I currently work in public accounting doing taxes (meaning I do other taxes for other people and for businesses). About a year ago, I took a job at a small firm (like 10 employees) due to seeking more flexibility in my schedule. Previously I had worked at some larger regional CPA firms (7 years worth), but got burnt out from the long hours and felt stressed at times. I did really enjoy some of the work as it fit my skill set well in that it was highly technical and required hyper focus, attention to detail, and critical thinking. My current job does require some of these same skills, but not to the same degree due to the fact that we have much smaller clients. Therefore, they have less technical tax issues to work through (the part that I am good at).
My new job certainly enables me greater flexibility and less hours (significantly less). But what I failed to foresee was not feeling challenged and feeling bored at times. In many ways, I went from one extreme to another. The greater flexibility and less hours are hard to beat and if I stick around I will likely have the chance to be part owner at this firm. In a sense I am my own boss (or some say the clients are my bosses). It's pretty nice not having to deal with bureaucracy of a larger company and office politics. With that being said, I don't know if the work itself is entirely right for me. I can certainly do the work, but may not feel all the challenged much of the time.
I don't really feel like going back to where I once worked (they no doubt would hire me back). I wasn't entirely happy there do to feeling overworked, although I did enjoy a lot of the work. I've heard other firms were even more hours, but this is still how I felt. One option is to go and work in industry (do taxes and/or accounting for company in house) for a large company. In doing so, maybe I would be able to find some technical challenges which is the main strength I bring to the table. There is no guarantee of that however. I've never really worked in industry so it is difficult for me to have a mental framework of what it may be like. I would also likely be working more and have to give up some of the freedom that I currently have.
So, in conclusion I am having great difficulty deciding which direction I want to take. Do I stay where I am currently working and invest some more time there? Or do I look elsewhere? I know all of you only know this small piece of my life, but I am grateful for any suggestions/advice.
My new job certainly enables me greater flexibility and less hours (significantly less). But what I failed to foresee was not feeling challenged and feeling bored at times. In many ways, I went from one extreme to another. The greater flexibility and less hours are hard to beat and if I stick around I will likely have the chance to be part owner at this firm. In a sense I am my own boss (or some say the clients are my bosses). It's pretty nice not having to deal with bureaucracy of a larger company and office politics. With that being said, I don't know if the work itself is entirely right for me. I can certainly do the work, but may not feel all the challenged much of the time.
I don't really feel like going back to where I once worked (they no doubt would hire me back). I wasn't entirely happy there do to feeling overworked, although I did enjoy a lot of the work. I've heard other firms were even more hours, but this is still how I felt. One option is to go and work in industry (do taxes and/or accounting for company in house) for a large company. In doing so, maybe I would be able to find some technical challenges which is the main strength I bring to the table. There is no guarantee of that however. I've never really worked in industry so it is difficult for me to have a mental framework of what it may be like. I would also likely be working more and have to give up some of the freedom that I currently have.
So, in conclusion I am having great difficulty deciding which direction I want to take. Do I stay where I am currently working and invest some more time there? Or do I look elsewhere? I know all of you only know this small piece of my life, but I am grateful for any suggestions/advice.
