The Busy Season Burnout: How To Decide If It’s Time To Move On

Busy season, like every year, brings tight deadlines and demanding workloads. For accountants, this means workdays that often extend into the nights and weekends. Due to these long days and intense hours, many accountants are at risk of high burnout.

If you are feeling stressed following this year’s busy season, you may be considering a change. Whether that involves a move to another public accounting firm or a change in industry or profession, this is a big decision—especially if you are still feeling burnt out from busy season! Here are three ways to decide if a post busy season career move is right for you.

Is your company evolving with the future of work?

The workplace is evolving at a rapid pace, but not every employer is evolving with it. When it comes to experiencing busy season burnout, choosing to stay with an employer who is not willing to adapt to change may only exacerbate your negative feelings.

When considering making a move, think about if your employer meets your individual needs as a professional. Is your employer budging at all on flexibility? How have their benefit offerings and technology investments adapted over the last couple of years? If your employer is set in their old ways, it may be time to consider a post busy season career move.

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Do you enjoy your job outside of busy season?

When you’re experiencing the lingering effects of busy season burnout, it may be easy to forget what your job is like when you’re not feeling as stretched thin. As an accountant, remember, busy season comes and goes just like it does every year. While it is a particularly stressful time, seeing your hard work come together at the end of each season can be incredibly gratifying and lead to career advancement within your company. If you otherwise enjoy your job outside of busy season, you may want to consider looking for ways to mitigate the stress, but not necessarily move on. If you put the busy season burnout aside and are still unhappy in your role—you should consider looking for a change.

Are you ready to explore other areas within accounting?

Even if you enjoy your job outside of busy season, you may just be looking for a change of pace. Perhaps you are a seasoned public accountant and are ready to move to private industry, where you’ll have the chance to focus on one company in your industry of preference. In this case, exploring opportunities makes sense. However, if you enjoy the diverse range of experience public accounting has to offer, and thrive in a fast-paced environment, you may not necessarily be ready to switch things up just yet.

Are you ready to make a change? Check out our latest accounting jobs!