Excelle

Is a move from Staff Accountant to Accounts Payable Manager a good one? I do want to get some management experience because I feel like that is what I am moving toward eventually anyway. I am still working on my education so that I will be qualified to sit for the CPA exam however I don't think I'm going to work in public accounting. I am married with 2 kids so I feel like after having worked and gone to school for so many years I don't want to take a job where I will most likely have to work really long hours. After talking to some recent graduates working in public accounting I think that is what happens there. I like the job I have now in the company I work for now because there isn't a lot of overtime. Even the CFO and Accounting Manager usually both leave at 5 every day. There are rare occassions when they stay late but it's definitely an exception to the rule and not the rule. My manager now who is the Accounting Manager seems like she's been nudging me toward the AP Manager position that also reports to her. She has made me the supervisor of a temp that we've had for our Treasurer and Tax person who has been out on maternity leave. She's also made comments about how management experience would be good for me. They have had a lot of big problems with the person currently in the position because she is extremely under qualified and shows no capacity or desire to get up to speed. They basically promoted an AP clerk who did nothing but data entry thinking that she knew more than she did and it became evident pretty quickly that she's not going to cut it. My big concerns with this is that I used to work in accounts payable for 4 years before I got the staff accountant job and I really don't want to be pigeon-holed into accounts payable forever. I definitely am going to want to move out this AP manager job eventually. I'm concerned that it's a dead-end position. My manager made a comment to the effect that she is grooming me for her job as Accounting Manager. In my last review she said she's planning to retire in a couple of years, right around the time I graduate and can sit for the CPA exam. She is a CPA. Of course she said she can't actually promise me anything in the way of a future promotion but she is definitely grooming me. What do you guys think? Should I go for this or stay where I'm at until I graduate?

 It sounds to me like you have a great working relationship with your boss and that she is mentoring you. That is rare amongst women, so I would treasure that if I were you.

Getting supervisory experience is always a good thing. And it doesn't appear that you will be "pigeon holed" as an AP person or in a dead end job since your manager has already laid out a path of progression for you. Also, it seems like the company you work for allows people to transfer laterally into other areas to enhance their skill sets, so even if she does defer retirement, you will still have options.

It sounds to me like this person is looking out for your best interests. So my advice would be to take the position and keep those lines of communication open so that she knows what your career concerns are.  

You can't be pigeon-holed as anything unless you allow yourself to be pigeon-holed. No single job defines a career or your personal brand, and these types of decisions aren't forever types of decisions. If it turns out it's not what you want, then you can always make a change later.