# Ditching a corporate management career in recession



## Brenno123 (15 Jan 2012)

Hi all. Looking for some constructive advice.
I started a new job as a management accountant for an international company earning 55k about 5 months ago.I've been workin in the field for maybe 4-5 years now and I have come to the point I literallly can't bear it anymore.I wake up with a churning stomach, I spend most of my days doing impossible tasks trying to estimate costs etc with no right answer,I have a boss that is as personable as a corpse and I literally have zero motivation anymore.
It actually brought me to the point of tears last week ( a grown man) and to the point I felt I was having a mini breakdown.

I discussed with my family who are very supportive.I really want to quit it altogether and am thinking of giving notice next week. I've realised it's not the company but the career choice as I've been job hopping quite a bit d past few years and always end up really unhappy. I chose the career for all the wring reasons, security status etc.

So I suppose my question is should I quit in this recession?I am financially secure for up to a year if I quit. My plan wud be to try and find a part time bookkeeping role and teach a bit with d qualifications I have (which I do already and enjoy) while I think of a new path. I would also like to set up as a sole trader to tax returns etc.but ultimately I want to get into a different field but need a bit of space to think about it. I feel if I go on any longer is this job I will get sick both physically and mentally.

Any advice appreciated.thanks


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## Setanta12 (15 Jan 2012)

I sympathise, but there's mo money in being a sole-trading (tax) accountant these days. (Everyone is at it).

Can you change ytiour role or how you approach it? Could you find some all-engaging hobby/course where your 9-5 circumstances does't occupy your mind so much?


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## Brenno123 (15 Jan 2012)

Thanks kildavin
I understand ur point re: hobby etc and I do have hobbies etc but of late find I can't switch off from the torment in my head. It's sucking d life out of me.
To be honest money isn't a main concern for me.I could easily live on 20k a year for a while.I've no car loan/ credit card etc.I have a mortgage but rental income covers that and a bit extra.
A handy bookkeeping role part time would suit me for a while. Wud it be hard to obtain or wud I be deemed overqualified?


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## RichInSpirit (15 Jan 2012)

Maybe you take your job too seriously ? 
If you are trying to estimate costs that implies the costs are in the future and you'd want to be a fortune teller to know what costs are going to be in the future. Particularly at the moment. 

So why not just dream up costs and not worry too much about it. If you add in some extra costs such as increased government taxation and the costs don't materialize in the future, then the company makes more profit than you forecasted and the company can say that earnings exceeded forecasts, do that for a few years and you'll probably own the company.  

Ps i'm not an accountant and I'd love 55k a year.


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## Jim2007 (15 Jan 2012)

So what do you want to do? what are you passionate about?

Over 20 years ago I qualified as a chartered accountant at a big 4 firm in Dublin and then resigned 6 months afterwards - I realized that there was no way I could spend the rest of my life doing that job, yes I'm interested in the financial world but not enough to spend the biggest part of my life doing it!

In college, although I did a business degree, I spent most of my nights hanging in the computer lab with the geeks writing code, so it was kind of obvious what I was passionate about!  So I switched and spent the last 20 years designing and writing applications for the insurance and banking industries as a freelancer here in Switzerland.

It's been a blast, doing what you're passionate about makes it very easy to get up in the morning... of course there will always be times when work gets you down, but they are a lot less frequent if you are doing something you like.  You only have one like so live it, rather than endure it.

If you have got few financial responsibilities, then why not take the time to figure out what you want to do...


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## Brenno123 (15 Jan 2012)

Wish it was that simple rich. Hard to understand for anyone not working in d field. Literally spending hours chasing tail doing impossible tasks and expected to be answerable to these figures that you can't be sure of.
It's conpletley headwrecking stuff. Give me 20k and peace of mind over 55k and complete stress anyway. And 55k is not that much with all d tax etc.certainly not worth d stress


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## Brenno123 (15 Jan 2012)

Hi jim.thanks for post. I guess im a much more earthy guy and my passion lies with animals.I wish I had become a vet but don't want 6 more years of uni. We own a farm in Dublin and I would love to set up horse livery stables and some dog kennels. We
 are literally in the doorstep of the city and I believe I could make a living out it, probably not a huge living but enough to survive and be happy.or at least
Happier!

I guess I've become scared as
I'm so used to doing the corporate
Slog.but I feel I've reached rock bottom this past while
And I have to change and take a risk for
My sanity!


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## Galwaygirl (15 Jan 2012)

reading your post my gut instinct is to say life is too short to be unhappy, however would work be more bearable if you could see light at the end of the tunnel. Would you consider hanging in there if you had a few plans in place, for instance:

-part time teaching - many of the institutes of technology will be losing staff to retirement in March opening up the possibility of teaching hours, if you already do some part time teaching this is a really viable possibility
- grinds for leaving cert is another option and being in Dublin you have a good catchement area
- VEC or other bodies - night classes
- make a start with your business idea (can I suggest adding in a cattery if you are not a cat hater)
- explore doing small accounts - farmers might be a good one to look at given your empathy with the profession. 
give your self a time scale to explore and get in place some of your ideas. While you do that save like mad (good practice for when you have no money!)

Best of luck


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## Brenno123 (15 Jan 2012)

Galwaygirl,thanks all the stuff u suggest is what I'm toying around with.i already do grinds which is actully quite busy. I'd love to get my foot in to a educational establishment to do parttime teaching and I have an interview in Monday for a parttime bookkeeping jobs so I hope I can get it.giv me time to focus in business plan.

Bottom line and d more I think of turning up tomorrow and facing my gormless boss and that headwrecking work the more I kno I have to get oout ASAP. But I see ur point, try and save like mad for next maybe 6 months. And then leave.  I could try but I really dunno if I can.
Thanks for advice


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## Sue Ellen (15 Jan 2012)

Have always heard that its easier to get a job while you still have a job so try to hang in there while you sort something out.  If you know you are leaving don't worry too much about the figures, just do your best because there is light at the end of the tunnel and take it a day at a time.

If you're not getting your animal fix on the farm it sounds to me that a bit of volunteering at somewhere like the DSPCA or some of the other shelters would help clear your head of the office work.

Hope things work out for you


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## Purple (15 Jan 2012)

Ho Brenno, if you have no dependents here and you are looking for something different and rewarding you could do worse than talk to www.vso.ie (or another charity)
Your financial skills and farming background could be very useful as an aid worker overseas. It would also look great on your CV (and with de wimmen )


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## One (17 Jan 2012)

It is easy for me to say but I have always gone with the notion that the most important thing about leaving a bad job is to go directly to a better one. 

I have had four bad jobs, ones that left me socially isolated, humiliated, and with poor confidence. I never left those places until I got something better, because it is hard to get something better. Personally, I would rather be in a bad job than be out of work. And again, it is easy for me to say, but if I could go back in time to ten-twleve years ago I would just turn up at work and learn to say "I don't give a damn" about those things that caused the problems. Plenty of others did, and they got on just fine.


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## Daisy2012 (18 Jan 2012)

+ 1 Purple - I think that is a brilliant idea.


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## johnno09 (22 Jan 2012)

Look into the companies that train people in the likes of IPASS payroll and computerised accounts fetac courses and see if you could do that a few days here and there. 

Also at this stage of the year you could advertise around the third level college to give grinds to accountancy/ business students who will shortly start to panic about exams. 

Try the private colleges like IBAT or Griffith for lecturing.

You could look into doing a second level teaching qualification in accounting via Hibernia or DCU part time. 

Why not give yourself another month or two in your job before quitting to put together a plan, see the job in the meantime as a means to an end...if the boss if half dead anyway he probably wont notice but he will be putting money to help fund your master plan in your bank account. Once you mentally know that you're virtually on the way out the door then it'll probably become bearable in the meantime while you work on your plan.


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## cork (30 Jan 2012)

I got out of working for accountancy practices - long hours with poor pay.

I got a nine to five job in a very admin type role that was 9 to 5.

Now I am sort of worried about the role that I am in - for future interviews.

I don't regret ditching accountancy practices but the role that I am working in, is a bit of a worry.

If there was an accountancy / finance element to any role -go for it.


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## flattea2 (30 Jan 2012)

Hi 
May I suggest a couple of things.

Firstly, I am an accountant and have some accountant friends; one of these was in a very similar situation to you.
He got very upset one night with us for the same type of reasons you have mentioned and was about to walk out of the job that week.

We went up to him next day and sat down with his wife. We convinced him to go to the doctor before walking out on his job (unlike yourself though the wife and kids would have been dependent on him). The doctor told him that he had mild depression and started a course of recovery for him. A year later he is still in the same job (doesn’t love it but is in a better place and seems much happier). He is working on long term plans to eventually start his own business. I am not saying you are ill in the way he was but I am just outlining a case similar to yours, maybe it’s worth thinking about and discussing with your nearest and dearest.

Secondly, I understand the difficultly of costings – really there are tough thing to get right. But would you consider maybe doing a short course in it again? Or get one of the textbooks from one of the Institutes relating to costings and spend some time studying it. You may find that when you have a better understanding of costings that the job becomes a little more manageable.

Hope this advice helps.


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## cork (30 Jan 2012)

Many jobs in accountacy are indeed long hours and poor pay with high pressure.

This situation is pretty common, especially in the current climate.

Many accountancy practices belong in the era of Dickens.


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## Purple (30 Jan 2012)

Great post from Flattea2.


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## Calico (31 Jan 2012)

As other posters have said, it's definitely easier to get a job from a job, and the stock advice is not to leave if at all possible. However, the OP sounds like they are at the end of their rope. He/She is financially secure not to need the money and has other ideas of what to do for a living. I think if it were me, I would sit down with my employer and explain my feelings about the work. Perhaps a leave of absence or reducing to part-time hours could be an option? If this was not a runner, then leaving in your situation would not be a catastrophe. Also, accountancy is one of the few professions that doesn't seem to have been as badly affected by the recession, although I could be wrong about that.


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## gearoid (31 Jan 2012)

As flattea2 said, please talk to a doctor regarding possible mild depression. Don't worry about the "grown man" tag. One famous UK prime minister had serious depression (Churchill), and one of the most recent UK prime ministers was reputedly treated for mild depression while in office.


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## Brenno123 (3 Feb 2012)

thanks everyone for all this advice

flattea2 - very good post...you are right that i am mildly depressed. i haven't talked to a doctor about it yet but intend to very soon.  but i am fairly confident the depression is caused by the job and not me being depressed generally and the hatred of my job being a side effect of an illness (if you get my drift)......therefore i would be cautious taking any sort of anti-depressant as it would just be like a plaster covering a wound.....might give me a false sense of feeling my job is bearable but the root is i know in my heart i made a bad career choice and will never be happy doing it (no matter what they pay me). 

I did volunteer work for an animal charity last year - i came out of that feeling charged an alive - far from depressed.  I'm not a depressive person by nature and am a very fun loving guy that tries not to take life too serious. This profession is slowing killing all that in me.

Just to update, I handed in my notice last week and feel absolutely fantastic. I have picked up a handy part-time bookkeeping role and have many teaching clients. i feel such a sense of freedom and liberation. Hopefully that is me done with the rat race forever.  No regrets.  But I will definitely explore the depression suggestion. thanks guys


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## Diziet (3 Feb 2012)

I think your mental health is very important and well done for resigning and so positively going after the alternatives. If the mild depression persists, do go and see the GP - depression is very common and it generally gets better with treatment or even just with some positive life changes and time.

Best of luck to you.


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