Career Advice (dont want to be an accountant anymore)

[svndezafrohman]

Hello, I am seeking help regarding a possible career change. A little background about me, I am an accountant and have been doing it for the past 10 years. I am 32 years old and have my CPA license. Currently I am doing corporate accounting and making roughly $100K with bonus. I need some advice as I want to transition out of accounting and do something else. I have a build up FU stash of roughly ~$500K. I am looking for something where I can make a pretty quick transition into. I am willing to go back to school ~1-2 years if its something that sounds interesting.

The reason I want to leave accounting is first and foremost, I HATE sitting behind a cubicle all day looking at my stupid computer working on little spreadsheets. Even though I am an introvert, this day in and day out same old routine is wearing me down. I absolutely hate sitting behind a cubicle 8 hour/day. I hate looking at damn spreadsheets 8 hours/day. I feel like I have built a big enough stash to try something new in my life.

I just need some feedback as I have no idea what type of career I can transition into. Like I have no clue what I want to do with my life. Hell, the only reason I chose accounting was because...I have no idea why I chose accounting. Shit, I feel like I wasted the last decade of my life doing something I don't like so I feel like its now or never to make a change.

What I want:
1. No cubicle / No looking at computer / no spreadsheet 8 hrs/day: I am okay with doing it for couple hours,but absolutely not for 8 hours. So i have ruled out coding, etc.

2. Work Life Balance: I don't want to transition into a job that requires huge amounts of time. I feel I have enough of a stash to kind of cruise into RE, so i am not motivated to work hard and do a 50+hr/week job. I am looking for something in the range of 25-40 hrs/week.

3. Working with my hand: I want a job that I can do something with my hands, which I feel will be more rewarding than pressing out spreadsheets. I was looking at taking a wood-working class, like being a carpenter or making stuff which sounds pretty interesting.

Are there any jobs out there that fit my criteria? Any help is much appreciated.

[mozar]

You're me 5 years ago except with a lot more money. I quit accounting with a stash of 180k. The most important thing I want to say is that you're not going to figure out what to do with your life in a year or 2.

There are a few types of carpentry: commercial, remodeling, building houses, cabinet making etc. They all have their pros and cons.

Other stuff that is more hands on: nursing, surveying, sculpter, photographer, musician, welder, farmer...
Something that helped me was going on craigslist and reading job descriptions of these kinds of things.

If I were you I would bum around the world for a few years, living off 4% of the stash. Some countries offer working holiday visas up to 35 years old.

[svndezafrohman]

What did u end up changing to after quitting accounting. How did u know what to transition into? I have thought about working around the world, slow travel, etc but now may not be good time with coronavirus??!

[mozar]

The whole coronavirus is going to be over in a few months. You want a few months to make plans right? There will likely be some travel deals in the summer.
I have tried teaching music and being an apprentice to a general contractor for home remodeling. Now I'm considering civil engineering.

You can still quit now though. You spelled the word hate with all capital letters. Sounds like it's time to go.

I didn't know what to transition to. I have tried a variety of things. I think if you truly don't know what to do you should put yourself out there and try a lot of things.

[Joel]

Have you ever worked with your hands before?

As a former wildland firefighter that became a CPA, it’s all about perspective. I’m quite happy to be paid for my brain and not for my body.

I’m around the same experience level, and personally my goal is to move away from the accounting side of the business and more towards business intelligence. Doing the same month end close over and over can get old... that is something I can certainly relate to.

[marty998]

Not all accountants look at spreadsheets all day.

Ok most do, but you're at the point now where you could be looking a leadership roles? Business partnering? Accounting policy advice? Risk and compliance? Corporate Governance? Have you considered a change of industry?

Many accountants find themselves working within the business. I know a few that have gone into product development and sales.

Have you spoken to your HR team or executives about opportunities within your business?

It doesn't have to be as big a change as you are looking for.

[kei te pai]

What do you do for fun? Do you like sport/outdoor activities? Music?Art? Give yourself a year and a budget, and start exploring what gives you meaning and purpose.
I think it is useful to consider the different aspects of life as a pie chart. We all need some balance of the intellectual, physical, social and emotional in our lives. Work can meet some of these, some of the time. Relationships likewise. It sounds like you are in a good financial situation to start exploring what you are moving towards, rather than away from.

[BikeFanatic]

My spouce is a CPA, and really hated it too. She networked though and found a job as an underwriter,  loved that for a while. I would consider going part time rivht now and give yourself time to learn a new skill or explore your options.  You have enough to avoid further burn out, part time job keeps your foot in the door.

[Metalcat]

Have you ever worked with your hands before?

As a former wildland firefighter that became a CPA, it’s all about perspective. I’m quite happy to be paid for my brain and not for my body.

I’m around the same experience level, and personally my goal is to move away from the accounting side of the business and more towards business intelligence. Doing the same month end close over and over can get old... that is something I can certainly relate to.

Good question.

As someone who works with their hands, it can be incredibly tedious, and there have been many days where I long to be paid for what's in my head and not what comes out of my hands.

There tends to be a lot of grass-is-greener thinking about working with your hands, but it isn't fundamentally more interesting. It can be just as much of a tedious slog as spreadsheets, sometimes even worse.

Also, most manual work professions put you under very very intense time pressure. When you are working with your hands, time is money, and everyone tends to get squeezed on their time as much as humanly possible.

I do some coaching in my industry called "how to stop wasting seconds."

Start thinking outside the box, first start looking at career options that can utilize your transferable skills so that you aren't starting from scratch.

I don't know much about accounting, but I would imagine that there are tons of options for you. Consulting if you are independent and business minded. Financial advising if you are sales oriented, etc ,etc. Those may be shitty examples because again, I don't know accounting at all, but you get the idea.

The world is filled with opportunities to do interesting work. Just start looking for them.

[BlueHouse]

Sounds as if you desperately need a mini-retirement. 
I did that when I was very burnt out and spent 8 months travelling, then when I returned, I went to work in a wine store.  I loved it because it was the first job I'd ever had that wasn't behind a desk.  I got educated on wines, took wine classes, gave wine tastings, etc.  I also had to carry cases of wine and restock shelves.  It was fun for about 3 months, and then I realized working with my brain instead of my body gave me a lot more options. 

So take some time off, do some traveling, get a low pay job as an apprentice carpenter (or whatever) and enjoy life for a bit.  Then decide if you like it and where you want to go from there.  Your stash affords you the luxury to not have to figure everything out ahead of time. 

Enjoy and congratulations with your success this far.

[svndezafrohman]

What do you do for fun? Do you like sport/outdoor activities? Music?Art? Give yourself a year and a budget, and start exploring what gives you meaning and purpose.
I think it is useful to consider the different aspects of life as a pie chart. We all need some balance of the intellectual, physical, social and emotional in our lives. Work can meet some of these, some of the time. Relationships likewise. It sounds like you are in a good financial situation to start exploring what you are moving towards, rather than away from.

I love sports. Basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, I love anything I can get out and enjoy the sun and get some exercise. But not sure how i can monitize that. I was thinking of sucking it up for another year or two, and when I FIRE I can teach kids swimming or something. I used to be on the swim/waterpolo team in high school, so getting back in the pool sounds like fun.

[svndezafrohman]

Have you ever worked with your hands before?

As a former wildland firefighter that became a CPA, it’s all about perspective. I’m quite happy to be paid for my brain and not for my body.

I’m around the same experience level, and personally my goal is to move away from the accounting side of the business and more towards business intelligence. Doing the same month end close over and over can get old... that is something I can certainly relate to.

Sounds like all jobs have their downside. Maybe I am looking at it from the wrong perspective. Even though I would like to work with my hands, I wouldn't want something that is physically demanding for long hours of the day. I was thinking more like working on a project basis, so i can decline the projects I am not interested in.
How did you even make that transition?? firefighting to CPA seems like opposite ends of the spectrum

[Joel]

Have you ever worked with your hands before?

As a former wildland firefighter that became a CPA, it’s all about perspective. I’m quite happy to be paid for my brain and not for my body.

I’m around the same experience level, and personally my goal is to move away from the accounting side of the business and more towards business intelligence. Doing the same month end close over and over can get old... that is something I can certainly relate to.

Sounds like all jobs have their downside. Maybe I am looking at it from the wrong perspective. Even though I would like to work with my hands, I wouldn't want something that is physically demanding for long hours of the day. I was thinking more like working on a project basis, so i can decline the projects I am not interested in.
How did you even make that transition?? firefighting to CPA seems like opposite ends of the spectrum

I stumbled into the wildland firefighting job right out of high school (previously, I had worked on dairy literally shoveling cow shit all day long). It started as just a summer job that I could do when school was out of session, and by the second year I was working the whole fire season (April through Oct/Nov), adjusting my schedule to work the 5 days that I wasn't in school (I had class Tuesdays and Thursdays). I saw how many of my bosses in their early 30s had their body breaking down already. Physically, I was in the best shape of my life, but you literally worked for the overtime, which would mean 16 hour days for 2 weeks straight before getting 2 days off. Rinse and repeat most of the fire season depending on the crew you were on. Overtime hours typically ranged from 200-300 per year on an engine or 500-1,000 per year on a hand crew. I was doing this during the recession and all of my bosses were convinced that college wouldn't result in my getting a job and that I would be one of the few educated folks they got to keep. I was doing great with school and that experience provides great perspective now whenever I hear anyone else in the office whining about really much of anything. After working a few 30-40 hour shifts where you don't remember hiking out, it all becomes relative :)

Having said that, I'm not sure how you feel about the medical professional (nursing or paramedic) but those are both well paid careers that require your brain but don't have you staring at a screen all the time. Personally, I couldn't handle anything medical related and that was also a big driver for me to move along.

[familyFIguy]

Hey! I'm 31 and I used to be a CPA (external audit) and HATED IT too!

I wound up stumbling into a job at a bank as a Sr. Credit Risk Analyst. I had a friend that knew I didn't like my job at the firm, and I worked for 3 years at the bank which was a welcome reprieve, but ultimately still sucked.

Eventually, I was so fed up with the bank that I was in the same spot as working at the accounting firm. I was looking actively for any other jobs and found an ad promoting Data Science which sounded interesting.

I went to a Data Science bootcamp for 3 months, spend 3 months looking for a job and now work as a Data Scientist and love it! I thought I was burned out on computer, number-related work, but seriously, the life of a public accountant in front of a computer is so much shittier than many other computer-focused jobs.

My income went from $50k as an accountant (7 years ago) to ~$200k now. I also work remotely a ton, travel with my family a lot, and have an overall way more enjoyable lifestyle.

I would recommend checking out Data Science and Coding bootcamps. The cost is ~$10k, and it will pull you out of work for about 6 months. Additionally, I went and saw a career coach once which was really encouraging. DM me is you want some more info.

As an aside: I want to say that I've totally been there. I remember after my son was born, working from 6:30am to 10:00pm as a CPA and wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this. It was extremely unfulfilling and soul-sucking and I really sunk down deep into depression during that time. Recovering from that time in my life is still an ongoing process.
Know that there are ways out -- you won't be a CPA forever (or much longer) if you don't want to be. It's extremely nerve-wracking to up and quit and jump into something new, but it's 100% possible.

Good luck!

[Here4theGB]

I used to work in Tech and got tired of sitting in front of a computer all day.  Went back to college and got an engineering degree and started a new career in Manufacturing.  Turns out, I now sit behind a computer all day doing different computer stuff.  I do get out to the floor on occasion when there are problems, but by and large, I'm in front of a computer in a cubicle all day.  I cannot figure out how to unchain myself from this damn computer.  If you figure it out, do follow up here lol.

I've done manual labor, aka working with your hands, but I don't hate sitting behind a computer THAT much.  A slightly shorter work day or working four 10's would solve my problem, but my way old school company isn't going that route anytime soon.

Best I get back to staring into the abyss some more.  Email email email makes me a productive robot.

[svndezafrohman]

I used to work in Tech and got tired of sitting in front of a computer all day.  Went back to college and got an engineering degree and started a new career in Manufacturing.  Turns out, I now sit behind a computer all day doing different computer stuff.  I do get out to the floor on occasion when there are problems, but by and large, I'm in front of a computer in a cubicle all day.  I cannot figure out how to unchain myself from this damn computer.  If you figure it out, do follow up here lol.

I've done manual labor, aka working with your hands, but I don't hate sitting behind a computer THAT much.  A slightly shorter work day or working four 10's would solve my problem, but my way old school company isn't going that route anytime soon.

Best I get back to staring into the abyss some more.  Email email email makes me a productive robot.

The thing about sitting behind a computer all day is I can finish my work in about 4 hours/day. So usually its 4 hours of me doing nothing, just trying to act busy. I have some tricks where I copy MMM into my email so i can look like I am reading an email but in reality I am doing different articles on the forum. I sometimes have days where I have to bullshit working for whole 8 hours. I have no motivation to ask for more work as accounting is too boring for me to be interested. I have tried several different industries in accounting, private, public, worked for a university, now working for fortune 10 company in corporate accounting. All are the same, month end, year end, budgets, etc...  Same old thing month in and month out is really draining me.

[svndezafrohman]

Hey! I'm 31 and I used to be a CPA (external audit) and HATED IT too!


I wound up stumbling into a job at a bank as a Sr. Credit Risk Analyst. I had a friend that knew I didn't like my job at the firm, and I worked for 3 years at the bank which was a welcome reprieve, but ultimately still sucked.

Eventually, I was so fed up with the bank that I was in the same spot as working at the accounting firm. I was looking actively for any other jobs and found an ad promoting Data Science which sounded interesting.

I went to a Data Science bootcamp for 3 months, spend 3 months looking for a job and now work as a Data Scientist and love it! I thought I was burned out on computer, number-related work, but seriously, the life of a public accountant in front of a computer is so much shittier than many other computer-focused jobs.

My income went from $50k as an accountant (7 years ago) to ~$200k now. I also work remotely a ton, travel with my family a lot, and have an overall way more enjoyable lifestyle.

I would recommend checking out Data Science and Coding bootcamps. The cost is ~$10k, and it will pull you out of work for about 6 months. Additionally, I went and saw a career coach once which was really encouraging. DM me is you want some more info.

As an aside: I want to say that I've totally been there. I remember after my son was born, working from 6:30am to 10:00pm as a CPA and wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this. It was extremely unfulfilling and soul-sucking and I really sunk down deep into depression during that time. Recovering from that time in my life is still an ongoing process.
Know that there are ways out -- you won't be a CPA forever (or much longer) if you don't want to be. It's extremely nerve-wracking to up and quit and jump into something new, but it's 100% possible.

Good luck!

Definately will reach out. Sounds very interesting. I have no programming experience and dont know what data scentists do. But i am willing to spend 10k and go to bootcamp if the work is interesting. Thanks for all the help

[LonerMatt]

Have you thought about becoming a PE teacher?

Teaching isn't for everyone, and has its downsides like any career. However, it does offer you:

- Minimal computer time (especially as a PE teacher)
- Great work-life balance
- Good conditions (holidays and breaks)
- Very 'immediate' work. You're there, the day starts and it's go time, and the day rarely ever drags on forever
- Good to great community
- Opportunities to run sports clubs, etc, etc
- Even if you don't do PE you are always on your feet, interacting, never a dull moment at all

Might be a career worth considering.

[svndezafrohman]

Have you thought about becoming a PE teacher?

Teaching isn't for everyone, and has its downsides like any career. However, it does offer you:

- Minimal computer time (especially as a PE teacher)
- Great work-life balance
- Good conditions (holidays and breaks)
- Very 'immediate' work. You're there, the day starts and it's go time, and the day rarely ever drags on forever
- Good to great community
- Opportunities to run sports clubs, etc, etc
- Even if you don't do PE you are always on your feet, interacting, never a dull moment at all

Might be a career worth considering.

Will also consider this. I like working with kids too so this might be a good option. Thanks for all the help so far!

[FuzzyRunner]

Hey! I'm 31 and I used to be a CPA (external audit) and HATED IT too!

I wound up stumbling into a job at a bank as a Sr. Credit Risk Analyst. I had a friend that knew I didn't like my job at the firm, and I worked for 3 years at the bank which was a welcome reprieve, but ultimately still sucked.

Eventually, I was so fed up with the bank that I was in the same spot as working at the accounting firm. I was looking actively for any other jobs and found an ad promoting Data Science which sounded interesting.

I went to a Data Science bootcamp for 3 months, spend 3 months looking for a job and now work as a Data Scientist and love it! I thought I was burned out on computer, number-related work, but seriously, the life of a public accountant in front of a computer is so much shittier than many other computer-focused jobs.

My income went from $50k as an accountant (7 years ago) to ~$200k now. I also work remotely a ton, travel with my family a lot, and have an overall way more enjoyable lifestyle.

I would recommend checking out Data Science and Coding bootcamps. The cost is ~$10k, and it will pull you out of work for about 6 months. Additionally, I went and saw a career coach once which was really encouraging. DM me is you want some more info.

As an aside: I want to say that I've totally been there. I remember after my son was born, working from 6:30am to 10:00pm as a CPA and wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this. It was extremely unfulfilling and soul-sucking and I really sunk down deep into depression during that time. Recovering from that time in my life is still an ongoing process.
Know that there are ways out -- you won't be a CPA forever (or much longer) if you don't want to be. It's extremely nerve-wracking to up and quit and jump into something new, but it's 100% possible.

Good luck!

Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions about your work and pathway to your current job.

How did you feel the bootcamp helped you with getting the job and also preparing you for the actual work you do now?  I always hear mixed reviews about bootcamps.  How long ago did you make this switch?  Do you think your previous work at the bank was beneficial to you getting your data science job?  I currently own my own business but it has nothing to do with anything close to data science or programming, so besides all the stuff that goes along with owning your own business, I don't really have anything to put on a resume relating my current job to the data science or programming field.

[Fish Sweet]

Take a few months to a year off, travel, learn, make things with your hands-- see how you see after that.  You have plenty stashed away, and enough to buy you some time to learn some more about yourself and the opportunities available to you. See if you really do like making things with your hands enough to make a job out of it-- see how much physical exertion feels right to you.  Or maybe you'll find out that with a break, a change of scenery, pace, roles, you're still okay with the computer + cubicle setup. 

Wanting to use your hands and make things-- to create rather than passively consume, to see the fruits of your work in a tangle way rather than as lines on a computer-- is wonderful.  It's an urge that I (and I think a lot of DIY inclined MMM folks) share.  But wanting to make money from what you make is a different ballpark altogether and requires different skills and interests. Say you do have half a mind to take up carpentry, you learn the trade, get the skills, and make some beautiful pieces.  That's the making part of it, and it's a joy.  But now, you want to make money off of it.

You'd still have to figure out -- who will you sell your work to?  Who will buy? How do you market your work, and on what platforms? What distinguishes your work from whatever's currently mass produced on sale for $10.99 on Amazon?  What are the cost of materials? Tools? Where can you research a whole bunch of suppliers in able to price out the best price for the highest quality materials? How do you value your time in order to make a profit?  Are you selling locally?  Domestically? Internationally?  How will shipping handmade products work?  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Just something to consider before you go into a crafting/creating career oriented direction.  You can still get the satisfaction of making, creating, and crafting outside of your job-- it doesn't have to be (and often is difficult to) monetized.

[familyFIguy]

Hey! I'm 31 and I used to be a CPA (external audit) and HATED IT too!

I wound up stumbling into a job at a bank as a Sr. Credit Risk Analyst. I had a friend that knew I didn't like my job at the firm, and I worked for 3 years at the bank which was a welcome reprieve, but ultimately still sucked.

Eventually, I was so fed up with the bank that I was in the same spot as working at the accounting firm. I was looking actively for any other jobs and found an ad promoting Data Science which sounded interesting.

I went to a Data Science bootcamp for 3 months, spend 3 months looking for a job and now work as a Data Scientist and love it! I thought I was burned out on computer, number-related work, but seriously, the life of a public accountant in front of a computer is so much shittier than many other computer-focused jobs.

My income went from $50k as an accountant (7 years ago) to ~$200k now. I also work remotely a ton, travel with my family a lot, and have an overall way more enjoyable lifestyle.

I would recommend checking out Data Science and Coding bootcamps. The cost is ~$10k, and it will pull you out of work for about 6 months. Additionally, I went and saw a career coach once which was really encouraging. DM me is you want some more info.

As an aside: I want to say that I've totally been there. I remember after my son was born, working from 6:30am to 10:00pm as a CPA and wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this. It was extremely unfulfilling and soul-sucking and I really sunk down deep into depression during that time. Recovering from that time in my life is still an ongoing process.
Know that there are ways out -- you won't be a CPA forever (or much longer) if you don't want to be. It's extremely nerve-wracking to up and quit and jump into something new, but it's 100% possible.

Good luck!

Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions about your work and pathway to your current job.

How did you feel the bootcamp helped you with getting the job and also preparing you for the actual work you do now?  I always hear mixed reviews about bootcamps.  How long ago did you make this switch?  Do you think your previous work at the bank was beneficial to you getting your data science job?  I currently own my own business but it has nothing to do with anything close to data science or programming, so besides all the stuff that goes along with owning your own business, I don't really have anything to put on a resume relating my current job to the data science or programming field.

Not at all.

Without the bootcamp, I 100% would not have been able to get my current position. I was moving into an entirely new career field. Truthfully, during my day-to-day work, I'm often not doing extremely technical Data Science work so much of it doesn't apply everyday, but that really varies position to position. Some of my former classmates are doing very technical, Data Science and Machine Learning work every day.

About 90% of my class was able to find work in the field after the program ended. Some people had jobs in weeks, some took months. For me, I was on the job hunt for about 3 months (>100 applications, 4 interviews, etc. etc.) before I received an offer.

I have heard mixed bootcamp reviews also, but nearly everyone that I know that went through one is now making close to if not much more than $100k in their fields. Sometimes it takes a while to get there, but in the tech industry money flows like water (it's a bit insane).

My previous work definitely helped. A lot of people that i went to school with had previous work in math, analytical, physics, etc. fields. The people that had the hardest time finding work afterwards were the ones with no previous work experience.

[KathrinS]

Have you thought about becoming a PE teacher?

Teaching isn't for everyone, and has its downsides like any career. However, it does offer you:

- Minimal computer time (especially as a PE teacher)
- Great work-life balance
- Good conditions (holidays and breaks)
- Very 'immediate' work. You're there, the day starts and it's go time, and the day rarely ever drags on forever
- Good to great community
- Opportunities to run sports clubs, etc, etc
- Even if you don't do PE you are always on your feet, interacting, never a dull moment at all

Might be a career worth considering.

+1 to this.
I am a self employed Pilates and German teacher. If you're looking for something (potentially) well paid but very flexible, then freelance teaching might be for you. I can choose which hours and days I work and since I teach two different things, I can find clients at all hours of the day. My days are extremely varied and I teach people aged 9-87 from all kinds of backgrounds.
Currently I work a lot because I'm just starting out and want to build up passive income, but in the future I'll hopefully be able to drop some of the evening and maybe even weekend classes. A full-time job in teaching is between 20-30 contact hours per week (as you also have to prepare for lessons, etc.), but in my case, I could survive with just 15 hours.

You could think about what you could teach: swimming, other sports, maybe even maths, a language or science? 

[FuzzyRunner]

Hey! I'm 31 and I used to be a CPA (external audit) and HATED IT too!

I wound up stumbling into a job at a bank as a Sr. Credit Risk Analyst. I had a friend that knew I didn't like my job at the firm, and I worked for 3 years at the bank which was a welcome reprieve, but ultimately still sucked.

Eventually, I was so fed up with the bank that I was in the same spot as working at the accounting firm. I was looking actively for any other jobs and found an ad promoting Data Science which sounded interesting.

I went to a Data Science bootcamp for 3 months, spend 3 months looking for a job and now work as a Data Scientist and love it! I thought I was burned out on computer, number-related work, but seriously, the life of a public accountant in front of a computer is so much shittier than many other computer-focused jobs.

My income went from $50k as an accountant (7 years ago) to ~$200k now. I also work remotely a ton, travel with my family a lot, and have an overall way more enjoyable lifestyle.

I would recommend checking out Data Science and Coding bootcamps. The cost is ~$10k, and it will pull you out of work for about 6 months. Additionally, I went and saw a career coach once which was really encouraging. DM me is you want some more info.

As an aside: I want to say that I've totally been there. I remember after my son was born, working from 6:30am to 10:00pm as a CPA and wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this. It was extremely unfulfilling and soul-sucking and I really sunk down deep into depression during that time. Recovering from that time in my life is still an ongoing process.
Know that there are ways out -- you won't be a CPA forever (or much longer) if you don't want to be. It's extremely nerve-wracking to up and quit and jump into something new, but it's 100% possible.

Good luck!

Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions about your work and pathway to your current job.

How did you feel the bootcamp helped you with getting the job and also preparing you for the actual work you do now?  I always hear mixed reviews about bootcamps.  How long ago did you make this switch?  Do you think your previous work at the bank was beneficial to you getting your data science job?  I currently own my own business but it has nothing to do with anything close to data science or programming, so besides all the stuff that goes along with owning your own business, I don't really have anything to put on a resume relating my current job to the data science or programming field.

Not at all.

Without the bootcamp, I 100% would not have been able to get my current position. I was moving into an entirely new career field. Truthfully, during my day-to-day work, I'm often not doing extremely technical Data Science work so much of it doesn't apply everyday, but that really varies position to position. Some of my former classmates are doing very technical, Data Science and Machine Learning work every day.

About 90% of my class was able to find work in the field after the program ended. Some people had jobs in weeks, some took months. For me, I was on the job hunt for about 3 months (>100 applications, 4 interviews, etc. etc.) before I received an offer.

I have heard mixed bootcamp reviews also, but nearly everyone that I know that went through one is now making close to if not much more than $100k in their fields. Sometimes it takes a while to get there, but in the tech industry money flows like water (it's a bit insane).

My previous work definitely helped. A lot of people that i went to school with had previous work in math, analytical, physics, etc. fields. The people that had the hardest time finding work afterwards were the ones with no previous work experience.

Which bootcamp did you use?  Just a quick search shows some pretty expensive options, which isn't a big deal if they work, but I don't want to spend like $10-$15k for a program that leaves me unprepared or not hireable.  I know some have a job guarantee but I can see the fine print saying something about them finding me a job in Afghanistan or somewhere crazy and so they fulfilled their guarantee.

Did you take any math or programming courses beforehand to familiarize yourself with those topics before starting the bootcamp?

I do worry a little with previous work experience.  I do have a BS in Biology from my undergrad and worked 2.5 years in a lab.  Currently about ~7 years into running my own business but that is in recreational sports (youth sports leagues, etc.) so nothing remotely similar.

[svndezafrohman]

Have you thought about becoming a PE teacher?

Teaching isn't for everyone, and has its downsides like any career. However, it does offer you:

- Minimal computer time (especially as a PE teacher)
- Great work-life balance
- Good conditions (holidays and breaks)
- Very 'immediate' work. You're there, the day starts and it's go time, and the day rarely ever drags on forever
- Good to great community
- Opportunities to run sports clubs, etc, etc
- Even if you don't do PE you are always on your feet, interacting, never a dull moment at all

Might be a career worth considering.

+1 to this.
I am a self employed Pilates and German teacher. If you're looking for something (potentially) well paid but very flexible, then freelance teaching might be for you. I can choose which hours and days I work and since I teach two different things, I can find clients at all hours of the day. My days are extremely varied and I teach people aged 9-87 from all kinds of backgrounds.
Currently I work a lot because I'm just starting out and want to build up passive income, but in the future I'll hopefully be able to drop some of the evening and maybe even weekend classes. A full-time job in teaching is between 20-30 contact hours per week (as you also have to prepare for lessons, etc.), but in my case, I could survive with just 15 hours.

You could think about what you could teach: swimming, other sports, maybe even maths, a language or science? 

Teaching looks like aviable option as this will allow me to have a flexible work schedule and teach topics i am interested in. I liked math and science when i was in school so maybe thise are options to make extra money. Thanks for the input!

[dougules]

I'm curious if you're willing to tell us what your spending looks like.   

[LightStache]

The thing about sitting behind a computer all day is I can finish my work in about 4 hours/day. So usually its 4 hours of me doing nothing, just trying to act busy. I have some tricks where I copy MMM into my email so i can look like I am reading an email but in reality I am doing different articles on the forum. I sometimes have days where I have to bullshit working for whole 8 hours. I have no motivation to ask for more work as accounting is too boring for me to be interested. I have tried several different industries in accounting, private, public, worked for a university, now working for fortune 10 company in corporate accounting. All are the same, month end, year end, budgets, etc...  Same old thing month in and month out is really draining me.

This does sound super boring, but I think it has more to do with the specific accounting responsibilities than sitting behind a computer. I'm a desk jockey, but my job is continuously variable with new challenges. I spend 15% - 75% of my time doing pricing and financial modeling and spend a good deal of my personal time on excel. I outsource my accounting :D.

So I think you should keep an open mind to another finance desk job, but just outside of accounting. In addition to pricing and modeling, which are basically project finance, I'd also highly recommend finance or management consulting. You'll have to work long hours for a bit, but you get crazy exposure to everything in business. You could also go to a smaller outfit like a PE fund to do financial strategy work, where you can make it clear you won't be doing any hands-on bookkeeping but they will benefit from your expertise.

If you find something else that you really want to do and make a big financial sacrifice, go ahead and jump. But don't be fooled by thinking the "grass is always greener" (sorry I know that's cliche). I've tried three very different careers before 35 and didn't find one that was a great fit. Thankfully, after a year or so, I got paid more with each jump. The fit on career three is just OK, but in retrospect I could have probably made career one work if I had a little better perspective. My point is try to lateral into something that's going to pay equal or more. Don't be fooled into thinking an outside job, just because it's the opposite of what you have now, is going to be better.

[brunetteUK]

Hey @svndezafrohman !

1. You got money! Now be responsible.
First, you have the money to live a life that fits your prefenrences and to your liking. This means you can walk in everyday and act as if you have already given in your notice, chat to the people you like, arrive 5 minutes late, make jokes and laugh at the money they are paying you. You can read all of @Malkynn posts and she is way more harsh about how is really stupid to *not* live your best life if you have the means to do so.

2.Travel and time off
Second, regarding travel and time off. I think quitting and taking time off is a very, very, very and I cannot stress this enough, a very good idea. It rests your body, it rests your mind, it lets you focus on you and it gives you a lot of empty hours to look at yourself and your priorities.

I have taken six month off between jobs and I have also been on two months sick leave due to burnout. Both times have been incredibly beneficial to my development. My advice is to not spend all you time off on travelling. Travelling is great, no need for anyone to sell you on that but as someone who had depression and cried many times on those flat bed business class seats, travelling is not a holy-grail solution. (But travelling is awesome, specially for more than two weeks and knowing you wont come back to a full inbox)

I would recommend that you spend some time without work in your current life, your house, your neighborhood, your couch. Spend time visiting and chatting to your regular friends, visit your local park and your local restaurants. Look at your bed and your kitchen pantry. That is the life you have been living, do you like it? Is it working for you?
I found out so much about myself during my months off, I realised I can't make decisions in the morning, that my pillows were awfully bad, that I couldn't progress at my career because I thought so little of myself, and that sense of zero worth came from a lot of suppressed and ignored trauma. I hated how my entire flat layout was so sub-optimal and how many unfit clothes I had. Now, tell me, who wants to spend their precious saturday and sunday doing this kind of detailed introspection? Time off with loads of free time will kind of force it on you and it will do you loads of good.

3. Teaching
The bad part of teaching is the parents and the never ending list of expectations from teachers. I would suggest you do some tutoring in maths or geometry to a few students to see if you like it. You will see you need a lot of time preparing for lessons! That parents can be so unreasonable. That teenagers are so moody. Tutoring is easy to set up, you have the CPA credentials already and you could take on one student for a few months so not too much commitment that you can't get out of.

4. Accounting career
Mate, pardon me sounding like a b*tch but what? You are 32 years old so I'm guessing you got your CPA license some time ago. And you are still sitting there and complaining that month end is boring.
Everyone found that out a decade ago! So why haven't you?
In the UK, anyone who does any sort of finance work has to have the equivalent to the CPA license. It's a local market thing and it's really strange which means there are tons of people getting accountancy qualification. And we ALL realise what a boring, dull task financial accounting is. Month-end, budgeting, forecasting, cost centres aaahhhh. So everyone gets their CPA and then moves on to other stuff. I used to think I would be a great accountant until I realised I don't memorise the rules because they bore me and I have a very flexible view of things (not good for an accountant...) so I moved to Commercial Finance which is way more fluid and future-looking. It's more exciting, all the work I do is for 2021 and all we talk about is profit and whether the CEO strategy is working. People move on to Tax which is seen as more reputable. People go on to work in Operations Finance (lovely department, Ops/Supply Chain is full of macho man and there is serious testosterone going around).

I'm questioning why you want to go for long reached solutions like retraining in a boot camp/becoming a teacher when you haven't even had the creativity to move out of commercial finance into some other form of finance?

I'm being a bit harsh on purpose, not meant to be judgy, just want to sput some relfection on your side.

Good luck!

[Missy B]

I'm a massage therapist. It's a career that fits your requirements, though whether you're a fit for it is another question. In my jurisdiction we are thoroughly regulated, and registration requires a full-time 3 year training program, passing board exams and maintaining continuing ed credits the same as any other regulated health profession.
Training requirements etc. vary substantially in the US, but none of them are as high/long as ours. Bear in mind that the higher the standards are in your area (and the more barriers to practice) the more likely it is that you will succeed in building a viable practise.

[svndezafrohman]

I'm curious if you're willing to tell us what your spending looks like.   

Don't spend much. I say average around 25-30K/year.
So i do save a substantial amount of my income.
I can probably suck it up and save for 2-3 years and just FIRE completely. Just another option.

[svndezafrohman]

Hey @svndezafrohman !

1. You got money! Now be responsible.
First, you have the money to live a life that fits your prefenrences and to your liking. This means you can walk in everyday and act as if you have already given in your notice, chat to the people you like, arrive 5 minutes late, make jokes and laugh at the money they are paying you. You can read all of @Malkynn posts and she is way more harsh about how is really stupid to *not* live your best life if you have the means to do so.

2.Travel and time off
Second, regarding travel and time off. I think quitting and taking time off is a very, very, very and I cannot stress this enough, a very good idea. It rests your body, it rests your mind, it lets you focus on you and it gives you a lot of empty hours to look at yourself and your priorities.

I have taken six month off between jobs and I have also been on two months sick leave due to burnout. Both times have been incredibly beneficial to my development. My advice is to not spend all you time off on travelling. Travelling is great, no need for anyone to sell you on that but as someone who had depression and cried many times on those flat bed business class seats, travelling is not a holy-grail solution. (But travelling is awesome, specially for more than two weeks and knowing you wont come back to a full inbox)

I would recommend that you spend some time without work in your current life, your house, your neighborhood, your couch. Spend time visiting and chatting to your regular friends, visit your local park and your local restaurants. Look at your bed and your kitchen pantry. That is the life you have been living, do you like it? Is it working for you?
I found out so much about myself during my months off, I realised I can't make decisions in the morning, that my pillows were awfully bad, that I couldn't progress at my career because I thought so little of myself, and that sense of zero worth came from a lot of suppressed and ignored trauma. I hated how my entire flat layout was so sub-optimal and how many unfit clothes I had. Now, tell me, who wants to spend their precious saturday and sunday doing this kind of detailed introspection? Time off with loads of free time will kind of force it on you and it will do you loads of good.

3. Teaching
The bad part of teaching is the parents and the never ending list of expectations from teachers. I would suggest you do some tutoring in maths or geometry to a few students to see if you like it. You will see you need a lot of time preparing for lessons! That parents can be so unreasonable. That teenagers are so moody. Tutoring is easy to set up, you have the CPA credentials already and you could take on one student for a few months so not too much commitment that you can't get out of.

4. Accounting career
Mate, pardon me sounding like a b*tch but what? You are 32 years old so I'm guessing you got your CPA license some time ago. And you are still sitting there and complaining that month end is boring.
Everyone found that out a decade ago! So why haven't you?
In the UK, anyone who does any sort of finance work has to have the equivalent to the CPA license. It's a local market thing and it's really strange which means there are tons of people getting accountancy qualification. And we ALL realise what a boring, dull task financial accounting is. Month-end, budgeting, forecasting, cost centres aaahhhh. So everyone gets their CPA and then moves on to other stuff. I used to think I would be a great accountant until I realised I don't memorise the rules because they bore me and I have a very flexible view of things (not good for an accountant...) so I moved to Commercial Finance which is way more fluid and future-looking. It's more exciting, all the work I do is for 2021 and all we talk about is profit and whether the CEO strategy is working. People move on to Tax which is seen as more reputable. People go on to work in Operations Finance (lovely department, Ops/Supply Chain is full of macho man and there is serious testosterone going around).

I'm questioning why you want to go for long reached solutions like retraining in a boot camp/becoming a teacher when you haven't even had the creativity to move out of commercial finance into some other form of finance?

I'm being a bit harsh on purpose, not meant to be judgy, just want to sput some relfection on your side.

Good luck!

Great advice! I was actually ok with doing mundane tasks until I FIRE completely, but these last few years have been wearing on me. Maybe I'm just not motivated anymore since I am almost at my FIRE #, or just that I really am burned out. I did have a 5 month break between jobs in 2019, so that was refreshing. Picked up golf and have been having a good time playing it every weekend. Coming back to work has been hard, the motivation is just not there.

I will look into transitioning into the finance field as many of the replies suggest I move from accounting to finance. Any recommendations or people that made made similar switches from accounting to finance. Do you like it better? How did you make the switch? I did apply for several finance roles, "Finance Manager" / "Senior Financial Analyst" and didn't have any luck.

[John Galt incarnate!]

Hello, I am seeking help regarding a possible career change. A little background about me, I am an accountant and have been doing it for the past 10 years. I am 32 years old and have my CPA license. Currently I am doing corporate accounting and making roughly $100K with bonus. I need some advice as I want to transition out of accounting and do something else. I have a build up FU stash of roughly ~$500K. I am looking for something where I can make a pretty quick transition into. I am willing to go back to school ~1-2 years if its something that sounds interesting.

The reason I want to leave accounting is first and foremost, I HATE sitting behind a cubicle all day looking at my stupid computer working on little spreadsheets. Even though I am an introvert, this day in and day out same old routine is wearing me down. I absolutely hate sitting behind a cubicle 8 hour/day. I hate looking at damn spreadsheets 8 hours/day. I feel like I have built a big enough stash to try something new in my life.

I just need some feedback as I have no idea what type of career I can transition into. Like I have no clue what I want to do with my life. Hell, the only reason I chose accounting was because...I have no idea why I chose accounting. Shit, I feel like I wasted the last decade of my life doing something I don't like so I feel like its now or never to make a change.

What I want:
1. No cubicle / No looking at computer / no spreadsheet 8 hrs/day: I am okay with doing it for couple hours,but absolutely not for 8 hours. So i have ruled out coding, etc.

2. Work Life Balance: I don't want to transition into a job that requires huge amounts of time. I feel I have enough of a stash to kind of cruise into RE, so i am not motivated to work hard and do a 50+hr/week job. I am looking for something in the range of 25-40 hrs/week.

3. Working with my hand: I want a job that I can do something with my hands, which I feel will be more rewarding than pressing out spreadsheets. I was looking at taking a wood-working class, like being a carpenter or making stuff which sounds pretty interesting.

Are there any jobs out there that fit my criteria? Any help is much appreciated.

Take a Strong Interest Inventory Profile. You may discover  occupations that never occurred to you consonant   with your interests and preferences.


"The Strong Interest Inventory® Profile gives you a list of careers highly admired and highly chosen by those with interests and preferences similar to yours. It breaks down your preferences and inclinations into six General Occupational Themes, which give a broad record of what sorts of jobs you would enjoy."

[Dicey]

I'm curious if you're willing to tell us what your spending looks like.   

Don't spend much. I say average around 25-30K/year.
So i do save a substantial amount of my income.
I can probably suck it up and save for 2-3 years and just FIRE completely. Just another option.

That's the one ai was going to suggest! You're so close to at least a barista FIRE. Think about setting a date, say two years from now. Save your ass off, pack your parachute and then let it rip on your target date and never look back. Giving up two years to gain the rest of your life? Totally worth it, IMO.

[newstart2021]

Hi there - new user, found this site after googling "I can't stand accounting anymore" and found this post that I relate to 100%
I noticed this was back in March, and was wondering if the OP ever left their job and took on something new or took a bootcamp?

I'm in the same spot... 33, CPA, tried many different flavors of the accounting world, but I think I am totally done with it and ready to try anything else.

[Morning Glory]

I hate to sit for long periods of time too.  Why not teach accounting at the college level? Teaching is interesting work, and you get to move around a lot, plus you get the summer off.  I usually learn more from the students than they learn from me.

I'm not sure if you have a master's degree or not, but with your industry experience you might be able to teach at community college without one, especially if you are in a program.  You can start as adjunct and see if you like it. Once you have a master's you can teach at university level.

I would not do the coding boot camp if you hate sitting in a cube all day.

[marty998]

Hi there - new user, found this site after googling "I can't stand accounting anymore" and found this post that I relate to 100%
I noticed this was back in March, and was wondering if the OP ever left their job and took on something new or took a bootcamp?

I'm in the same spot... 33, CPA, tried many different flavors of the accounting world, but I think I am totally done with it and ready to try anything else.

No one grows up wanting to be an accountant. What were/are your hobbies/passions/interests? Start there to brainstorm, use your network of linkedin contacts if you have it, and talk with your friends and they may "know someone who knows someone who needs someone".

@mozar

The whole coronavirus is going to be over in a few months. You want a few months to make plans right? There will likely be some travel deals in the summer.

Whoopsies.

I guess we all thought that at the time (including me!)

[Moonwaves]

I didn't see this thread when it was originally posted and have nothing to contribute. But I did laugh when I read this reply:

My spouce is a CPA, and really hated it too. She networked though and found a job as an underwriter,  loved that for a while. ...

because I totally read it as undertaker and was thinking, wow, that is a big change!

[sonofsven]

Have you considered lion taming?

[mozar]

Quote from: mozar on March 03, 2020, 07:42:54 PM
The whole coronavirus is going to be over in a few months. You want a few months to make plans right? There will likely be some travel deals in the summer.

Whoopsies.

I guess we all thought that at the time (including me!)

I did not account for the USA handling the pandemic so poorly. But you can still go to Mexico!

[MissPeach]

Hey! I'm 31 and I used to be a CPA (external audit) and HATED IT too!

I wound up stumbling into a job at a bank as a Sr. Credit Risk Analyst. I had a friend that knew I didn't like my job at the firm, and I worked for 3 years at the bank which was a welcome reprieve, but ultimately still sucked.

Eventually, I was so fed up with the bank that I was in the same spot as working at the accounting firm. I was looking actively for any other jobs and found an ad promoting Data Science which sounded interesting.

I went to a Data Science bootcamp for 3 months, spend 3 months looking for a job and now work as a Data Scientist and love it! I thought I was burned out on computer, number-related work, but seriously, the life of a public accountant in front of a computer is so much shittier than many other computer-focused jobs.

My income went from $50k as an accountant (7 years ago) to ~$200k now. I also work remotely a ton, travel with my family a lot, and have an overall way more enjoyable lifestyle.

I would recommend checking out Data Science and Coding bootcamps. The cost is ~$10k, and it will pull you out of work for about 6 months. Additionally, I went and saw a career coach once which was really encouraging. DM me is you want some more info.

As an aside: I want to say that I've totally been there. I remember after my son was born, working from 6:30am to 10:00pm as a CPA and wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this. It was extremely unfulfilling and soul-sucking and I really sunk down deep into depression during that time. Recovering from that time in my life is still an ongoing process.
Know that there are ways out -- you won't be a CPA forever (or much longer) if you don't want to be. It's extremely nerve-wracking to up and quit and jump into something new, but it's 100% possible.

Good luck!

Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions about your work and pathway to your current job.

How did you feel the bootcamp helped you with getting the job and also preparing you for the actual work you do now?  I always hear mixed reviews about bootcamps.  How long ago did you make this switch?  Do you think your previous work at the bank was beneficial to you getting your data science job?  I currently own my own business but it has nothing to do with anything close to data science or programming, so besides all the stuff that goes along with owning your own business, I don't really have anything to put on a resume relating my current job to the data science or programming field.

I didn't go the boot camp route but I was an accountant initially in the corporate accounting world. Another path potentially would be to go in as a business analyst. Most places I've live the pay is in the $90-130K range. The analysts are usually the middle people between the tech people and the business people. It helps to be more technical but most companies are willing to overlook it for some basic skills. I went into the data warehousing side of things and knew SQL Ralph Kimball's methods going in which helped a lot. Data warehousing is similar to data science but slightly different in skill set. That's what I did and worked my way to more and more technical positions.

I found in my case there were a lot of companies with a lot of projects for finance (i.e., ERP, consolidation, reconciliation, revenue, BI/Reporting, etc.) and these companies really wanted someone business savvy and were willing to sacrifice some of the technical side to get that. I spent my first 3 years working on automating revenue accounting and my next job working on automating forecasts and consolidations. My next job was more revenue accounting but I was working in the engineering division so I was able to move into QA, development, etc. Most tech people don't get this stuff so they usually can not pull off these projects well and the business usually gets frustrated dealing with them. In my last job even though I wasn't an analyst the CFO of a huge corporation still requested me to help with their projects because they couldn't figure out how to communicate with the software engineers.

While it's a computer job still I find it way easier than accounting work and less stress usually. Plus I doubled my pay with the switch. While there may be a big deadline here and there it's no as monotonous and crazy as dealing with stuff like month end close.

[ChpBstrd]

As someone who is on their 3rd or arguably 4th career, I can attest to the fact that WORK SUCKS. That's why they have to pay you for it. Work is just another four-letter word. We prostitute our time and give up the opportunity to do what we'd prefer to do no matter what it is. If you want fulfillment, meaningfulness, and enjoyment don't expect to be paid much for it (an low pay means more of your life spent working - the market for labor is fairly efficient). You already have it made if you can complete your daily work in 4 hours - some people do dangerous backbreaking work 8-10 hours a day with an asshole boss breathing down their neck every day and earn a quarter of your salary.

That said, before I left a $100k job to go searching for variety and greener grass, when I'm probably 5 years or less away from FIRE, I'd strongly consider my options to make life more tolerable.

1) Work with your hands as a hobby instead of a vocation. E.g. woodworking in the backyard shop, sculpture, etc. Some activities may be less fun than expected.
2) Take more vacation time. Take unpaid leave if you must. Just get out in the world and don't work all the time. Anything gets old if done for long enough without some variety. Take a hike. Ride a bike. Float a boat. Get laid.
3) Make the rest of your career a challenge to see how many promotions you can get. Re-envision the office as a political game you can win by building relationships with the right people, knowing when to speak up and when to shut up, etc. Retire and say "toodles bitches!" a year after landing a controller or CFO role, just for the lolz.
4) Listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or music while at work.
5) Request a laptop if you don't already have one, so that you can move around the building or campus and work outside the cubicle. An older/weak model is fine. You're not a graphic designer.
6) Negotiate a working from home day or days.
7) Become a lean process guru. Document all the existing processes (Visio is a great break from Excel) and try to figure out ways to make them more efficient or automated. This is a great way to talk to more people, uncover new roles for yourself as you offload redundant tasks, and accomplish #3. This is also a baby step into operations management or business analysis.
8) Take all sorts of free training offered by your company or online. Become a polymath.
9) I find that when I ride a bike to work, I'm a lot less fidgety sitting at a desk because I've already exercised. Similarly, if your building has a workout room, run down there for 15 minutes and knock out a workout every day. The desk chair feels great after running a dozen flights of stairs.
10) There are 2 philosophical traditions that can help one deal with unpleasantness: Eastern meditation and Western Stoicism. Read up on both to reframe your boredom, or discover new aspects of your situation.