Masters in Accounting - Advice needed

[qwertyaas]

I am in quite a dilemna at the moment and some advice would help quite a bit. A bit of a backstory first.

I worked in a Public CPA firm for close to a year before leaving (in hindsight I shound't have no matter what the reason). I was placed in a the non-profit sector which I did not want to be there, and my future plans didn't and still don't involve non-profit. The problem is, once you have non-profit experience, it is very tough to get out of it. So I decided to leave and see where I can go from here.

Now, I have a choice of going back to CPA firms (most probably forced into non-profit which again is something I am not so fond of) or get a Masters in Accounting and hopefully given more of an opportunity for getting into the Real-Estate or General Audit/Accounting.

Is there even much point in pursuing a Masters though, since for the most part it's all about the CPA.

Any advice is helpful - as you all can see, I got myself in quite a mess...

[Scottie@VeritasPrep]

If you plan to remain in an accounting role then I am not sure how a Master of Accounting degree will complement your CPA. However, I am not an expert in the field of accounting. But if you plan to go into a managerial role or broaden your career options within business then an MBA may be a better degree to pursue.

[AleksandrM]

I do not see why you would be forced to work in the non-profit if you go to another public accounting firm.

As for MSA, I don't see how it will really change anything. You will still have the same work experience, just more education and more debt.

[qwertyaas]

Regarding the Masters, that's what I was thinking too. I guess it was more to buy me some time until I get a new job (left in July but it feels like forever - I felt like I despised being in Public accounting, but being home feels much worse!).

The problem with Non-Profit, it is quite specialized compared to the rest of the accounting functions (different rule sets for both auditing and tax) that if I were to go into a "for"-profit group, my current experience won't be much help (I could probably pick up the work quicker than a new hire, but I will still need to learn it all).

Many people told me this within my previous group, and now I am hearing recruiters telling me the same thing. It's possible to get into a non-nonprofit sector, but it isn't easy. I guess I will see in the coming days/weeks how my job search is coming along (going through a major recruiting firm that interviews/screens for almost every public firm in NYC).

[AleksandrM]

I see. Well, it seems like you are doing the right thing with the recruiting firm. As for your reason to go to school, that is one of the first reasons NOT to go back to school. You want to attend a school when you see a flow in how you will then transition from school back to your career track. Also, while in school, you really want to know where you would like to be upon graduation. This way, you can narrow down your participation in clubs, groups, orgnizations, etc.

I actually agree with the post above, if you want to return to school, it would be of more value to get an MBA - perhaps with a concentration in accounting or finance - in order to get a wider variety of classes.

For now, just try to return to your intended career path and good luck!

[qwertyaas]

Thanks for the advice. I also think that going to school for that reason is not a good reason which is why I was so hesitant (if it were a Masters in Taxation, that would be a different case).

Going through the recruiter seems to be the best option to me as well, especially seeing how the public CPA firms really do hire non-stop (and this recruiter covers mostly all the CPA firms in the NYC area). Hopefully that will be the case for me as well. Let's just see if I can land a job in a sector other than non-profit!

Thanks again!