How to get an accounting job with an accounting degree

How to get an accounting job as a new graduate (step-by-step)

1. Pick a lane for 30 days: public (audit/tax associate), industry staff accountant, or AP/AR bridge—not all three with one résumé.
2. State CPA progress in one line: credits toward 150, exam sections passed or scheduled.
3. Name systems: Excel (advanced), QuickBooks, NetSuite, SAP, or Oracle—only what is true.
4. Apply where volume actually exists: regional/mid-size firms, corporate accounting, government, staffing firms—not only Big Four campus reqs you already missed.
5. Run 15–25 tailored applications a week and track reply rate for two weeks before changing everything.
6. Follow up five to seven business days after each submit.

Parents: the useful weekly question is “which lane, how many tailored apps, how many human replies?”—not “did you apply to the Big Four again?”

Is it hard to get a job with an accounting degree?

Honest answer: harder than the “accountant shortage” headlines suggest for brand-new graduates, and easier than for many undifferentiated majors—if you target the right employers.

Long-term demand for accountants and auditors remains solid. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of accountants and auditors to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035 (faster than average), with about 115,300 openings per year on average over the decade. Median pay for the occupation overall was $83,680 in May 2025 (occupation-wide median, not a new-grad offer).

At the same time, industry reporting and campus observers have noted tighter internship and entry-level pipelines at some firms even while experienced roles stay hard to fill. AI and automation are changing routine entry tasks, so employers increasingly want candidates who already show software fluency, clean documentation habits, and a plan toward CPA—not just a transcript.

So: it is not “impossible,” and it is not “automatic.” Graduates who missed campus recruiting, have no internship, or only apply to Big Four postings feel the friction first. Graduates who apply to regional firms, industry staff roles, and government—and who state CPA progress clearly—still get traction.

Typical entry-level job titles

• Staff accountant
• Audit associate / assurance associate
• Tax associate
• Accounts payable / accounts receivable specialist
• Internal audit associate
• Payroll accountant
• Bookkeeping-to-staff bridge roles (useful when you need a first employer line)

Where accounting grads actually get hired

• Regional and mid-sized public accounting firms (often more flexible on off-cycle starts than Big Four campus programs)
• Corporate accounting departments (controllers’ orgs at any mid-size employer)
• Finance and insurance employers
• Government (federal, state, local) and nonprofit finance offices
• Accounting staffing / temp-to-hire firms that place graduates quickly into AP, AR, and staff work

Largest BLS employer groups for accountants and auditors include accounting/tax/bookkeeping services, finance and insurance, and government—useful when you build a target list beyond “Big Four or nothing.”

Skills and credentials that help (especially CPA)

State on the resume in plain language

• Credit hours completed toward the 150-hour CPA education requirement (BLS notes all states require 150 semester hours for CPA licensure)
• CPA Exam sections passed or scheduled (even “FAR scheduled for October” is a signal)
• Systems: Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP), QuickBooks, NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Power BI if true
• Close-process exposure: journal entries, reconciliations, flux analysis, audit PBCs

Helpful, not mandatory at hire

• Internship in public or industry
• Excel / data certificate if you lack internship proof
• Willingness to relocate or work busy-season hours (state it carefully in applications to public firms)

You do not need 150 credits to get hired. Many firms hire at 120 with an agreement to finish the rest. You do need a plan for 150 if you want CPA licensure in most states.

Realistic job-search timeline

A focused accounting search for a new grad usually looks like four to twelve weeks of active applying once materials are ready—longer if you only chase one brand or one city.

Sample résumé bullets (steal the structure, not the fake numbers)

Use real metrics from your internship, class project, or part-time job. Examples of structure:

• Reconciled X balance-sheet accounts during month-end close and prepared supporting schedules for audit review.
• Built Excel reconciliations and pivot summaries that cut manual tie-out time for the weekly cash report.
• Prepared client PBC lists and organized workpapers for Y audit engagements under senior associate review.
• Processed AP invoices in QuickBooks / NetSuite and resolved vendor discrepancies before payment runs.

If you have no internship, turn a class project into a close-adjacent bullet: “Built a full-cycle accounting simulation for a fictional retailer covering journal entries, trial balance, and financial statements.”

The gap that stalls most accounting graduates

Graduates who missed campus recruiting assume public accounting is closed for a year. It is not.

How to close it

• Apply to mid-sized and regional firms that hire experienced-start and off-cycle candidates constantly.
• Take a private-industry staff accountant or strong AP/AR role and move to public later—this is a common, accepted path.
• Start CPA exam sections while working; passed sections are one of the strongest signals available.
• Fix grammar and typos ruthlessly—accuracy is the product on an accounting resume.

Pay context

The BLS median annual wage for accountants and auditors was $83,680 in May 2025 (all experience levels); the lowest 10% earned less than $56,020. New-grad offers are typically below the occupation median and vary by public vs industry, city, and overtime expectations—verify against current postings rather than a single blog number.

Source: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm