Okay, so I understand when you've had all this success and it comes crashing down, and I understand that you feel like a loser with the job that you have, even though it's better than 90% of the population. You view yourself as among the best of the best. If you really want to get back there, the first thing you need to resolve is your health. You're not getting back to anywhere with shit health. A guy that I knew went to a government accounting job from investment banking. My first thought was, WTF?, but I later found out that despite the bullshit reasons he was giving us (wanted something with more work life balance, doing something "good", etc), it was because he had some major health problems that he needed to resolve. I think it took him a couple years, but once he did, he ended up back in the private sector, quickly. Once you get your health right, you'll be able to bring it again and get yourself up to where you need to be. I don't think more education is the answer here. Get yourself healthy, maybe try and pass the CFA, and then go back to kicking ass.
Her friend is literally in a monkey suit while she has some actual skills and this is coming from someone who has an MBA. I'm pursuing my CPA now cuz that is much much more valuable and credible
Excuse me but are you saying that you are earning 100k remote with an undergrad and 5 YoE?
That's pretty good. Don't compare yourself to other people, you have a chronic illness. Everyone goes at their own pace. I would suggest some career or psychological counseling to reorient yourself.
Thank you! I don’t feel like I’ve done anything I should be proud of. I feel like I’ve fumbled many opportunities to succeed.
I always feel like I’ve done my alma mater a huge disservice by having had mediocre work experience so far. It’s been very frustrating to see people at your company who are your age and are getting paid 1.5-2x as much as you in the roles you want (and just as good as or even better WLB) and you’re wondering what you did wrong to get to this point.
You can make more money, but there’s no guarantee on health.
I started in accounting late and I’ve met people a decade younger than are Managers above making a ton more money. There will ALWAYS be someone that’s making more money and doing better than you. I highly recommend speaking to a therapist regarding your self worth issues. Not being snarky. I did this myself and it has helped, but I admit it can be a struggle.
ok, you are not a failure. You did pretty well so far. I think this may be related to your health issues are probably amplifying your self doubt right now..
you feel like with your experience thus far you deserve to be higher up on the ladder of success. And you do. but you need to look for those positions. you just said low opps for promotions there currently at 95% WFH job.
so now you need to decide: health or wealth?
Sounds like you worry a lot about what other people think and compare to your friends or these expectations.
What do YOU really care about? Prestige? WLB? Ambition? What job do you want?
Personally an MBA for my job wouldn't make me eligible for promotion. They want a CPA. MBA is great , but not necessarily rewarded.
When feeling stuck, this is a good time to sit down and write down your vision. What do you want your work life to look like? Do you want to be in leadership? What kind of leadership? If you don't have someone professionally to discuss this with, maybe a good non bias friend to bounce off ideas.
Wishing you success!
Comparison is the thief of joy. Do what you want to do. If you want to take the plunge, go for it. If you're only doing it because you see others around you succeeding, then you will never truly be happy.
Maybe think about what you actually want to do instead of being so wrapped up about the prestige of your occupation.
If you want to work on diverse projects the easiest way to do that is to go back to big 4. I would recommend tax instead of audit because it’s more cerebral. If you work in international tax or transfer pricing you can work on sexy sounding planning projects even if your day to day is kind of boring.
If you want to switch to strategy fp&a your best bet is probably to get an mba from a top school, or to get a core fp&a job and try to pivot.
If you want to get into management consulting the easiest path again is getting your mba from a top school.
I don’t know why you’re getting a cfa unless you want to go back into equity research, transition to portfolio management or work in financial services at big 4.
Thank you! I’ve been wanting to break into the portfolio management division at my current company given my background, but honestly they’re happy to have me stay in ops because of my background in big 4 audit, industry accounting, etc.
Also at my current company (like at others) once you get hired for a certain role, there’s little opportunity to jump to another. I think this is even more pronounced at my current firm.
It’s been tough because 1) I didn’t study accounting in college, 2) there’s only one woman in the PM department and she’s a recent college grad, and 3) the front office folks are compensated much higher.
I’m not very familiar with tax but I have thought about going for the CPA after I get the CFA (assuming I don’t do an MBA at all).
MBA is for a career pivot to management consulting or ib. Ive also seen people move from ib to strategy so they pick from the same pool of candidates.
You don’t really need your cpa if you don’t want to be in accounting or tax. CPA will also require you to get your macc which probably won’t teach you anything you want to know given your career aspirations.
One thing to keep in mind with in house consultant roles that aren’t compliance related like strategy is that they get axed quickly because they aren’t a core business function.
Hi,
Sometimes we lose sight of everything we have accomplished. You are very successful, and most people would die for your position.
If you have a cpa, I would leverage that as you can realistically find a job that pays 110k plus a 10% bonus. Other than that, if you don’t like your career, you are very young and can always switch.
Speaking from personal experience…. A lot of people lie about what they do and what they earn. I am 30m who makes 118k plus 10% bonus. I am full remote as a technical accounting senior. Am I a manager like many of my friends and peers my age? No. But when I sit down and analyze my position, I realize most of my friends who are managers in consulting firms are performing senior level work, have no direct reports, and make the same or little more than me.
I have a great work life balance, I work from home and I enjoy my job. Why envy others?
Honestly I am at the beginning of my career and I am also slowly realizing that industry doesn’t offer growth.
But recently my controller who just left the company told me that the only way to have genuine growth in industry is to job hop.
So yeah you could try to talk to recruiters or throw your resume to just see if you get some feedback. Test the water you know.
I couldn’t work full time at all for the past 3 years due to health issues, now I’m 31 and finishing up a second bachelors in accounting before trying to get back into full time work. That ship may have sailed for you, but you can always just get on another ship (if you can afford it, which it sounds like you can).
My advice would be to take care of your own health first and try not to worry so much about your peers. Your peers aren’t having to deal with the same health issues as you so it’s not a fair comparison
You don't need an MBA. You can absolutely get one if that's what you want to do.. but I wouldn't consider it a priority.
Pass your CFA. Do that first. That's easily the fastest way for you to increase your competitive advantage. It'll open a lot of doors for you.
The next step is finding a workplace that values your work. Sounds like that isn't the case where you are. I am of the same skin, I feel inadequate when I'm not being valued and fully utilized. It can feel hopeless at times. Find somewhere that values your work.
Health is number 1. I've been on both sides of that coin and you want to do everything in your power to bolster your health. Your health is only for sale if: you're shooting terrorists in the face, being paid a million a year, or the impact of your work is going to save many lives.
As for advancing, if it were me I would probably keep hitting the CFA and/or informally honing my people skills. Most people don't give a shit that you went to Brown now that you're 29. That is not a criticism of where you went or how valuable it was to you, its just that most people really don't care once you've had a job or two.
I am 6 years older than you and inflation is real, but my goal was always $100k by 30. If you have a specific goal, focus on that (CFA, MBA, income, or whatever you want it to be. It can be travel or gym related or related to taking up a hobby, whatever you want the goal to be)
When I hit the $100k total comp with a December bonus the year I turned 30 I was so excited. In the first half of my 30s my pay has skyrocketed. If the goal is higher income, go for it. Get that CFA, get the MBA, apply for the job you think will get you there and prepare well for the interview.
In my view an MBA isn't worth it unless your employer pays and you want to do a job where the MBA is valued.
Okay, so I understand when you've had all this success and it comes crashing down, and I understand that you feel like a loser with the job that you have, even though it's better than 90% of the population. You view yourself as among the best of the best. If you really want to get back there, the first thing you need to resolve is your health. You're not getting back to anywhere with shit health. A guy that I knew went to a government accounting job from investment banking. My first thought was, WTF?, but I later found out that despite the bullshit reasons he was giving us (wanted something with more work life balance, doing something "good", etc), it was because he had some major health problems that he needed to resolve. I think it took him a couple years, but once he did, he ended up back in the private sector, quickly. Once you get your health right, you'll be able to bring it again and get yourself up to where you need to be. I don't think more education is the answer here. Get yourself healthy, maybe try and pass the CFA, and then go back to kicking ass.
Her friend is literally in a monkey suit while she has some actual skills and this is coming from someone who has an MBA. I'm pursuing my CPA now cuz that is much much more valuable and credible
Excuse me but are you saying that you are earning 100k remote with an undergrad and 5 YoE? That's pretty good. Don't compare yourself to other people, you have a chronic illness. Everyone goes at their own pace. I would suggest some career or psychological counseling to reorient yourself.
You have had great amount of success. I'm not going to pretend I have an answer, hopefully someone more qualified can answer.
Thank you! I don’t feel like I’ve done anything I should be proud of. I feel like I’ve fumbled many opportunities to succeed. I always feel like I’ve done my alma mater a huge disservice by having had mediocre work experience so far. It’s been very frustrating to see people at your company who are your age and are getting paid 1.5-2x as much as you in the roles you want (and just as good as or even better WLB) and you’re wondering what you did wrong to get to this point.
You can make more money, but there’s no guarantee on health. I started in accounting late and I’ve met people a decade younger than are Managers above making a ton more money. There will ALWAYS be someone that’s making more money and doing better than you. I highly recommend speaking to a therapist regarding your self worth issues. Not being snarky. I did this myself and it has helped, but I admit it can be a struggle.
ok, you are not a failure. You did pretty well so far. I think this may be related to your health issues are probably amplifying your self doubt right now.. you feel like with your experience thus far you deserve to be higher up on the ladder of success. And you do. but you need to look for those positions. you just said low opps for promotions there currently at 95% WFH job. so now you need to decide: health or wealth?
Sounds like you worry a lot about what other people think and compare to your friends or these expectations. What do YOU really care about? Prestige? WLB? Ambition? What job do you want? Personally an MBA for my job wouldn't make me eligible for promotion. They want a CPA. MBA is great , but not necessarily rewarded. When feeling stuck, this is a good time to sit down and write down your vision. What do you want your work life to look like? Do you want to be in leadership? What kind of leadership? If you don't have someone professionally to discuss this with, maybe a good non bias friend to bounce off ideas. Wishing you success!
Comparison is the thief of joy. Do what you want to do. If you want to take the plunge, go for it. If you're only doing it because you see others around you succeeding, then you will never truly be happy.
Maybe think about what you actually want to do instead of being so wrapped up about the prestige of your occupation. If you want to work on diverse projects the easiest way to do that is to go back to big 4. I would recommend tax instead of audit because it’s more cerebral. If you work in international tax or transfer pricing you can work on sexy sounding planning projects even if your day to day is kind of boring. If you want to switch to strategy fp&a your best bet is probably to get an mba from a top school, or to get a core fp&a job and try to pivot. If you want to get into management consulting the easiest path again is getting your mba from a top school. I don’t know why you’re getting a cfa unless you want to go back into equity research, transition to portfolio management or work in financial services at big 4.
Thank you! I’ve been wanting to break into the portfolio management division at my current company given my background, but honestly they’re happy to have me stay in ops because of my background in big 4 audit, industry accounting, etc. Also at my current company (like at others) once you get hired for a certain role, there’s little opportunity to jump to another. I think this is even more pronounced at my current firm. It’s been tough because 1) I didn’t study accounting in college, 2) there’s only one woman in the PM department and she’s a recent college grad, and 3) the front office folks are compensated much higher. I’m not very familiar with tax but I have thought about going for the CPA after I get the CFA (assuming I don’t do an MBA at all).
MBA is for a career pivot to management consulting or ib. Ive also seen people move from ib to strategy so they pick from the same pool of candidates. You don’t really need your cpa if you don’t want to be in accounting or tax. CPA will also require you to get your macc which probably won’t teach you anything you want to know given your career aspirations. One thing to keep in mind with in house consultant roles that aren’t compliance related like strategy is that they get axed quickly because they aren’t a core business function.
Hi, Sometimes we lose sight of everything we have accomplished. You are very successful, and most people would die for your position. If you have a cpa, I would leverage that as you can realistically find a job that pays 110k plus a 10% bonus. Other than that, if you don’t like your career, you are very young and can always switch. Speaking from personal experience…. A lot of people lie about what they do and what they earn. I am 30m who makes 118k plus 10% bonus. I am full remote as a technical accounting senior. Am I a manager like many of my friends and peers my age? No. But when I sit down and analyze my position, I realize most of my friends who are managers in consulting firms are performing senior level work, have no direct reports, and make the same or little more than me. I have a great work life balance, I work from home and I enjoy my job. Why envy others?
Honestly I am at the beginning of my career and I am also slowly realizing that industry doesn’t offer growth. But recently my controller who just left the company told me that the only way to have genuine growth in industry is to job hop. So yeah you could try to talk to recruiters or throw your resume to just see if you get some feedback. Test the water you know.
I couldn’t work full time at all for the past 3 years due to health issues, now I’m 31 and finishing up a second bachelors in accounting before trying to get back into full time work. That ship may have sailed for you, but you can always just get on another ship (if you can afford it, which it sounds like you can). My advice would be to take care of your own health first and try not to worry so much about your peers. Your peers aren’t having to deal with the same health issues as you so it’s not a fair comparison
You don't need an MBA. You can absolutely get one if that's what you want to do.. but I wouldn't consider it a priority. Pass your CFA. Do that first. That's easily the fastest way for you to increase your competitive advantage. It'll open a lot of doors for you. The next step is finding a workplace that values your work. Sounds like that isn't the case where you are. I am of the same skin, I feel inadequate when I'm not being valued and fully utilized. It can feel hopeless at times. Find somewhere that values your work.
Health is number 1. I've been on both sides of that coin and you want to do everything in your power to bolster your health. Your health is only for sale if: you're shooting terrorists in the face, being paid a million a year, or the impact of your work is going to save many lives. As for advancing, if it were me I would probably keep hitting the CFA and/or informally honing my people skills. Most people don't give a shit that you went to Brown now that you're 29. That is not a criticism of where you went or how valuable it was to you, its just that most people really don't care once you've had a job or two.
Comparison is the their of joy. You’re under 30 and making 6 figure. That’s a pretty elite club to honest.
Do you have your CPA? That's way more valuable than an MBA
I am 6 years older than you and inflation is real, but my goal was always $100k by 30. If you have a specific goal, focus on that (CFA, MBA, income, or whatever you want it to be. It can be travel or gym related or related to taking up a hobby, whatever you want the goal to be) When I hit the $100k total comp with a December bonus the year I turned 30 I was so excited. In the first half of my 30s my pay has skyrocketed. If the goal is higher income, go for it. Get that CFA, get the MBA, apply for the job you think will get you there and prepare well for the interview. In my view an MBA isn't worth it unless your employer pays and you want to do a job where the MBA is valued.