Going from public practice into industry

Public sector does not equal public practice.

heat?? wrote: ↑ Hey RFD!

I know the RFD community has a lot of accountants and just wanted some advice.

I have been working in public practice for 5 years now (2 at a mediums sized and remaining 3 at small firm). Most of my accounting experience is in audit.

I accepted a job offer a few days ago as a Corporate Financial Analyst in Oil and Gas industry.

I want to make sure I succeed in this role are there any tips you guys can give me? What was the biggest adjustment you had to make from public practice?

Thanks for your time guys!

I went from a large public firm (PwC) to industry so it may not be the same thing. The big plus for me was that I no longer had to log my hours. The most important advice I can give you is make sure you have a good relationship with your manager. When I was at the firm if I had a crap manager, I just sucked it up because I knew I would be rolling off in a few weeks. When you move to industry you have the same manager the entire time, also with that make sure you work hard to understand the role and the business. Put in more hours up front, remember first impressions matter. Also take the time to build relationships, you will be seeing the same people every day.

I have no regrets moving to industry. I think moving to oil and gas was a good move, although it's cyclical in nature, it's very specialized so you can build your career with that niche skillset. Put it this way, anyone off the street can tell you how Walmart works but not everybody knows how Oil and Gas or mining companies work. If you build your skillset in that industry you will be paid well for that knowledge, as well as paid more because of the volatile nature of the industry.

Good luck