advice for an entry-level preparer after tax season?

Not sure if this qualifies as an operations question, but would anyone be willing to share any thoughts as to how a new graduate entry-level tax preparer can succeed at a small to medium size firm?

I am trying to encourage a person who is discouraged after having been let go after tax season from a small firm. He is about to complete his fifth year of credits needed for the CPA exam and had been hired at a small firm six months ago, part-time at first, then full-time during tax season. He had some prior tax preparation experience working for one CPA, dealing mostly with individual returns, which he made clear to the firm. The job was not represented as a seasonal job, so he really was optimistic this could be a good start for him and he worked as many hours as possible during busy season. Shortly after, with no review, he was let go for lack of work. He has no idea if this was in any way due to his performance and was not given any feedback besides review notes. A senior he was supposed to have worked with quit right before tax season and the firm has been advertising for experienced professionals, so not sure how much of this was him and how much of it was they do not want / cannot train a minimally experienced employee.

I know many small firms hire just for the season and do not always tell the employee beforehand, but what are some things he can do to better his chances that if he can find another position he will be kept on and given training? Do most small to medium firms only hire very experienced employees (three to five years of all kinds of tax returns & write up work)? The larger firms only recruit new grads out of college, so not sure what tax accounting opportunities there are for a person who did not pursue the traditional accounting degree and was hired right out of school.

I would say that the general rule is that firms hire tax preparers just before the busy tax season and then promptly fire them after tax season ends. So if the position offered was a return preparer then there should not be any expectation for full year employment unless you have a written employment to the contrary.

My advice to you would be to seek other "accounting skills" positions that are not directly connected with return preparation for full time work and then start your own tax prep business on the side.

See the other post where the discussion yielded very good advice for a CPA wanting to breakout on his own.

Our industry is similar to the apprentice/journeyman/master model of the trades. It requires the masters to invest in the future of our profession by training the apprentices into becoming journeymen and to help the journeymen grow into masters. However, this also comes at an immediate cost, and each individual master in the short term has the financial incentive to let someone else deal with the apprentices. This is the "tragedy of the commons."

If you're hired in November for a non-seasonal role and fired after the 4/15 deadline because of a lack of work, you really can't take it too hard. You found a firm that wasn't honest with you -- either in the hiring process or in the firing process -- and now you're free to find a better one. Always look on the bright side of life. Firms who are hiring over the next few months are generally going to be looking for a long-term employee, so now's the perfect time to be looking for a full-time job.

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate the thoughts. I think he was discouraged because after he worked long hours for months while still taking classes and put in a lot of effort since he thought this was a long-term opportunity, he was let go without any feedback. Now he questions if the firm did not have work or if he was not up to speed. He thinks he maybe did not meet their expectations if this happened so quickly after tax season was completed, but he does not know since he was not given any review. He said he was receiving review notes at first, but as things got busier he did not get work back. I thought it was standard for a firm to at least let an employee know what is required and give the person a chance to improve, so if this did not happen does it mean his skills were way below what was wanted? Why not give him some advice?

He is still applying for tax accountant jobs, but is thinking it may not be easy to have a good career in tax at a small firm, especially since many of the positions ask for 2-5 years of experience. Unless a person was hired right out of college (often to a medium to large firm), there does not seem to be much opportunity to get a start in taxation with a firm who will train and mentor. An apprenticeship of some sort would be ideal, but it seems like that is not really a possibility since many firms just need extra help during tax season. I have read that firms need more senior tax accountants, but from where are they coming? Who is the ideal candidate applying to an entry-level staff accountant a small firm?

I think there are too many unknowns with your friend's situation, but it sounds most likely that either (1) he wasn't doing well in the job, or (2) the firm he was at is poorly run. But there's no way to know at this point. If your friend tries a public job again and has a similar experience, maybe it's a sign toward #1, but there's not enough evidence right now to say what it really is.

The ideal candidate to be an entry-level staff accountant in a small firm has (1) reasonable social skills, (2) a willingness and ability to learn, (3) a baseline of knowledge from not sleeping through college to build on, (4) be working toward passing the CPA exam if the small firm is a CPA firm, and maybe a couple others.