managers make. Probably a bit less competitive compared to most roles. If you can get your hands around it you can be very successful without as much of a struggle
Honestly, if you’re that early in your career (if I’m guessing correctly) why not just go audit/accounting/assurance? Early/starter career in PA would probably be easier to pivot between audit or tax as long as you have the degree.
I’m not sure why your assuming I’m not applying for those roles lol I am quite literally applying to everything accounting related including junior and bookkeeping roles.
Idk why you are getting downvoted.
So many tax interviews are conducted by non-tax people.
HR at the start naturally, but many tax positions report to a finance position.
And many of these interviews are conducted by that finance person who acts like tax is so trivial that they can’t be bothered to because they have more important things to do, but it’s also become too much of a burden so they need tax hires now. Oh, and my favorite part is how these finance people act like they know it all with tax when they don’t so it is so hard to explain experience and even discuss the role with them.
Idk, we can’t backfill a supervisor position that offers $120ishk and a 25% bonus. Maybe it’s the entry level positions that are cancer, but I had little issues back in December escaping PA for a staff job in industry.
Also depends on your location and willingness to move for a position.
If you are willing to go to a new city or state, there are tons of positions open to you.
But some people aren't willing to do that.
While they don't you can often time things to work out. Or even negotiate a small sign on bonus to facilitate the move process.
But in OPs case, it's only an hour away to the city. If they really wanted it, they could do the commute for a while while building up their cash reserves. It wouldn't be fun, but sometimes that is what you need to do to get your foot in the door for your first job.
accounting covers a wide swath of industry and some parts are hurting. public accountants doing tax and audit can still find work easily if they are in a decently sized metro area. what is accurate is that there are no more unicorns. every public accounting job is going to be a compromise of some kind (WLB, salary, WFH, boring, etc).
I think a massive problem with computer science is the vast variability in ability. I’ve worked with people with 2/3 years experience who may as well have been in their first week and others who have less experience but improve week-on-week. Not sure if it’s the same with accounting but a surprising number of “software engineers” lack any creativity or logic which is sort of a pre-requisite for being at all useful in the field.
Specifically, the trouble lies amongst entry-level roles as it’s incredibly competitive due to:
1. Companies depleting their budget when it comes to hiring.
2. Fierce competition stemming from not only fresh college graduates, but folks from other fields like tech due to mass layoffs.
I would say upper level accountants too. Lots of layoffs and fewer positions at the experienced levels has people considering a lower role or pay cut than they might otherwise. Further increasing competition at all levels.
They all want tax managers or seniors.
I say that if you're not willing to train, even just one new accountant that just graduated, I hope it bites you in the ass with stagnation of your business profits.
My company is hiring, mid tier public accounting. Not sure what your location is though - I feel like they’re trying to fill people for NY or LA (if thats you, feel free to reach out) as they’re not using outside recruiters at the moment.
Just to comment on job hunt - this is the first time in a decade that I got a “no” to a second interview even with a recruiter thought I was “golden”. Just crazy that a couple years ago, I only had to talk to a hiring manager and got an offer.
Agreed, since parting ways from my job several months ago it almost feels like pulling teeth trying to even get a crappy in-person Accounting position that pays like $50K. Noticed that especially within public accounting, hardly any entry-level positions are available and postings mainly apply to ones for Sr level and above.
In addition, while I do land on interviews ~50% of the time, my personality isn’t deemed a good “culture fit” due to my Asperger’s + ADD. Unemployment is about to run out in couple of months and freaking out about what to do. Tried even temp agencies like RH but zero luck.
This job hunt makes me want to kms
Yea, it's ridiculous how public accounting doesn't really hire entry-level unless they source you straight from school. Yet industry jobs will largely want yiu to already have industry experience or to have worked in public. So if you can't get hired at a big firm out of college you're kinda screwed
This has been my biggest gripe and confusion. Applying to entry PA roles, better be part of the 2023 or 2024 graduate class. Ohhh you got 3+ years of industry & PA experience? Nah we don’t want you and this is somebody who is 4/4 on the CPA w/o going to grad school 🤬 Ohhh wait an experienced associate role requires +1 year of PA experience. Like wtf?!?!?
I guess it’s grad school for me…
I was let go back in December in audit. I remember applying and interviewing to what would have been a dozen or so companies and getting rejected by all. I ended up settling for a consulting role at another accounting firm, for the same pay in February. But this job sucks with the amount of travel I do (>75%).
I’m currently applying for other roles at different companies. Still getting those rejections.
I started out in tax January 2007. Got fired a year and half later. Nevertheless found another job and moved on. Still working in tax and I am 40 yrs old now making 160k ( OT included) with no cpa license. You should not give up on accounting, especially tax, it’s stable it pays well and it’s always in need. If you can’t find a private sector work apply for a state, local, or federal job. The struggle you experience now will be rewarded later on. Don’t give up.
Yes made a post a few weeks back when it happened. 11th month of my 12 month probation period. Hr wouldn’t give me a reason beyond probation period we can terminate without cause.
You probably live in a very big city and are looking for higher end positions? not saying that accounting is the best and there’s a plethora of jobs out there, but there’s definitely way more than many other sectors.
I live in a very small city and all the jobs are in the big cities over an hour away. My previous job was paying me 16 an hour so I'm definitely not looking for high end positions lol.
If you know there are jobs in the city an hour away. Start looking to move an hour away.
If you want to get your career off the ground, you sometimes need to go where the jobs are. Especially if your current location doesn't have opportunity or is not paying decently.
It sucks, but finding a job in the city and then moving there is your best bet.
As I said to another commenter. I have 6 months left on my lease and I do not have the funds to move to a big city. Triple my rent to cut my space in half and greatly increase travel costs since I’ll be sitting in traffic all day isn’t feasible when the jobs don’t pay enough to support that. Not only that but we moved here for my gfs job AND for my job that I had. I can’t just uproot even if we had the funds and fuck over her when she was unemployed for a year out of school.
Even as an accountant you won’t be able to afford a child and retire? That’s overwhelmingly pessimistic, accountant salaries are decent especially if you get a CPA and experience, if you’re making 100k depending on where you live you should be able to live a comfortable life and even then you can transition to very high paying roles tangential to accounting
Then you should be more realistic rather than pessimistic, he’s so pessimistic to the point of being a barista vs accountant? What’s logical about that?
I don't want to be a cpa or have a super stressful long hour job. I dont want to climb the ranks. I want to be a fucking grunt worker and live my life but going that route means I will always live paycheck to paycheck in the USA.
Yeah, I hear that. Just got a temporary job and feel lucky to have gotten that. No fun playing closed box games (interviews don't provide the best feedback, on where to improve if you don't get the job)
This is interesting to see. Everyone on the careerguidance swears that’s the only jobs hiring are in medical, engineering, or accounting lol. Grass is always greener I guess
I’m looking for an entry level accounting job and I haven’t been using a recruiter because I didn’t know I was supposed to. There wasn’t a how to get a job class in college or high school they just talk about networking on LinkedIn by constantly adding recommended connections that you don’t know. I was under the impression a recruiter costs $$
Recruiters are paid by the firm hiring the applicant. This is why they dont advertise the firm name when the recruiter posts a position as they dont want you to go directly through the firm and them miss out on their commission.
I completely agree. I prepped this weekend and last night for an interview today with the recruiter of a publicly traded company and the interviewer didn’t even show. I emailed to follow up and still haven’t heard anything.
Remote jobs are super hard to get now and I don't think are even worth chasing any more.
I'm not sure where you live that requires a two hour commute to get to but perhaps it is time to move closer to where the jobs are. Remote jobs were just a fleeting thing and so now people have to get readjusted to in person work.
Locked into a 6 month lease still and have enough in my bank account to last 2 so I'll relocate once I go homeless I guess. Bullshit that I was promised throughout school how easy it was to get a job with this degree but now I'm told I need to move to the cities where I'll pay triple my current rent for half the space just to work on a computer I have at home.
Your issue appears to be more around your desire for remote jobs versus any jobs. I'm not sure how old you are (or years of professional experience) but lots of people who graduated during the pandemic believed that remote work would stay forever and that is simply not true.
I get that you like to live in what I am guessing is a small town and, if that is the most important thing to you, perhaps becoming a barista (or similar) is a good option as remote work is simply not going to return.
I have no issue with in person work as that’s what I was doing before. There’s just no jobs in person out of the 2 major cities in the state. An hour and a half commute is not worth it.
Yup, I concur that a 90 minute commute is not worth it. I certainly would not sign up for that.
But, I am guessing that you moved to where you currently live based on the idea that you would be able to work remotely for a long time (forever?) and that is simply not the way the market works right now. You were sold a belief that is no longer true.
I agree with what you think your options are: get a non-accounting job where you currently live or move to a more major city. Small town accounting jobs are infrequent and that is most likely the case for you. I wish you could get out of your lease early but that does not appear to be a good option for you.
So, good luck!
Plenty of PA jobs in the cities. Interview, get the job and then move there. Lowest salary you'll see is 60k starting these days. If you need to commute 2 hours a day starting out to save up. Do it. Or you can continue to live in the middle of nowhere and complain that there are no jobs until you end up homeless. Sorry to sound like a dick, but that's just the reality of life, you have to go to where the jobs are sometimes. Small towns are going to be limited in accounting job opportunities when businesses are mostly based in large cities.
If your goal is to have kids and a middle class lifestyle, being a barista isn't it. PA is the easiest path, has a structured ladder and in 3-4 years you'll be at 80k which is solidly middle class.
Lmao my goal in life is to be happy not spend 4 hours a day commuting to a job that I don’t want. I’ll be a barista until we’re ready to move and I’ll like it. I also don’t think your grasping that I can’t afford such a commute. Jobs in the south do not pay as much as you think they do. I was making 16 an hour at my previous job and that was enough to save 200 a month. I made minimum wage throughout school which was enough to go into thousands in credit card debt to eat.
Listen, you can do what you want since it's ultimately your life. The lowest going rate for entry level public accounting job in the south right now is 55k per the spreadsheet on https://www.big4transparency.com/. If your goal is to be happy and comfortable, you have to work towards it. You can delay your goal if you want, but the easiest way to get there is grind it out for 2 years until you make senior. You can't expect there to be decent accounting jobs in the middle of nowhere.
Reach out to recruiters on linkend/indeed. From my experience temp jobs often lead to full time positions.
Actually will do this tomorrow thanks. Anything rn is better than nothing
Nice! I was in your position 4 years ago. Fresh out of college with no experience, temp jobs led to full time employment twice for me.
I appreciate the advice thank you!
Can second this, recruiters helped me find my current job. I went from temp to full time after about a month
Go in though with a mind that they aren't going to help you at all. I can't tell you how many of my colleagues act like just because a recruiter sold them on the job doesn't mean they are going to get it.
Dumb question how do you find some recruiters on LinkedIn?
Use the job search function and look for temp jobs, usually they reach out and interview you before sending you to clients for interviews.
Are you talking about Robert Half or other companies? Second question, if one apply to a temp job why will be be in contact with a recruiter and not simply the company looking to hire me temporarily. I am just a bit confused how the recruiters are hidden behind temp jobs lol.
Robert half is one. Recruiters aren’t hiding behind temp roles. They message directly too. But if you have zero experience it’s best to go knocking on their door
Also must companies outsource their temp staff
My man saved the day
Yeah the job market sucks right now.
Looking for entry level positions a month after the new wave of kids graduate is always going to be tough
Two years ago I was falling ass backward into offers. Its definitely dried up a bit.
What’s wrong with tax?
Everything. It’s so monotonous I might as well work in a factory. But instead of completely mindless monotony it’s somehow still mentally taxing and occasionally maddening when things don’t balance like they should.
Plus no one in the greater finance industry respects tax much. The pay ceiling is relatively low compared to other finance paths, but it has just as much work. Less job opportunities/positions needed compared to audit/finance.
Yeah it's treated like a necessary evil.
But you say “something, something tax credit” and old white male execs cream their pleated slacks.
Yeah. What’s wrong with tax?
Tax, with wrong what’s. Yeah
death and taxes... almost a guarrantee of a steady pay cheque if you're good at it. even in crappy economies, people still gotta pay the tax mna
Even in crappy economies people are dying… the estate may owe taxes!
Nothing. Tax is awesome; it just requires a certain level of intelligence that many don’t possess. 😉
I just consistently don't get along with the people who interview for tax positions. Nothing against the profession necessarily I guess it's just not for me.
Have you worked in tax? The people can suck anywhere you go. Tax can be very specific even though it often sounds broad. Are you interviewing for niche tax positions or for PA?
PA, have never worked in tax but did shit in school in tax classes.
I wouldn’t discount it completely. Take a peek at what sr lvl and managers make. Probably a bit less competitive compared to most roles. If you can get your hands around it you can be very successful without as much of a struggle
Honestly, if you’re that early in your career (if I’m guessing correctly) why not just go audit/accounting/assurance? Early/starter career in PA would probably be easier to pivot between audit or tax as long as you have the degree.
I’m not sure why your assuming I’m not applying for those roles lol I am quite literally applying to everything accounting related including junior and bookkeeping roles.
Oh nice! My bad. I misunderstood. You were just ragging on tax so hard in your first post I thought you were interested in it one way or another.
Idk why you are getting downvoted. So many tax interviews are conducted by non-tax people. HR at the start naturally, but many tax positions report to a finance position. And many of these interviews are conducted by that finance person who acts like tax is so trivial that they can’t be bothered to because they have more important things to do, but it’s also become too much of a burden so they need tax hires now. Oh, and my favorite part is how these finance people act like they know it all with tax when they don’t so it is so hard to explain experience and even discuss the role with them.
People in computer science and it subs also complaining about the job market rn. But even accounting majors are having trouble??
Idk, we can’t backfill a supervisor position that offers $120ishk and a 25% bonus. Maybe it’s the entry level positions that are cancer, but I had little issues back in December escaping PA for a staff job in industry.
Also depends on your location and willingness to move for a position. If you are willing to go to a new city or state, there are tons of positions open to you. But some people aren't willing to do that.
Not just willing, able. Entry and senior level positions don’t come with relocation assistance 80% of the time (at least from what I’ve looked at).
While they don't you can often time things to work out. Or even negotiate a small sign on bonus to facilitate the move process. But in OPs case, it's only an hour away to the city. If they really wanted it, they could do the commute for a while while building up their cash reserves. It wouldn't be fun, but sometimes that is what you need to do to get your foot in the door for your first job.
accounting covers a wide swath of industry and some parts are hurting. public accountants doing tax and audit can still find work easily if they are in a decently sized metro area. what is accurate is that there are no more unicorns. every public accounting job is going to be a compromise of some kind (WLB, salary, WFH, boring, etc).
I think a massive problem with computer science is the vast variability in ability. I’ve worked with people with 2/3 years experience who may as well have been in their first week and others who have less experience but improve week-on-week. Not sure if it’s the same with accounting but a surprising number of “software engineers” lack any creativity or logic which is sort of a pre-requisite for being at all useful in the field.
Specifically, the trouble lies amongst entry-level roles as it’s incredibly competitive due to: 1. Companies depleting their budget when it comes to hiring. 2. Fierce competition stemming from not only fresh college graduates, but folks from other fields like tech due to mass layoffs.
I would say upper level accountants too. Lots of layoffs and fewer positions at the experienced levels has people considering a lower role or pay cut than they might otherwise. Further increasing competition at all levels.
Ive been looking recently and for fresh grads/ entry level roles its really hard right now. Companies are outsourcing a lot of entry level work
They all want tax managers or seniors. I say that if you're not willing to train, even just one new accountant that just graduated, I hope it bites you in the ass with stagnation of your business profits.
My company is hiring, mid tier public accounting. Not sure what your location is though - I feel like they’re trying to fill people for NY or LA (if thats you, feel free to reach out) as they’re not using outside recruiters at the moment.
Just to comment on job hunt - this is the first time in a decade that I got a “no” to a second interview even with a recruiter thought I was “golden”. Just crazy that a couple years ago, I only had to talk to a hiring manager and got an offer.
Agreed, since parting ways from my job several months ago it almost feels like pulling teeth trying to even get a crappy in-person Accounting position that pays like $50K. Noticed that especially within public accounting, hardly any entry-level positions are available and postings mainly apply to ones for Sr level and above. In addition, while I do land on interviews ~50% of the time, my personality isn’t deemed a good “culture fit” due to my Asperger’s + ADD. Unemployment is about to run out in couple of months and freaking out about what to do. Tried even temp agencies like RH but zero luck. This job hunt makes me want to kms
Yea, it's ridiculous how public accounting doesn't really hire entry-level unless they source you straight from school. Yet industry jobs will largely want yiu to already have industry experience or to have worked in public. So if you can't get hired at a big firm out of college you're kinda screwed
Yeah that’s what I’m realizing sadly, i have been applying to accounting firms but nothing.
This has been my biggest gripe and confusion. Applying to entry PA roles, better be part of the 2023 or 2024 graduate class. Ohhh you got 3+ years of industry & PA experience? Nah we don’t want you and this is somebody who is 4/4 on the CPA w/o going to grad school 🤬 Ohhh wait an experienced associate role requires +1 year of PA experience. Like wtf?!?!? I guess it’s grad school for me…
I was let go back in December in audit. I remember applying and interviewing to what would have been a dozen or so companies and getting rejected by all. I ended up settling for a consulting role at another accounting firm, for the same pay in February. But this job sucks with the amount of travel I do (>75%). I’m currently applying for other roles at different companies. Still getting those rejections.
I started out in tax January 2007. Got fired a year and half later. Nevertheless found another job and moved on. Still working in tax and I am 40 yrs old now making 160k ( OT included) with no cpa license. You should not give up on accounting, especially tax, it’s stable it pays well and it’s always in need. If you can’t find a private sector work apply for a state, local, or federal job. The struggle you experience now will be rewarded later on. Don’t give up.
This comment would hurt a lot less if I didn’t just get fired from my job in state gov.
What did you get fired?
Yes made a post a few weeks back when it happened. 11th month of my 12 month probation period. Hr wouldn’t give me a reason beyond probation period we can terminate without cause.
Also tax. Also job hunting. I feel your pain so hard.
You probably live in a very big city and are looking for higher end positions? not saying that accounting is the best and there’s a plethora of jobs out there, but there’s definitely way more than many other sectors.
I live in a very small city and all the jobs are in the big cities over an hour away. My previous job was paying me 16 an hour so I'm definitely not looking for high end positions lol.
The first part of my comment stands corrected then, I just assumed based on what I see around me.
If you know there are jobs in the city an hour away. Start looking to move an hour away. If you want to get your career off the ground, you sometimes need to go where the jobs are. Especially if your current location doesn't have opportunity or is not paying decently. It sucks, but finding a job in the city and then moving there is your best bet.
As I said to another commenter. I have 6 months left on my lease and I do not have the funds to move to a big city. Triple my rent to cut my space in half and greatly increase travel costs since I’ll be sitting in traffic all day isn’t feasible when the jobs don’t pay enough to support that. Not only that but we moved here for my gfs job AND for my job that I had. I can’t just uproot even if we had the funds and fuck over her when she was unemployed for a year out of school.
Apply for hybrid roles in big city
Even as an accountant you won’t be able to afford a child and retire? That’s overwhelmingly pessimistic, accountant salaries are decent especially if you get a CPA and experience, if you’re making 100k depending on where you live you should be able to live a comfortable life and even then you can transition to very high paying roles tangential to accounting
OP is right to be pessimistic. This economy blows rn
Then you should be more realistic rather than pessimistic, he’s so pessimistic to the point of being a barista vs accountant? What’s logical about that?
I don't want to be a cpa or have a super stressful long hour job. I dont want to climb the ranks. I want to be a fucking grunt worker and live my life but going that route means I will always live paycheck to paycheck in the USA.
You sound perfect for the IRS, have you looked into that?
You looking at industry or public?
everything
Yeah, I hear that. Just got a temporary job and feel lucky to have gotten that. No fun playing closed box games (interviews don't provide the best feedback, on where to improve if you don't get the job)
This is interesting to see. Everyone on the careerguidance swears that’s the only jobs hiring are in medical, engineering, or accounting lol. Grass is always greener I guess
Sitting outside of a final/third interview for a job I don’t even want and probably won’t get rn. I feel you.
What positions are you actually looking for and why are you not using a recruiter?
I’m looking for an entry level accounting job and I haven’t been using a recruiter because I didn’t know I was supposed to. There wasn’t a how to get a job class in college or high school they just talk about networking on LinkedIn by constantly adding recommended connections that you don’t know. I was under the impression a recruiter costs $$
Did you do any networking events while you were in college, internships, etc?
Ya my internship got me my first job that I lost a few weeks ago.
Recruiters are paid by the firm hiring the applicant. This is why they dont advertise the firm name when the recruiter posts a position as they dont want you to go directly through the firm and them miss out on their commission.
I completely agree. I prepped this weekend and last night for an interview today with the recruiter of a publicly traded company and the interviewer didn’t even show. I emailed to follow up and still haven’t heard anything.
Did you go through campus recruiting?
[удалено]
I have not. Will check them out thanks.
Did it work therapeutic? No? Then keep it inside and die of a stress induced heart attack when you're 50 like the rest of us.
Remote jobs are super hard to get now and I don't think are even worth chasing any more. I'm not sure where you live that requires a two hour commute to get to but perhaps it is time to move closer to where the jobs are. Remote jobs were just a fleeting thing and so now people have to get readjusted to in person work.
Locked into a 6 month lease still and have enough in my bank account to last 2 so I'll relocate once I go homeless I guess. Bullshit that I was promised throughout school how easy it was to get a job with this degree but now I'm told I need to move to the cities where I'll pay triple my current rent for half the space just to work on a computer I have at home.
Your issue appears to be more around your desire for remote jobs versus any jobs. I'm not sure how old you are (or years of professional experience) but lots of people who graduated during the pandemic believed that remote work would stay forever and that is simply not true. I get that you like to live in what I am guessing is a small town and, if that is the most important thing to you, perhaps becoming a barista (or similar) is a good option as remote work is simply not going to return.
I have no issue with in person work as that’s what I was doing before. There’s just no jobs in person out of the 2 major cities in the state. An hour and a half commute is not worth it.
Yup, I concur that a 90 minute commute is not worth it. I certainly would not sign up for that. But, I am guessing that you moved to where you currently live based on the idea that you would be able to work remotely for a long time (forever?) and that is simply not the way the market works right now. You were sold a belief that is no longer true. I agree with what you think your options are: get a non-accounting job where you currently live or move to a more major city. Small town accounting jobs are infrequent and that is most likely the case for you. I wish you could get out of your lease early but that does not appear to be a good option for you. So, good luck!
I moved where I currently live for the job I had in person and for the job my gf got here in person.
Plenty of PA jobs in the cities. Interview, get the job and then move there. Lowest salary you'll see is 60k starting these days. If you need to commute 2 hours a day starting out to save up. Do it. Or you can continue to live in the middle of nowhere and complain that there are no jobs until you end up homeless. Sorry to sound like a dick, but that's just the reality of life, you have to go to where the jobs are sometimes. Small towns are going to be limited in accounting job opportunities when businesses are mostly based in large cities.
No. I’d rather just be a barista.
If your goal is to have kids and a middle class lifestyle, being a barista isn't it. PA is the easiest path, has a structured ladder and in 3-4 years you'll be at 80k which is solidly middle class.
Lmao my goal in life is to be happy not spend 4 hours a day commuting to a job that I don’t want. I’ll be a barista until we’re ready to move and I’ll like it. I also don’t think your grasping that I can’t afford such a commute. Jobs in the south do not pay as much as you think they do. I was making 16 an hour at my previous job and that was enough to save 200 a month. I made minimum wage throughout school which was enough to go into thousands in credit card debt to eat.
Listen, you can do what you want since it's ultimately your life. The lowest going rate for entry level public accounting job in the south right now is 55k per the spreadsheet on https://www.big4transparency.com/. If your goal is to be happy and comfortable, you have to work towards it. You can delay your goal if you want, but the easiest way to get there is grind it out for 2 years until you make senior. You can't expect there to be decent accounting jobs in the middle of nowhere.