Need specific experience for an entry level job...wtf?

[kin0kin]

I'm getting annoyed with these accounting companies needing specific experience of a particular accounting software for even an entry level position. I have applied to many jobs, some need this, some need that...there are over hundreds and thousands of softwares out there. How is it possible to even get a job?

[BananaHunter]

With regards to software, just put the common ones on your resume. Quickbooks, Great Plains. Then go learn it yourself. A lot of accounting software have similarities so learning one and putting it on resume should be good.

Yes it's ********. The young generation grew up with computers and like 99% of us can learn software in a snap. When a company states job requirements, it's just a wish list. If they happen to come across someone with that rare software exp, they benefit. Whereas if in their ad they don't post it, the chance of finding that unique person decreases.

Don't let it get to you. Just apply anyways and if you score an interview, make sure to tell them you're good with software.

[dandy2008]

Quickbooks, Great Plains, Accpac and the likes are used by small companies and are worthless if you want to work for a multinational.

[kin0kin]

I have applied to countless jobs, and seriously, I don't know how long I can survive like this. Only a handful of people get back to me and most of the replies I received either ask if I have experience of this or that, otherwise it's just a reply telling me that "unfortunately you need xxxxx experience". I very humbly replied that I am a very quick learner, and I have experience in Simply Accounting. I am also very computer-oriented, and I've learned to design/cook phone roms (Windows mobile OS), and yada yada myself in very short period of time. I'm not even sure if these employers bother reading resumes to learn about a person besides hoping to match someone with "experience" that is 100% to their needs.

I know I am not alone. I've browsed through Kijiji and to my surprise, there are MANY people that's in my situation. B.Com/Business graduates majoring in Accounting, and not getting a job. Instead, needing to advertise to work for free in order to get experience. I'd really appreciate any help possible, I desperately need a job. I even applied to Walmart, and other retail jobs and didn't hear anything. As far as they are concerned, people like me seem to be over-qualified for jobs like that, and under-qualified for jobs where we should be working in. Please help me out....

[BananaHunter]

be more aggressive. Act like you already know how to use the software, even if you don't. I know exactly what you are talking about. Most software are ridiculously easy and you can master the basics within first day of the job without ever using it.

Definitely put Excel on your resume. Excel has lots of advanced functions. Many companies use Excel along with other accounting software so make sure you know Excel.

Keep trying. ******** more. You don't necessarily have to lie. Just practice selling yourself better. Being humble doesn't help that much IMO.

Good luck.

[dandy2008]

I have applied to countless jobs, and seriously, I don't know how long I can survive like this. Only a handful of people get back to me and most of the replies I received either ask if I have experience of this or that, otherwise it's just a reply telling me that "unfortunately you need xxxxx experience". I very humbly replied that I am a very quick learner, and I have experience in Simply Accounting. I am also very computer-oriented, and I've learned to design/cook phone roms (Windows mobile OS), and yada yada myself in very short period of time. I'm not even sure if these employers bother reading resumes to learn about a person besides hoping to match someone with "experience" that is 100% to their needs.

I know I am not alone. I've browsed through Kijiji and to my surprise, there are MANY people that's in my situation. B.Com/Business graduates majoring in Accounting, and not getting a job. Instead, needing to advertise to work for free in order to get experience. I'd really appreciate any help possible, I desperately need a job. I even applied to Walmart, and other retail jobs and didn't hear anything. As far as they are concerned, people like me seem to be over-qualified for jobs like that, and under-qualified for jobs where we should be working in. Please help me out....

This is depressing. Most B.Com/Business grads from Canadian universities have no problem finding entry-level accounting/finance jobs.
Kin0kin's story sounds familiar if he/she was an immigrant to Canada.

[bruizeman]

I hear ya on the overqualified bit...

The things I've been going for ask for 1-3 yrs experience, and everytime I apply to one of those I get dinged with the overqualified bit (I have 1 yr experience) or "this position is too junior for you".

Then I get interviews from postings asking for 7 yrs experience....

I just want a corpfin analyst role

I won't say no to a "Senior Manager, Derivative Products" or a "Controller" position... but, i just feel that the analyst role would be perfect. GRRF

[setell]

This is depressing. Most B.Com/Business grads from Canadian universities have no problem finding entry-level accounting/finance jobs.
Kin0kin's story sounds familiar if he/she was an immigrant to Canada.

Sorry didn't really get your first statement.

It is depressing and I went through what KinOkin is going through. I got rejected left and right by jobs that I was over qualified for! All I can say OP is to keep applying, track or keep a log of who you applied to and than reapply after a certain period of time. It was about a year for me before I landed a decent job. You'll get a job.

[BananaHunter]

This is depressing. Most B.Com/Business grads from Canadian universities have no problem finding entry-level accounting/finance jobs.
Kin0kin's story sounds familiar if he/she was an immigrant to Canada.

Not true at all. Many have trouble. Most students want a job right after graduation. After months of searching, one does get fed up and start posting on RFD. There are people that can get offers left and right. There are also the opposite where they can barely get an interview. It boils down to your experience and people skills. Your degree really IS just a piece of paper and it's your job to convince someone your degree is worth something. A university degree just doesn't have the obvious value it used to have. You are right however. Immigrants do have greater difficulty.

Yes it's very depressing. Every student go into university with the expectation that there'll be a decent paying job after it. For some, it becomes reality. For some, there's a couple months of feeling worthless before you hone up your job hunt skills/resume enough to land something.

There's also an increasing number of grads who can't land something and go back to school for a second degree/higher education. The supply of uni grads is just that much larger than decades ago.

[sleepyguy]

Learn some Crystal Reports... damn some of those people make a KILLING!

[branat]

I don't think it's learning the software is the problem. It's the practical/work experience in that software. I can set up server and install AccPac and know everything about it but it's still won't do me any good without expereince.

[Firebot]

I have applied to countless jobs, and seriously, I don't know how long I can survive like this. Only a handful of people get back to me and most of the replies I received either ask if I have experience of this or that, otherwise it's just a reply telling me that "unfortunately you need xxxxx experience". I very humbly replied that I am a very quick learner, and I have experience in Simply Accounting. I am also very computer-oriented, and I've learned to design/cook phone roms (Windows mobile OS), and yada yada myself in very short period of time. I'm not even sure if these employers bother reading resumes to learn about a person besides hoping to match someone with "experience" that is 100% to their needs.

I know I am not alone. I've browsed through Kijiji and to my surprise, there are MANY people that's in my situation. B.Com/Business graduates majoring in Accounting, and not getting a job. Instead, needing to advertise to work for free in order to get experience. I'd really appreciate any help possible, I desperately need a job. I even applied to Walmart, and other retail jobs and didn't hear anything. As far as they are concerned, people like me seem to be over-qualified for jobs like that, and under-qualified for jobs where we should be working in. Please help me out....

If you want to work at a regular job, leave off your degree on your resume. They know you aren't going to stay long if you are overqualified, so best to eliminate anything which would be used against you. This is the same if you were in school, it's better not to mention that you are only there temporarily.

[TotallyKiller]

I'm not sure, but I can't see where you have told us how long you have been out of school, what degree you have and what you did to try and get a co-op/internship when you were in your last two years. I assume you have a bComm. If not, then it's no surprise you are getting the response you are. IF you have a BComm, but didn't try and get any work in your last two years, why not? That's a way to get your experience while still going for entry-level jobs after grad.

Although I understand your position, I really don't yet understand what your qualifications are so I can't really figure out if you should be upset, or if your expectations are too high.

[ZoomZoom2006]

I got an even more stupid issue with the firms -- Applied for the entry level with some working experience part-time and got reject email from McKinsey senior recruitment because they considered me in the experienced class and certainly I am not qualified and I did not even apply for a more-than-an-entry level job! It seems like it's our fault for not having working experience and also our fault for having experience.

The firms are getting funny nowadays.

[kin0kin]

I don't think it's learning the software is the problem. It's the practical/work experience in that software. I can set up server and install AccPac and know everything about it but it's still won't do me any good without expereince.

I've posted a thread regarding catch 22 about getting a job. No job = No EXP; No EXP = No Job. When employer doesn't give new grads a chance, new grads are not going to be able to get a job, let alone getting practical experience. They are discounting a lot of high potential prospective employees by betting on the fact that an "experienced" person is always a better person than a new grad with no experience. Some people learn VERY quickly, and I'd categorize myself as being one of them.

I graduated in May 2007. YES, 2007. No, I did not get a Cum Laude but I have a B average. And no, I did not take the easiest electives to get A+ so that I can bump up my GPA. I took classes that were very challenging and that I was interested in, a few of them brought my GPA down but I had no remorse as I learned something from those classes. I have a B.Com in Accounting, and I'm sorry I didn't mention it but I had assume that most people would be able to guess that. I would not be applying to any IT jobs, not even entry level, if I didn't graduate with an IT degree. Just by looking at the description and requirements of an IT job already says enough that I am not qualified for it. I have not applied to anything that I am not qualified for, and by that, I mean either senior roles, or jobs that are completely out of my field of study.

I have been job hunting since I graduated. I applied to mostly entry level jobs, not just specific to Accounting, but to many very general entry level positions that I believe I would have no problem with. Or course, I did not apply to any other jobs that I am completely not qualified for, which I mentioned earlier. I did whatever I could to get a job. I advertised to work for free too, nobody actually gotten back to me. I did get a job in The Bay as a sales person but left shortly as I was in the transition to move over to Toronto. I was initially from Halifax, NS. I do not consider selling suits a career, not in my book.

Am I an immigrant? yes I am, I am a permanent residence but I am fluent in English, I can speak and write with little problems and by problems I really mean I am not literate enough to write a novel, or artistic poem...I'm not an artist, nor am I a linguistic expert . I do not speak with odd accent, and nobody that I've spoken to had trouble understanding me. Communication is NOT a problem. Ethnicity, race, and whether the person is an immigrant or not should NOT play any role in whether the person gets a job or not.

I just got back from an interview, really, I don't consider this as an interview with "inventory company". What the company does is that they count inventory for other their clients. The "interview" wasn't really an interview. We were just put there for a briefing. Then we were given some basic tests. One of the tests had 40 questions, which requires you to count how many items there are in the pictures. Almost like an IQ test, with blocks of stuff arranged randomly. We were given 5 mins to do it. I got 39/40 right, and the one that I got wrong...I skipped it because the arrangement was odd and I decided to do the others first...very basic common sense here. The "class average" was 21. The other test was just a simple test to see if you were knowledgeable enough to handle a remote-pc-barcode-scanner-with-built-in-wifi-which-runs-on-windows. Of course, it was a piece of cake...my cellphone is more advanced than that I got hired and is being paid $9 an hour. WOW, I paid so much for tuition, worked so darn hard, to be paid $9 an hour? I'm not trying to brag how smart I am, or not, but merely to express my disappointment and difficulties in getting a job that'd put my knowledge and skills to full use. I should be sitting in an office and getting paid at least 20+ an hour, but instead, I'd have to work in the lowest tier cr@p with people who have little to no education.

You have no idea how annoyed I was when I was in The Bay's managers' office. While sitting there waiting for the HR manager to show up, this lady in the office was doing something on the PC, typing at probably 10 wpm, and prolly getting paid at least 2 X I was being paid.

EDIT: I am so annoyed that I really feel like writing a formal letter a Deloitte/PWC and ask them about, how could a person like me, with no experience, but with an accounting degree, get an entry level job in their company. Or, what'd I need to do, to be able to obtain "XXXXX" position in their company.