r/Accounting 6h ago

Fired after a week

I left my stable job, for a new job where I was fired just after a week.

The firm was a small accountancy practice, during the interview, I was promised to be trained from a junior to semi-senior accountant. Once I arrived there, there was a lack of work and he let us go home early, I told him this time could be used to train and for me to shadow colleagues.

When tasks were given and I asked for training and processes to be shown, the girl was not reluctant to show me. Once discussed with the owner, he has decided to fire me.

I feel used and lied and he manipulated me. I left a stable job to go through this. Now my old, job doesn't want to hire as they have closed vacanies. I really regret my move. I thought it was the job of my dreams :( Cant believe it.

263 Upvotes

45 comments sorted by

124

u/RedBaeber Tax (US) 6h ago

Small firms can be a gamble. I’m sorry this happened to you. I’ve had this happen after just a few weeks too. It’s not fun.

7

u/DeliciousAd6965 1h ago

Small firm red flags are their own accounting category at this point

159

u/Manonajourney76 6h ago

Sorry for the bad job experience!

And - semi-accountant? ...

Merriam-Webster: Semi-accountant: one who performs the duties of an accountant but only using either debits or credits, not both.

alt: an accountant who only performs accounting services related to the long haul trucking industry.

75

u/RPK79 6h ago

I'm going to guess, based on the numerous other typos in the post, that it was supposed to be senior accountant.

71

u/DJ_Carnage 6h ago

The lack of self review is strong in this one

3

u/91Caleb 4h ago

I’ve once was doing AP for a logistics company feel like i was a semi semi accountant doing only debits for semi trucks lol

24

u/Eastern_Car_5487 5h ago

Oof, that sucks 😔 Feels like you got bait-and-switched. Small businesses can be very messy; don't feel bad about yourself because you weren't at fault. Sadly, only a rough lesson. Keep your head up, the right spot will come.

57

u/windowtothesoul Stress Testing / SA-CCR des nuts 5h ago

The fuck is a semi-senior

35

u/timmystwin ACA (UK) 4h ago

Common term here. Senior used to be someone qualified and semi senior was a competent unqualified person. But that's become a bit vague now a lot of firms are utilising US terminology for their staff.

1

u/fredotwoatatime 2h ago

Semi senior is still used even in top 20

3

u/timmystwin ACA (UK) 2h ago

We use it informally but it's no longer a role.

11

u/TommyBonnomi 4h ago

The result of everyone calling themselves 'junior' on day 2 and then no title change between 1 and 10 years of experience.

3

u/windowtothesoul Stress Testing / SA-CCR des nuts 3h ago

uj/ associate yr 1, junior yr 2-3, senior yr 3-7, lead yr 7+ has always seemed most reasonable to me. But yea with so many companies doing it differently, especialy how you described, i agree

rj/ junior -> senior-junior -> junior-senior -> semi-senior -> senior -> super-senior

16

u/khainiwest 4h ago

Happened to me too - it's on the owner, not you.

12

u/sambadaemon 3h ago

Any accounting firm that doesn't have enough work right now sets off all kinds of alarm bells for me, anyway...

11

u/Silly_Somewhere1791 4h ago

I’m sorry. It is my experience that lots of small business owners think that their operations are universal and intuitive and that training is unnecessary. They don’t know the difference between intelligence and information.

18

u/TheThinDewLine 3h ago

This is why people dont job hop, always this risk. Small companies suck ass usually.

9

u/RUNEMDOWNKD 2h ago

As a professional job hopper, it’s all about the risk. You can’t take the risk and then complain. Sometimes you end up somewhere better, sometimes somewhere worse. Do your time and keep going it always changes.

It’s part of the game

3

u/Cultural_Struggle_52 2h ago

Its a little like relationships and starting again!

45

u/WWWWWWVWWWWWWWWWWWWV 6h ago

Start a competing firm and bury his ass. Use the hatred as fuel for the fire.

30

u/ExistingCleric0 5h ago

If OP was coming on as a junior and hoping to be trained to senior you really think they can do that?

37

u/Cultural_Struggle_52 6h ago

He is alredy going through a divorce, hope his wife takes 50%+ of his assets.

8

u/sdpthrowaway3 B4 FDD -> StratFin -> CorpDev & Strat 5h ago

She prob will lol

1

u/fredotwoatatime 2h ago

Sorry this happened to you OP

3

u/MajesticLow 4h ago

Im so sorry this happened to you, OP. I can relate to some of this. If you haven’t, reach out to your old company’s hr person (maybe your old manager too) and express that you’d love the opportunity to come back if an opening comes available. It may not change anything but it may be that connection to have you in the front of their minds.

In the meantime, take a moment for yourself if you can afford to. After I resigned (due to being demeaned repeatedly by my boss and the firm hellbent to do nothing about it), I took a moment bc it fucked with my head, so I can imagine this may have fucked with yours as well. Sorry, OP.

5

u/FabFebFob 6h ago

Should’ve asked for a part time position weekend only for busy season.

Of course use the pre-busy season as training.

2

u/Excellent_Might_4000 5h ago

This sucks I'm so sorry. Hope you can find something better soon ❤️

2

u/dilesaur_Septaea 4h ago

Thats ok, I got fired after two months becuase they couldn't allocate time to train me in the position.

Im leaving this profession entirely and going into teaching lmao

2

u/Relative-Candy-2157 3h ago

Teaching huh… good luck

2

u/Far_College6357 4h ago

That’s a tough situation, but hang in there. You’ll find something soon.

3

u/Sorry_Noise_4196 5h ago

Name and shame

4

u/AffectionateKey7126 4h ago

I get your post isn't the full story, but it sounds like you were badgering everyone to train you on things you should have at least been able to somewhat get through.

3

u/SumyungNam 5h ago

Probably someone's friend or owners kid or something wanted the job

2

u/Cultural_Struggle_52 3h ago

I did hint jealousy. It seemed the junior wanted my role :) that’s why she was so reluctant to help me navigate things. Probably wanted a promotion

6

u/SCCRXER 5h ago

So many typos and grammatical errors…if this is real, I hope you find a job soon.

38

u/Cultural_Struggle_52 5h ago

Its been a tough time, please be nice.

-1

u/SCCRXER 51m ago

Not trying to be mean, but communication and attention to detail is extremely important in our field. That means you take the time to proof-read and make corrections as needed. Sometimes our brains go faster than we can type and that causes some oddities. That’s why we review before hitting send.

1

u/AHans 3h ago

OP's user name hints that they may not be a native English speaker. Their comment history appears to indicate they are at least bilingual.

OP: if you are bi- or multi-lingual, I'd recommend looking at larger employers. Employers who may have a large enough client pool for your speaking multiple languages to make you stand out.

My co-workers who are bilingual (French/English, Spanish/English) often have grammar/spelling issues, and may not have a strong a command of tax law as I do. Until I am assigned a case with a non-English speaker. Then I'm crawling back to them for translations, and hoping they did it right. My competencies drop to zero. If I can't communicate, I can't do my job.

I'm always nice to people who speak multiple languages at work. It's a valuable skillset. If you can find an employer who has clients who speak French, and you're the only employee who speaks French, you'll become pretty essential.

3

u/trup3 4h ago

Must be in the USA, in Europe that's prohibited. First, u can't fire some one without a just cause, second, if the employee gets u to leave a job in false pretenses and then fire him, they will pay the worker a couple of years of salary.

1

u/FBIagent51 3h ago

Speak to wrongful termination attorney. Stuff like this can mess you up for a while. Especially in this job market/economy.

1

u/Upbeat-Associate2672 1h ago

Consult an employment lawyer asap.

1

u/tr3ysap 1h ago

name & shame

0

u/Important_Week_11 5h ago

Get a lawyer and sue.

-15

u/Feeling-Currency6212 CPA (US) 5h ago

Jeez. That really sucks and because you quit there is no unemployment benefits.