Hello,

I graduated last year with a degree in Math. I haven't been able to find anything in that area and have since decided to pursue accounting. Currently I have a job in utilization at a dairy company. After I accepted this job I got a call for an Accounts Payable job for an oil company. The oil company is offering a better salary in a more desirable location but the dairy job offers a respectable salary, great benefits and great people.

I'm not sure which job to pursue. Instinctually I am steering towards the bigger paycheck but I want to make sure that I make a choice that will lead to a career. Both are growing companies with career potential. I would still like to pursue accounting although I'm not sure where a strictly accounts payable job will take me.

Insight? Please?

You need to weigh your options. Hours, traveling distance, etc... Also if you can and haven't ask them if they can show you around, where you would be working from etc... My son left a security officer job where they offered him a promotion if he stayed. His aunt insisted he would be stupid if he didn't take the new job with Marcellus Shale. I told him they would work him too many hours since it was 60+ hrs. He had to listen to his aunt and lost the job within a month. You have to weigh the options and go with what you feel is best. Sometimes the security of knowing the job and knowing that you fit in is better than jumping into something else. But sometimes the move is for the best.

I'm going to the office tomorrow for a second interview so I'll definitely ask these questions and get as much information as I can, thank you.

The man I interviewed with described the work environment as attempting to achieve good life/work balance which is promising but it's hard to tell sometimes. I've only recently started at this dairy company and if I had been offered both at the same time I would choose the oil company, but I really enjoy working where I am now. I wish I had a time machine...

A job, is a job, that you have to make yourself go to, every day. A career is a place you enjoy going to and like to do.

More money means nothing if you are not happy.

Accounts receivable is normally a entry level job and I know people who started it 10 years ago, still doing it. To follow a career in accounting, you will need to go back and get degree in accounting and certification normally. What is your plans to further your education

That's exactly what I'm afraid of with the accounts payable position. That there's nothing to move on to after that.

I've considered getting my bachelors in accounting or at least an AA but I have no desire to head back to school right now.

Both positions are entry level, and neither are that interesting. I work in utilization right now which is data entry and paper chasing. I'm not sure where either job would take me.

If I did decide to go with the accounts payable job and got an associates in accounting. What are my career options?

CPA and higher are possible career achievements. Below is one random state's requirement for CPA. You can search your state's requirements fairly easily.
Weighing your options and weighting (assigning a priority level to each factor based on how important each factor is to you) a review of those options is the closest you can come to predicting outcomes.
You have already seen the job market status in not being able to find a position in your major. Job security for the future is certainly a major factor you should look at. Oil or milk? Quite a choice!
No matter how much study and planning you do, circumstances and fate will ultimately control the outcomes. Do your homework, make your decision and don't look back.
But maybe you have subconsciously already determined which direction you are leaning toward by the way you worded your original question- you based your question on leaving while you could just as easily made it "Should I stay in the job I like?"

I learned basic accounting on the job years ago, and then branched out on my own. I ordered many IRS publications (way before the internet) and learned how to do payroll and income taxes, for small companies anyway, and figured out state requirements on my own too. It was a good way to make a living, going from one job to the next each day, making my own hours, and paying myself as an independent contractor. (Good thing I was trustworthy.)
I could have taken courses toward degrees but although I like numbers and precision, and I don't like it as a full time occupation.

I'd go with the oil company only because it seems that you are wistful about it and want to go there yourself. That's all that matters. We can't weigh all the little variables for you.

It's all about the money.

If I go with the oil job I can afford a nice apartment/townhouse. If I stay with the dairy company I get free milk and can only afford a low income 600 square foot apartment. I'm tempted to stay with the dairy company because there might be career possibilities but I would have a higher quality of life at the oil company.

Thanks for all the answers! You have all brought up a lot of good points that have helped with my decision.