My interview with Robert Half (Finance and Accounting recruiter) went well today. It was a pretty simple process. Their representative met with me, reviewed my resume, and talked about the types of jobs I am interested in and qualified to get. I didn't realize that I was also going to take a 30 minute assessment (test). I was tested on the advanced accounting and Excel subjects...and scored in the high 80s and low 90s for each test, respectively. I could have done better, but the raw numbers are mostly irrelevant since I scored well above the average for their branch on both tests.
While I was there I was presented with an opening that I may interview for on Monday or Tuesday. The job is essentially a Finance/Accounting Analyst position. The career path goes something like: Analyst to Senior Analyst to Director of Finance to CFO. That track is different from the Assistant Controller to Controller (end of the line) path. It's with a huge company with about 20 locations around the country and one in Ireland. They have over $1B in annual sales and are publicly traded on the NYSE. They offer 401K matching, a nice health care package, and an unheard of three weeks of vacation a year. The downsides are that I'd be working with a lot of women and that the mission of the company is far from exciting nor does it serve any larger purpose (like my experience in the Air Force, medical, and at Focus did). Also, it may not pay much more then my previous job did. The only positive is that I will have the chance to progress and move up that that my previous position didn't offer.
Although I have never worked in a corporate setting before, I may find that I want to stick it out more in at place like I mentioned above then at a "charitable" organization. So far I've found that I've gotten bored in jobs that aren't challenging enough nor progressing despite their larger purpose. If a find a position with a nice work environment that challenges me and that rewards good performance, I might just find it more personally fulfilling no matter what the larger picture. Ideally, I'd like to find both.