Why I didn't get a Ph.D.

Jonathan Liljegren's Story

I guess you could say I had everything going for me to get into a great doctoral program in accounting. I had started working on research with Dr. Christensen and Dr. Black before I left on my mission gathering data for their Pro-Forma Earnings analysis papers. After the junior core I began working as a research assistant to Dr. Glover and worked on a few papers. I had entered the PhD Prep track with every intention of persuing a doctorate at a university that specialized in behavioral audit, but somewhere things changed. That somewhere was on Highway 101 in San Jose, California.

I had gone to San Jose to work for Ernst & Young during the summer. It was all part of my "Big Plan" to work in audit for a few years before going back to get my PhD (remember that I was an RA for Dr. Glover). The only problem was after two weeks of auditing Hewlett Packard I realized on my commute home from Palo Alto on Highway 101 that auditing was not for me. I admit that my dislike for audit doesn't necessarily mean that I couldn't pursue a doctorate in accounting. However, I came to realize that the tools I had been given in this life would be put to greatest use in consulting. More importantly, I believe I would be a more enjoyable person after coming home from a consulting job versus coming home from an audit engagement. It is the old addage "Choose a profession that you love and you will never work a day in your life."

In a way I should have seen it coming. My goal when I graduated from high school was to get my accounting degree from BYU and work as a consultant for Arthur Andersen in the Bay Area. Well, the dream of working for Arthur Andersen is never going to come true. But I did learn a lesson from my experience. As we are accepted to one of the best accounting programs in the universe we can loose sight of where we really want to go. Let me be clear that I really thought I wanted to be a professor, but the reason I was interested in becoming a professor was becuase I love to teach and I could do freelance consulting on the side. So in a way, my potential side job has now become my career.

There is still a possibility that I will return to a PhD Program someday but it would probably be a Doctorate of Business Administration.

My Advice

• Auditing, consulting, or investment banking may be better options for you if you find yourself more interested in how the research could be implemented than actually doing the research.
• Consider just getting an economics minor in conjunction with your undergraduate accounting degree if your not sure about a PhD. You can socialize with all of the Prep Track students in your economics classes and see if what they are talking about still interests you.
• You don't have to love accounting research or fully understand it at this point, but if the very thought of running regressions and digging through statistics the rest of your life makes your stomach churn then follow your gut and don't get a doctorate.

Brad Gibb's Story

My Advice

• Before you start your senior year you need to decide whether or not you will persue a doctorate degree immediately after graduation. If wait until winter semester to decide that you don't want to pursue a doctorate program and instead would like to work you will have missed the key recruiting opportunities available in fall semester (or entered a recession).