Is accounting right for you?

College Majors Business Major
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<p>I posted this on the featured thread," Everything you wanted to know or should know about accounting." However, that thread is getting so long that this post could be overlooked. Thus, I have reprinted my post here:</p>

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<p>Let me be very clear about something. Yes, accounting is one of the better paying careers out of college. Yes, it is respected. Yes, it doesn’t require a lot of math skills other than statistics Yes, it is one of the best careers for getting a job.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, you have to like it and be good at it if you want to keep that job. This means:</p>

<li>You have the ability to pay attention to detail for long periods of time</li>
<li>You have a very strong work ethic!! This means that you can work 8-9 hours a day on projects, having only a few breaks.</li>
<li>You have strong analytical, problem solving ability.</li>
<li>You have common sense</li>
<li>You have a reasonable degree of people skills</li>
<li>You are a decent writer.You don’t need to be Hemmingway or even have the skills of an English major, but you do need to write clear reports.</li>
<li>In college, learning disablied kids can get through with accomodations. They might get extra time for work, tutors, note takers etc. Don’t expect any accounting firms to make accomodations for you in this regard. You will be expected to work hard, quickly and correctly. No excuses will be accepted.</li>
<li>You are ethical.</li>
</ol>

<p>Accounting does take a special kind of person to succeed. If the subject matter or work isn’t for you, don’t go into it!</p>

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<p>This describes me! I’m going into accounting for Fall 2009!</p>

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<p>Get a life</p>

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<p>True. That’s one reason to go into accounting.</p>

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<p>To SDMATT…I have a life! And most likely im going to CPA and make more money in a year than you will ever make in a lifetime! Take that SDMATT!!</p>

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<p>your going to CPA? wheres that?</p>

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<p>I have all these skill sets but find accounting very bland :{</p>

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<p>Taxguy,</p>

<p>Thanks for all your advice. I’ve been interning at a midsize accounting firm the past two years. I love my job, but I’ve come to the conclusion that public accounting just isn’t for me. I see my bosses working 50-60 hour weeks, sitting at their desks for 8-9 hours straight doing calculation after calculation and researching laws through stacks of tax code books, filling out the same forms over and over again and having little time for anything else. It just isn’t the type of life I want. </p>

<p>Do you have any recommendations for more “exciting” accounting specialties rather than just regular public accounting? I’m not really sure what other career options there are. I’ve heard a lot about forensic accounting lately and that sounds pretty interesting. Do you know anything about that/what type of job prospects there are for that?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>dtc727, have you considered financial planning? Other possiblities are: “fraud auditor” otherwise known as forensic accounting, Quickbooks specialist or other accounting software specialists, etc.</p>

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<p>You forgot to mention that you need to be able to drink at least 12 beers, several shots of whiskey, and finish off with a cigar during firm sponsored happy hours. Otherwise ■■■■! :)</p>

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<p>Just wondering but how far will connections get you when you apply for a job at the Big 4?</p>

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<p>Connections are imperative! Good education+connections=IBanking jobs(easier for connected people)</p>

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<p>Good Educations+connections=Seat in Congress</p>

<p>Not sure what any of these things have to do with Big 4 accounting.</p>

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<p>I’m bored.</p>

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<p>That’s me!</p>

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<p>Is this the same as 1? Is working 8-9 hours a day a strong work ethic? I guess my definition varies</p>

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<p>Yup, that’s me in a nut shell.</p>

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<p>I have common as well as not-so-common sense. Both serve me well.</p>

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<p>If by reasonable you mean I have to be able to work with people from all walks of life and at every tier within the company from operation technician to CEO then that’s me.</p>

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<p>Hemingway is a great writer, but his technical skills were not the same as what I see in financial documents or technical writings. Still, I’ve written a lot in my days, on a technical nature.</p>

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<p>10 years answering to the FDA good enough for you?</p>

<p>I guess what I am getting at is this really a list for accountants? I’m an engineer and consultant, and they all apply to me. IMO, this is a good list of base requirements for any career choice.</p>

<p>Thanks for letting me be bored.</p>

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<p>Japher, could you let me know the trick of doing the quote in shade since you’re bored? :)</p>

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<p>Sure.</p>

<p>to quote when you cut and and paste you want to bound the quote in quote tags; </p>

<p>“[ quote ]” at the start and “[ /quote ]” (no spaces)</p>

<p>Also, if you want add a link say to google, but you want it to be whatever words you type, you can use url tags which are like this;</p>

<p>[ url=“<a href=“http://www.google.com”>www.google.com</a>” ]LINK[ /url], again no spaces</p>

<p>[url=“<a href=“http://www.google.com%22%5DLink%5B/url”>www.google.com”]Link[/url</a>]</p>

<p>There’s others, but they don’t all seem to work here… no idea why. Let see</p>

<p>image [ img]:</p>

<p>

<a href=“http://zamanoftoday.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2008/08/smile.jpg[/img]”>Zaman of Today's Weblog: Image

</a></p>

<p>Most places will insert the picture and not just post the link</p>

<p>bold [ b]</p>

<p>Bold</p>

<p>italics [ i]</p>

<p>Holy Cow</p>

<p>Color</p>

<p>Blue</p>

<p>it’s called vB code, very handy in forum posting… :)</p>

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<p>

Thanks a lot</p>

<p>Edit - I got it !!!</p>

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<p>"

" </p>

<p>Just trying this out!</p>

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<ol>
<li>You are ethical. - I thought you had to be ruthless in the workplace to get ahead and beat “joe” for that promotion</li>
</ol>

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<p>MaverickJr. trust me on this: unethical behavior will usually bit you in some rear parts. It should NEVER be considered.</p>