Pigeonholed in Big 4 Technical Accounting, Exhausted Every Path Into Banking/Credit - Need Real Guidance

TL;DR: 2 years into Big 4 technical accounting (EY FAAS), hate it, no bonus, low pay for the hours, no path to Manager without a CPA I won’t pursue. Spent 9 months applying/networking/interviewing relentlessly for banking and credit roles — private credit, direct lending, rating agencies, regional bank programs, ABL, structured finance, internal FDD lateral, specialized recruiters, wide net from Analyst to Associate — multiple final rounds, zero offers. Running out of ideas and genuinely losing hope. Need honest advice, not “network harder.”

Background: Senior Associate at EY in Financial Accounting Advisory Services (technical accounting). ~2 years in. Advised on debt/equity financings, restructurings, refinancings, ASC 815 instruments (warrants, capped calls, swaps) — real transaction exposure, just from the reporting/accounting side rather than the deal-making side.

I’m at a breaking point. Comp ceiling in this group is laughable relative to hours, hours have been brutal (compared to comp) for two straight years with no bonus, and there’s no path to Manager without a CPA I have no interest in pursuing. I’ll likely get managed out before that promotion decision even happens for that reason. I never intended to stay in accounting long-term — I always wanted banking, but couldn’t land an offer out of super non-target undergrad and settled for this. I can’t do 2-3 more years of this.

What I’ve actually tried over the past 9 months, exhaustively, so please don’t suggest these as if I haven’t:

• Internal lateral to FDD from my current seat — networked, applied, dead end
• ABL and structured finance groups — networked, applied, no traction
• Commercial and corporate banking — networked, applied, cast an extremely wide net across analyst, credit analyst, associate, underwriting, relationship manager, and portfolio monitoring roles
• Private credit and direct lending shops — networked, applied broadly, nothing
• Credit rating agencies (Moody’s/S&P/Fitch-tier) — applied, nothing
• Regional bank credit/development programs — applied, nothing. Appear to be too senior for these anyway
• Applying a level down (Analyst, not just Associate/Senior) — done, no different
• Specialized recruiters who work credit/banking placements — worked with several, including ones who reached out to me directly — nothing has converted
• Warm networking/referrals — one referral got me to a final round in corporate banking, no offer. Another process (restructuring-adjacent, different firm) got me to a 4th round with a founding partner, no offer.

The pattern: I get real engagement in interviews. Have my stories down to a T. I frame the pitch as having worked the accounting/reporting side of these deals and wanting to move closer to actual transaction execution and credit decision-making.

Multiple processes have gone deep — final rounds, senior partner conversations — and it still keeps dying at the finish line, with “oh, you’re a technical accountant” seeming to be the read that sinks it regardless of how the conversation actually went.

This has worn me down more than I expected and left me feeling absolutely defeated. It’s not just career frustration at this point — 9 months of maximum effort with nothing to show for it has made me genuinely hopeless and pretty depressed about the whole thing, on top of hating the day-to-day work itself. I’m posting here because I’ve run out of obvious levers to pull and don’t know what I’m missing.

Questions for anyone who’s actually been through this or hires for these seats:

1. Is FAAS/technical accounting simply viewed as close to disqualifying for credit/banking roles, full stop, regardless of how it’s pitched — and if so, is there any pitch that actually overcomes it, or am I fighting a losing battle?
2. For people who’ve made a similar jump from a non-traditional background — what was the actual unlock? Something structural (different target market, different seniority level, a specific credential) or something in execution I’m not seeing?
3. Is a fully-debt-funded non-top 10 MBA a reasonable bet here given zero traction after 9 months of maximum effort, or is that just an expensive way to delay the same problem without evidence the underlying story reads any differently to adcoms?
4. Is there a lane I genuinely haven’t tried that people in this situation have used successfully?

Not looking for generic “network harder” advice — I’ve been doing that relentlessly for 9 months. Looking for anyone who’s actually broken this specific wall or who can tell me honestly if this pivot is just not happening and I need to rethink the target entirely.