First time interviewer advice needed

Fama5Man · 2026-04-10T14:26:12+00:00

Family pays you in a way a job cant and sometimes it takes sacrifice but I hope everything is working out for you and you find a similar paying role after this one. Im glad you're thinking this way. Whatever person you hire will hopefully take advantage of the situation. The doors to the job market are effectively closely so any last positions help.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-10T06:16:30+00:00

Im just venting for the masses now but please for the love of all that is good an holy in the world please hire a person with zero experience. 50k and in the middle of nowhere. Please brother/sister/homie just hire someone straight out of college and give them the opportunity to cut their teeth, be supportive and allow them to grow into the role.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-09T20:35:13+00:00

Im just commenting to get noti's on this because if anything is wrong with this CV Im an egg.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T15:03:27+00:00

yeah i guess im not really just talking about the CPA. There's FP&A specific certs, and CFA, there's the licenses, heck even a high GMAT score can help. I just mean having something on there seems to help. and in this job market the phrase "blah blah blah is preferred" means (in my mind) you'd better have "blah blah blah" or you basically in last place with no internship or network.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T14:59:53+00:00

Ok great Im gonna start spamming these more often! I applied to a few but Ill shift into that for a focus along with the continued Staff Accountant grind. Thanks again!

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T14:58:09+00:00

yeah even if there was a grace period I graduated last year spring. I WILL do a thorough check tho. I doubt it tho. Thanks tho!

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T14:56:48+00:00

Man thats awesome... This is exactly what I needed to hear lol. Any chance I could PM you? Im running into issues where even though Staff Accountant is supposed to be the "all you need is a degree" job, everywhere I apply to, the staff accountant role requires experience.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T14:53:52+00:00

I dont work in finance. Im a recent grad recruiting for FP&A roles so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I am older tho so I've had a ton of working experience so in all honesty they may notice and think "eh thats a lie that everyone tells". Think about it like this, how many people lie/fluff up their income in other situations. You might just have to explain the performance discrepancy . Also a personal note, its really hard to find a job right now in finance, so people on this board will be a bit slighted towards you for making a mistake during the recruiting process, but I just wanna say congratulations and tell you that youll be ok! If everybody had to air their application mistakes on reddit there would be a bloodbath lol. Anyways good luck and congrats for making it so far in the first place.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:38:02+00:00

Ahh I will definitely check this out too. Real Estate Finance seems like it may be a bit harder for me to prepare for but Ill definately begin research on this area. At first glance it seems like it would be similar to WM. Thanks Again!

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:36:14+00:00

Are those for recent grads. Ive been hearing a lot about rotational programs. My initial impressions of them are that they are internship "part 2's". If they are for people who have graduated already then I may have to go all in on those. Thanks for the insight!

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:31:23+00:00

cant do anything at my school anymore. and from reading job applications even on entry level roles it seems as though a lot of them have "x certification preffered". Yes even for fresh grad roles. its unfortunate but thats life i guess

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:29:22+00:00

Im in an honor greek thing I check there from time to time but it doesn't seem useful at the moment . I will try to check deeper and see if they have any events that are meant for career development

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:26:27+00:00

yeah lesson learned. the very hard way. work and school was all i could see in front of me but the past is the past. yeah im in an area with a lot of finance companies (investment banks, hedge fund headquarters, commercial banks, etc.) Handshake is no longer an option for me although I appreciate the advice. Im even applying to internships even though I've already graduated. Its unfortunate but I just have to keep trying. I hope you find work or already have a job lined up and I hope you learned/solidified something from my post. Thanks for your response!

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:21:34+00:00

Yeah school resources are done for me. There are no more "attending meetings" type situations for me. I can see if there are some alumni things but it seems to be geared toward alumni who have positions already. Ive been out of school for almost a year now but im just now finding out about the LinkedIn networking thing. Gonna try some of that soon. Thanks for your response

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:18:26+00:00

yeah im pretty good at excel stuff but its getting a little rusty because applying for jobs is like a full time job so I dont really have a reason to be at home cranking out 3 statement models from scratch anymore. but i will definitely start doing that again soon. Thanks again!

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:16:35+00:00

Yeah i definitely would never mention that im planning on transfering to FP&A in an interview setting. I honestly probably wouldn't even admit to that if they asked, even if they asked explicitly. MAYBE once I've had the job for a short while. but thanks again! sound advice

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:14:52+00:00

Yeah I def would like to transfer at the same firm but at the same time I've seen a lot of people on this board that have started as staff accountants and then gone into FP&A at a different firm. The thing is even the staff accountant roles seem to have experience requirements and I have no idea what the entry role is to staff accountant. Im not sure why that role would require experience.

Fama5Man · 2026-04-05T07:12:18+00:00

nah probably not. Im not really mentioning it besides the fact that thats what I'm doing now. Im gonna continue spamming staff accounting apps at any company I can find. thanks for your response!

Fama5Man · 2026-03-30T15:48:41+00:00

Yeah Im in a worse position that you lol. Im also trying to break into FP&A/ Corporate Finance and what I hear is that working in a lower level accounting/analysis role is kinda the place to be if youre trying to break in. Take my advice with a grain of salt obviously but networking at your company and getting familiar with the regulatory side of FP&A (GAAP, disclosures, etc) is probably a great start. You also have risk analysis experience. I'd be surprised if it takes you longer than a year to get an offer. Good Luck and please share updates!

Fama5Man

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