So, I was contracted by Accountemps to conduct
general accounting work for DiCicco, Gulman, and Company LLP in the midst of
this whole Market Basket debacle and I`m excited to report that things are
going well. I`ve been working independently and with a team to help clean up
GL, AP, and AR accounts for a 2+ billion dollar company and it's interesting to
see how said company conducts its accounting work. In short: awfully. The draconian system
is highly inefficient and lugubrious. Information comes in from over 70 stores
often in a jumbled mess that needs to be resorted, reevaluated, and reorganized
3 or more times before it gets entered into the system which, by the way, is so
out of date it doesn't use decimal places. Yes, that's correct: accounting software
that doesn't use decimal points! The whole process is in need of a reboot so
bad Michael Bay is in talks with the CFO. In an age of lighting fast connection
accros international borders it's interesting to see these older companies cope
with the changing times. In less than 2 days I am brimming with ideas on how to
reduce redundancy and increase efficiency for this company but it seems an
unfortunate byproduct of being my age is lack of concern; concern for my ideas,
concern for my abilities, and most importantly concern for my untapped
potential.
Why is it that in the
Internet Age nobody, even recruiters, are concerned about the vast amounts of
untapped potential coming out of this county's prestigious universities and
colleges? The reason is...THE INTERNET! I don't know how many times I have been
posting resumes or in an interview/phone screening and felt like one single
misstep would lead to disqualification. It seems that in an era where one can
post 50 resumes in just as many minutes, employers have become so bombarded
with "talent" they became hunters of the elusive purple squirrel.
That is, a candidate who perfectly matches ALL requirements of the position and
makes NOT ONE mistake in the process. I remember once I was in a phone
screening and I`d been out of work for a few weeks, got in with Accountemps,
and received my first bite from a company that was interested in me. I was so
excited and prepared; I had notes on why I was good for the company, why the
company was good for me, how I could benefit them with my skill-set, and how I
could grow with time, problems, issues, etc etc etc...When I finally got the
call I was flabbergasted by the questions I was asked. Things like, “where do
you see yourself in five years?” and “how would you rate you performance at
your last job?” I felt like I was getting the same question 500+ other
candidates were getting in the hope that one of them might instill a little intrigue
for the recruiter.
Why is my job search reliant on the intrigue of an often times unrelated
third party? What has happened to this country when employers are so saturated
with applications they lost all concern for making an investment in their employees? You know, I don’t have the greatest skin, I`m a bit quirky, and I am
still wearing dress pants from my days in catholic high school but I damn sure
am smarter, more competent, and more capable than 90% of the applicants
applying for the same entry-level accounting job as I. But it’s my messy haircut and old clothes that get me disqualified
because the employer is so concerned with a total package they forgot about
what it takes to build a house. You don’t build a house from the top down; you build it from
the inside out. I have the educational foundation and at 29 I have the
need/want/desire to establish a strong career, but it seems all anyone wants
nowadays is a complete addition. They want to install the submarine bay to the
international space station/raptor preserve instead of building it from scratch.
Look employers, it’s no fun playing with Legos if the international space
station/raptor preserve has the submarine bay already attached. If you want to
have a kick-ass time you need to use a little imagination and invest in your
creation. If you’re not ready to step on a few bricks to make a masterpiece
then what are you even doing in the playroom?
