So….what kind of friends do I need?

[jbar]

My problem:

I’m in my mid-thirties, single, fairly-well educated (mid-level CGA), and I obtained a decent-level of work experience (Corporate Banking Manager of a $6 billion company). I managed to climb the ladder because of a combination of smart and hard work, as opposed to being a conniving, sniveling, politician.

Then, a few years ago it all came to a screaming halt. I was laid-off and was told that my position was been eliminated, and yet, it was resurrected with a new employee. I found this out through a friend who worked at that company, since everybody else kept it hidden from me. I tried asking my then-connections in the banking/Bay-Street sector to help me out, but no luck there. I’ve been unemployed for quite sometime, and in spite of my best efforts, I cannot seem to get a job…..any level of job. I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why I have not been hired:

“You are over-qualified”
“You are under-qualified”
“Your line of experience is too specialized for our company”
“You would not be a good fit” (or in other words we don’t like you personally, or the way you look)
“We decided to go with an internal candidate”
“Your long-term goals are too ambitious, we are looking for someone with middling aspirations”
“After a long-discussion with our senior accounting staff, we feel that this company is slightly too big considering the level of experience that you have. You almost made it”

Now, before the sanctimonious nay-sayers start chewing me out by saying “there is no excuse to be unemployed”, let me say this: if you that ignorant, then you should easily be able get me a job in your company. It is a TWO-WAY street….if there is no excuse why I shouldn’t be working, then there is NO EXCUSE for someone not hiring me.

I did manage to get a Financial Analyst role in a company a while back for a few months through an agency. The agency misrepresented me to their client, and vice-verse, without either of our knowledge, and it blew-up during their fiscal year-end. Unfortunately, the client and I trusted everything that the agency told us, so for some miraculous reason, nothing “wrong” reared it’s head during the interviews. In a nutshell, the agency overstated my capabilities to their client, and the agency overstated their client’s willingness to train me. Their CEO and President called me and told me that they are upset that they lost their commission since I didn't get past the 3-month mark. These "business" people sure like to talk tough on the phone, but face-face, I'll make them shit their pants.

And yes, I’ve been through all of the agencies; Robert Half, Accounting Advantage, Butt-Fuck Recruiting, etc… You name it, I’ve been through it. Most of them have gotten me interviews for roles that I would have no business being in. But then again, their primary interest IS to earn money at all other costs…..silly me.

My asshole family, who always resented the fact that I lived the somewhat-comfortable/high life a bit, told me that my education and experience are now worth nothing, and that I have to start from scratch again at a minimum wage job. Going from $28/hr to $8/hr? I don’t fucking think so. They’ve “Oh well, that’s life”… well not my fucking life baby. But, I should mention that I have even flipped burgers at a friend’s restaurant in order to make it look like I’m doing the “right thing”, and in order to keep busy. A few geniuses along the way have told me that I’m unemployable, but I’m guessing that Paris Hilton is a fucking Mensa compared to these people.

Also, my credit-rating has caused me to lose a few opportunities. More and more companies are doing credit checks, because they are under the delusion that net-worth/cash-flow management is an indication of job-performance. I come from a middle-class background, and I’ve run circles around people who come from a rich background. As I said, I’ve been forced to walk down my financial path…I’ve been living on liquidated credit-cards. My indebtedness has now reached bankruptcy-level, and creditors have been leaving a least a dozen phone messages on my answering machine on a daily basis. Several collection agencies have already sent threatening letters. I actually look forward going to court and explain how I’ve been ass-raped of everything. I will be going bankruptcy in the future, so none of that shit matters. Even the CIBC National Student Centre has called my student loans, and the Government will be chasing me down to collect. I have no income to be taken away, no assets to be seized, and untraceable/freezable cash. Until I get a job, I hold all of the cards, so speak. I have nothing to fucking loose except my health and freedom….we’ll see who blinks first, and who has the biggest balls.

Back to my original question (and thread title); what kind of connections/friends do I need to obtain in order to get back my semi-lucrative accounting career back, since working hard/smart apparently means nothing? Better yet, what the fuck do I have to do to start earning six-digit figures? There’s gotta be money on Bay Street….I know that…..I’ve seen it!

I know that this forum is used by a lot of the “Bay-Street Set”, so I’m hoping for some intelligent answers/explanations, since I’m at my fucking end with this.

Yes, yes…. I know that attitude, mindset, and perspective have a lot to with my overall. I am generally a hard-working, optimistic individual, but how many fucking times to do I have to be kicked in the balls and pretend to like it? I’m expecting a lot of criticism for my thread, but I don’t give a fuck anymore.



Sincere Thanks and Cheers

 

[hairyfucker]

I read the whole thing and I feel for you. Unfortunately, I do not have any advice or options for you. But I am curious about your numbers.

You mentioned going from $28 per hour and also a six figure income. Typically $28 per hour would equate to about half of a six figure income. Was this just bad math on your part or am I reading into this too much and six figures was a goal and not a previous level?

Keep your head up and you attitude positive. Things will turn around. They always do.

 

[jbar]

I read the whole thing and I feel for you. Unfortunately, I do not have any advice or options for you. But I am curious about your numbers.

You mentioned going from $28 per hour and also a six figure income. Typically $28 per hour would equate to about half of a six figure income. Was this just bad math on your part or am I reading into this too much and six figures was a goal and not a previous level?

Thanks for the encouragement. I imagine that there are going to be other people who are going to say the opposite and try to knock me down, but the past few years of my life have been absolutely unbelievable. Hence my venting.

In regards to my numbers; I wasn't trying to equate $28/hr to a six-digit level. As you suggested, $28 works out to about $55K. I keep on reading that people are getting $75K to $200K jobs/careers on a mere whim, so I'm wondering if that is true, and if it is that easy, then what the fuck am I doing wrong? I'm just baffled at the sheer stupidity that I've be through over the past few years. The men have been separated from the boys. I guess I'm a man now.

Keep your head up and you attitude positive. Things will turn around. They always do.

Well, even though things don't always work-out (life's reality), I will always fight and try to win. I'm not a lay-down-and-die type of guy. I won't go out with a whimper.

Cheers

 

[hunter001]

Sorry to hear you circumstances.

Without know what your qualifications are it is a tough call. Take a personal inventory. It sounds like your previous position was very specialized. Here are a few ideas:
1) Are you willing to relocate? Jobs are booming out west perhaps there might be more opportunities out there.
2) Do you want to do the same job or what would be your ideal job? What education/experience do you need to get there? Is there any resources you can tap to help you get the education/experience to get there. (i.e. if there is an entry level job that leads to where you want to go. Tell the recruiter/interviewer that you will take the lower position with hopes of advancing with the organization. You might be able to advance to the position you want in a matter of months instead of waiting for the "right" job.
3) Evey time you are declined a job, try to contact the employer and find out what else you could do to get the job. It may not get you that job it might help you on what to focus on.

There are other ideas but it is kind of late. You need to be your own best friend and you have to get as much feedback as you get to make a plan going forward.

Good luck.

 

[jbar]

If you can deal with some bullshit, Logistics officer in the military should be easy to get, if you have a degree, they should be willing to suck your dick to get you in. After a stint in a supply batt, and if you are lucky you will get air element, you should be back to financials. Couldn't hurt to ask. Best of all, odds are you will never have to look for work again.

A friend of my family has been at both Camp Borden and Camp Trenton, and I've also been to information seminars held by the Metro Toronto police at Yonge and College. There are two problems in both of those cases; a) I would not pass their uncorrected vision tests and b) in my case, background checks would turn up some ugly things from my youth even though I don't have a criminal record. They are VERY thorough about this. For example, if you farted in class back in Grade 4, they WILL find out about it.

After a few years, I would also think your odds of entering the field any other way would be dead, unless you are willing to lie on your resume. Why hire someone who has not worked in 2 or 3 years and who might be rusty when you can hire someone freshly out of work, or better still working elsewhere.
Also I am suprised you could get any interviews, no work for that period of time sends some powerfull signals that something is wrong. Signals might not always be right but still.

Well, I guess that this is the part where life isn't fair (for me). I played by the rules and did everything right, and got severely fucked by the system (collectively speaking, the financial community). I am still getting interviews with help from others, but the door IS slowly shuting. As I've said before, I've applied for ANYTHING (and have been rejected), but it is the system that has made me rusty. I didn't quit, I wasn't fired because of incompetency, or willful insubordination, just cause, etx...

Why should the financial community re-hire me? How about because they wrongly put me in the position that I'm in today. I know that that is a "bullshit" reason, and that the financial/accounting community will not magically say that "oh, sorry, we were morally/technically wrong, and we will rescue you". I hope that no one on this forum goes through what I've been through. In terms of the "signals" that you speak of... my resume is impressive (until I got fucked over), my employee performance reports are excellent, my philsophy towards life and work is generally uplifting and progressive.

Unfortunately, people do get screwed over in life (on many levels) to the point of oblivion...nobody should kid themselves about this. I believe that I've covered every angle and explained everything in my original post regarding my situation, but there will always be at least one person who will say "jbar is full of shit, he isn't telling us something" Oh well.

Cheers

 

[jbar]

Sorry to hear you circumstances.

Without know what your qualifications are it is a tough call. Take a personal inventory. It sounds like your previous position was very specialized. Here are a few ideas:
1) Are you willing to relocate? Jobs are booming out west perhaps there might be more opportunities out there.
2) Do you want to do the same job or what would be your ideal job? What education/experience do you need to get there? Is there any resources you can tap to help you get the education/experience to get there. (i.e. if there is an entry level job that leads to where you want to go. Tell the recruiter/interviewer that you will take the lower position with hopes of advancing with the organization. You might be able to advance to the position you want in a matter of months instead of waiting for the "right" job.
3) Evey time you are declined a job, try to contact the employer and find out what else you could do to get the job. It may not get you that job it might help you on what to focus on.

There are other ideas but it is kind of late. You need to be your own best friend and you have to get as much feedback as you get to make a plan going forward.

Good luck.

Well, within the context of a accounting/financial career, my qualifications ARE specialized (based on the feedback I've received), and there is very low turnover in the Treasury departments of companies. To give you an idea, here are some of the responsiblities that I had as Banking Manager (partial resume) until I was laid-off:

-Managed over $6 billion in sales receipts on an annualized basis, while protecting funds from potential risks, and maximizing investment income
-Continually maintained and updated (two months forward) daily cash forecasting model, while seeking improvements to reduce unpredictable and volatile fluctuations
-Secured an additional $100 million line of credit (overdraft protection) to facilitate the operational efficiency of daily wire transfers
-Performed multi-million dollar transfers on a daily basis to ensure proper funding of corporate expenditures
-Purchased $350 million of USD on an annualized basis for the use of American and overseas expenditures, through a combination of spot-market and hedge purchases
-Managed the cash proceeds generated from a $275 million debenture
-Performed financial modeling and variance analysis on a daily basis for the Treasury department, and on a monthly basis for the Vice-President and CFO
-Worked with other internal business partners to proactively address banking requirements or new developments (e.g. online tax filing, payroll disbursements)
-Daily contact with numerous business partners within the company (e.g. Tax, Payroll, Real Estate), and members of the banking community including, but not limited to: cash management, securities, various 3rd-party processing centers, foreign exchange, print shops, armored car services
-Maintained and updated legal banking documentation as required; signing authorities, US dollar purchase confirmations, mark-to-market reports, service agreements, payment agreements, banking resolution for various entities contained within the company

Of course, this doesn't include the brief Financial Analyst experience that I had, nor the the other odd jobs I've taken along the way. As I've said before, I've tried going for ANYTHING that will get me in the door. I can't believe that companys don't think that I can transpose my Treasury experience into other roles within their respective companies. It not like my responsibilities (as listed above) are entry level. It just doesn't make sense.

Thanks for the quality feedback.

Cheers

 

[hunter001]

I don't really know that business but I am guessing that most companies prefer to hire from within.

It kind of sucks and it sounds like it is too late to network with other guys in a similar positions.

Getting a job is about marketing, so you have to figure out what your strengths are and see how they can be applied to other jobs that you are interested in. Then write your resume that highlight those strength and try to target certain jobs.

Doing the "right" thing doesn't seem to be working so it might be time to be creative.

The worse thing you can do is feel sorry for yourself. "I have been dealt a crappy hand..." There is no losing hand in life, only people unwilling/unable to play the cards they are dealt. Don't let it get you down just look for more possibilities. (Yeah I know I will get slammed for the pep talk... lol)

 

[Brotherman]

Two words: United States

 

[jbar]

Doing the "right" thing doesn't seem to be working so it might be time to be creative.)

That angle is being taking care off. I haven't discussed/disclosed it on this forum for various reasons.

The worse thing you can do is feel sorry for yourself. "I have been dealt a crappy hand..." There is no losing hand in life, only people unwilling/unable to play the cards they are dealt. Don't let it get you down just look for more possibilities. (Yeah I know I will get slammed for the pep talk... lol)

Feel sorry for myself? Not exactly....it's more like rage and anger towards certain groups of people.

As far as pep talks go; for as long as I'm above ground, anything is possible.
As I implied before, I'm a fighter, and my balls are happen to growing by the minute. Hell, I even feel couragous enough to get married.


Cheers.

 

[jbar]

Two words: United States

I was thinking about that. I also have a few friends across the globe in the Phillipines. I may join them.

 

[hunter001]

Feel sorry for myself? Not exactly....it's more like rage and anger towards certain groups of people.

Well you have to control your own life and until you realize that you will continue to blame others.

You might want to check out the bankruptcy thing. You mentioned student loans. I could be wrong but I am not sure you can declare bankruptcy if you have outstanding student loans. It is something to look into.

B.T.W. - I am not giving you a hard time. I have/had some of the same inflections you have. So I am speaking from experience.

Best of luck.

 

[jbar]

Well you have to control your own life and until you realize that you will continue to blame others.

I fully understand that. It's hard, but I'm trying to let it go, and get closure on the whole thing it. There are days (including tonight), where I just feel absolute raw.

You might want to check out the bankruptcy thing. You mentioned student loans. I could be wrong but I am not sure you can declare bankruptcy if you have outstanding student loans. It is something to look into.

B.T.W. - I am not giving you a hard time. I have/had some of the same inflections you have. So I am speaking from experience.

Best of luck.

I've been spending time researching the Ontario bankruptcy laws, and I know several people who have been through that process. Due to those facts, I've been getting a lot of informal "counsel" on the matter. I'm not expecting to get my student loans discharged....the bulk of my debt is on credit cards, and it is a ugly number. The repayment terms on the OSAP loans are obviously going to be revised once I select and hire a trustee, but all of my other creditors will be "sent away". Also, I'm somewhat hoping that my creditors will look at my current credit report, see the futility of my financial situation, and merely give up before I file.

I wasn't thinking that you were giving me a hard time. I thank you for your sincere feedback. I'm just looking for honest answers, good or bad.


Cheers

 

[jbar]

How about jumping outside of the box? Have you looked at getting into sales? A person with a sound understanding of balance sheets, income statements, ROI, bridge financing, etc., might have a real career waiting for them in the commercial real estate industry. If you speak more than one language, you may be able to represent others who want to drop their money into Canadian real estate (and real estate is one of the few engines that's still running at high torque in Ontario).

Before my accounting career, I did have a prior life in sales. So that is an option...I'll check it out.

Finally, and I say this sincerely, try not to turn a broad ranging economic problem into a personal issue -- it's not necessarily YOU, it's Ontario. Jobs in the financial industry have been eliminated through the total success of the micro chip funnel, the successful merging of many of the large banking back-room operations, and the now sub-prime crises (which most banking folks saw coming some time back...thus, the job layoffs were a given)).

In terms of me not being able to get into the banks/financial-institutions, I fully understand the problems they have been facing. When I was dealing with them when I was in Treasury, my foreign-exchange dealers were commenting to my that the banks were dealing-out lay-offs by the 1000's every quarter. The retail sector (which is where I worked) had an easier time in comparison.

I don't take it personally (well %99 of the time), but like I said before, I'm not going to get kicked in the balls and pretend to like it.

The suggestion of looking to another city is a good one. Maybe Regina or Calgary? Oil's doing pretty well these days. They must need someone to count all that money.

Listen, Ontario's bottomed out. We were living on borrowed time here with the Auto Pact, the artificially low C$, and the endless transfers from the feds re our large OHIP needs, etc. However, those days are simply gone.

It funny that you say that. I recently read a Canadian business magazine that featured a number of high-flying entrepeuners (spelling?) that left Canada to go and start businesses/companys in the States. They surmised that Canada (not just Ontario), is becoming a primarily service-oriented economy (outside of natural resources) that does not has what it takes to perform on the global market. Hell, maybe I should go to the States.

A CGA is a respected designation...and you'll recover eventually. But, again, it's not you per se...so, keep marching forward.

I'm not beaten yet.


Cheers

 

[LordLoki]

Once you stop being a transaction processor your attitude and behaviour is the main factor in your being hired and keeping your job. If your last employer told you the job was redundant and then filled it after you left it is a clear message. Your work was technically competent or they would have dismissed you with cause. You were not a “desirable” employee so they dumped you.

No help from your contacts to find a nest in their organizations is also a loud statement. There are lots of jobs available.

When hiring someone into middle or senior management contacting someone you know at the previous employer for insight is pretty much a typical behaviour. Toronto is a small business community. If you seek work in the same field they will know someone who knew you.

I managed to climb the ladder because of a combination of smart and hard work, as opposed to being a conniving, sniveling, politician.

If I picked up that attitude in an interview I would never consider you for a management position. That is the mindset of a transaction level person.

All the reasons given to you are smoke and mirrors by the way. I have heard them a hundred times and they all translate to one thing.. “We do not want you”.

Last big factor is when a major company sees some one unemployed for an extended period of time finding out why is just common sense.

Observation…. At the time you had the job the company thought you had the wrong skill set for the job level. Now you have been unable to find work at that level for an extended period of time. One might assume that the prospective employers have the same belief as your previous employer.

Advice… If you failed to find a job at the same level or a higher level within a few weeks wake up and smell the roses and lower your expectations. Take a lower paying job and learn from your mistakes if you climb the ladder again.

After a couple of years unemployed you are an entry level employee again. Look for that kind of job. If you go in with a “I am a manager” attitude you will not be employed at a transaction level employee. Accept reality, and start over. Learn from the situation. Watch how management people behave and if you want to be one, learn the skills they value.

Sory if I sound harsh. But you asked.

 

[papasmerf]

Very often when we talk about the loss of jobs in the private sector we discuss reinventing ourself...........Pencil pushers are a dine a dozen and unless you bring in ten fold what you cost you are expendable. Start loking outside the number crunchers positions and think sales or support.

 

[3Tees]

Haven't read all of this in significant detail so I don't know if I'm on topic or not, but you could become self-employed as a bookkeeper. They start at about $40 and up. You could find an accountant that services small, independent businesses that require monthly or quarterly record keeping, and have that accountant put you into various businesses.

There are also various small business networking groups that meet for breakfasts every week. Get involved with those - I think that will be a source of business for you.

Don't know if bookkeeping is not up there with your skill set, but I run my own business - sometimes I do stuff that is "above me" and sometimes I do a lot of that is "below me" to make money. The challenge is running the business, which I consider to be a great task overall. So don't look at the function you are performing, look at the fact that you are running an enterprise.

 

[radius]

[edit: oops, just realized that I duplicated some ground hunter001 and LordLoki already went over... read their posts again and meditate on them because they are bang on]

I think you need some self reflection...

1) Are you screwing the pooch on the interviews?

I work in a different field, but I find that if I can even make it to the interview my chances are really good because they already like me enough to spend a few people's time talking to me. With the number of interviews you have apparently gone on you should have gotten a job by now.

Think about it, its as if women at a bar pre-qualified you and approached *you* instead. How easy should it be to score then?

Maybe you are giving the wrong vibe to your interviewers. Maybe you're not communicating your value add to them (eg the financial analyst role). You aren't bitching out your last job are you?


2) Is one of your references fucking you?

You might need to get a friend to pose as a possible employer and find out what your references are saying about you. Especially if you used one at your last employer.


3) Are you asking for too low a salary?

The salary you posted sounds very low for the level of responsibility and for the level of specialization required. Are you applying for the right jobs and asking for market value?


4) Are you sure you want to continue in that line of work?

You are in your mid-thirties and even being in management have hit only about $55k/year. To me, that's too far away from $100k to think that you will easily make it if you follow the same career path because whatever "slot" you are in doesn't ramp up fast/high enough.

You need some kind of discontinuity to bring you to where you want. That could be changing sides (eg maybe consulting instead), changing industries (whatever you're in to banking or finance), changing location (thought about Hong Kong or Singapore? big financial industries with lots of English speakers and internationally competitive pay levels) or maybe even changing careers.


(p.s. consider resetting your expectations a bit higher too... You thought $55k was living the high life and six figures is your target? Think big! )

 

[Garrett]

Sory if I sound harsh. But you asked.

I really agree with all that you said.

jbar, I know you are venting here, but you have a definite aggressive streak running through you. Maybe that is just here, but if any of that comes through in an interview, or any attempt at "old boy's club" asides, you are toast. Corporate hiring is very PC, and any red flag will push you out the door.

My personal take is you may be overselling yourself and you should contact someone as an image consultant. You may also not be cut out for six figures and Bay Street and should be looking at smaller markets.

 

[papasmerf]

I really agree with all that you said.

jbar, I know you are venting here, but you have a definite aggressive streak running through you. Maybe that is just here, but if any of that comes through in an interview, or any attempt at "old boy's club" asides, you are toast. Corporate hiring is very PC, and any red flag will push you out the door.

My personal take is you may be overselling yourself and you should contact someone as an image consultant. You may also not be cut out for six figures and Bay Street and should be looking at smaller markets.

actualy jbar reminds me of someone who say I am perfect what is wrong with everyone else?

 

[jbar]

Once you stop being a transaction processor your attitude and behaviour is the main factor in your being hired and keeping your job. If your last employer told you the job was redundant and then filled it after you left it is a clear message. Your work was technically competent or they would have dismissed you with cause. You were not a “desirable” employee so they dumped you.

No help from your contacts to find a nest in their organizations is also a loud statement. There are lots of jobs available.

When hiring someone into middle or senior management contacting someone you know at the previous employer for insight is pretty much a typical behaviour. Toronto is a small business community. If you seek work in the same field they will know someone who knew you.



If I picked up that attitude in an interview I would never consider you for a management position. That is the mindset of a transaction level person.

All the reasons given to you are smoke and mirrors by the way. I have heard them a hundred times and they all translate to one thing.. “We do not want you”.

Last big factor is when a major company sees some one unemployed for an extended period of time finding out why is just common sense.

Observation…. At the time you had the job the company thought you had the wrong skill set for the job level. Now you have been unable to find work at that level for an extended period of time. One might assume that the prospective employers have the same belief as your previous employer.

Advice… If you failed to find a job at the same level or a higher level within a few weeks wake up and smell the roses and lower your expectations. Take a lower paying job and learn from your mistakes if you climb the ladder again.

After a couple of years unemployed you are an entry level employee again. Look for that kind of job. If you go in with a “I am a manager” attitude you will not be employed at a transaction level employee. Accept reality, and start over. Learn from the situation. Watch how management people behave and if you want to be one, learn the skills they value.

Sory if I sound harsh. But you asked.

You don't sound harsh...I greatly appreciate your honesty. Thanks to a couple of too many drinks last night, my rant was a bit over the top when I posted it. I understand how people would think that I would be an egotistical asshole. My frustration and anger is the result of my situation....I've always done my best to make sure that I wasn't a holier-than-thou asshole in the work place (in spite of what was "indicated" in my original rant).

A few things:

a). as I had said, my annual employee performance reports (which included a component on additute), were very good. There were a couple of technical weekness along the way, but I left my ego at the door, and worked on improving them. If my attitude was the problem during my employment, then why wasn't it indicated an my employee report? Also, if my attitude since being laid-off is a problem, then why have I not been told that by interviewers/3rd party recruiters? I've never received that kind of feedback from people in the field. If I don't receive accurate feedback, then how am I suppose to improve on that factor? If I was told to work on attitude by these people, I would have worked on it. I have the documents to prove that my attitude was proper.

b). in terms of my ex-employer seeing me a "undesirable", and refilling the job in short order; no one (including myself) really knows the reasoning behind it. The decision to lay me off did not come from my boss, but my boss' boss. He in turn was asked to make a choice by the CFO, be demoted, or get laid-off as well. He choose the latter. Also, as I had just said, it was not my ex-boss' decision to lay me off. I was told by many people that she was very upset that she had to let me go. Are those people liars? My sources have told me that for few months that my job was eliminated, my ex-boss could not keep up with the work because it just keep on pilling up and up. The finance department in my old company was/is notorious for making incompetent staffing decisions.

c). in terms of not been able to get a position through my old contacts; as I had mentioned before, these people worked in the big banks who are laying off more people than the companies in the retail sector (which is where I'm from), so for them to get me in their company would be slim chances. Trying to go from a bad sector (retail) to a worse sector (banking), in terms of employement is difficult.

d). in terms of my expectations; I have lowered my expectations in order to get into the door anywhere. In spite of how I came across in my rant last night, nothing is beneath me.

e). in terms of that company that worked for temporarily; well, the agency that got me into the company (as a Senior Financial Analyst) told them that I would able to hit the floor running (which was a lie). And that agency told me that I would be able to transpose my Treasury analysis skills in to the FA role, and be trained in the areas well I fell short (also a lie). It was heart-breaking because the people at that company were very down-to-earth, and it was a good cultural "fit" for me.


In the end of it, maybe it IS sign that I'm not compatible with the accounting world (as you had suggested). Maybe the "accounting community" IS happy to be finally rid of me. I originally came from a sales/operations environments where the dynamics were far more aggressive and volitile. As a person, I don't look like an accountant, and I don't act like an accountant. I'm an odd blend of white-collar and blue-collar, and for a time, that was part of the reason why I was able to climb up the ladder on a fast than average level.

Maybe this whole thing is a sign that I should give up on accounting and go back to my original career.

Thanks and cheers