Accounting - concern.

[vegita40]

Well I'm going to be entering my final year of University next year, and I'm currently unemployed. I have little to no experience in the field of accounting besides what I have learned in class, my GPA isn't a perfect 4.0, but I would like to say I'm average. (personal things kept piling up and eventually caught up to me) I'm just wondering what sort of things I could do to help make myself look more appealing to future employers. Sort of concerned about my future.

As of now, all I'm doing is volunteering (instead of rotting at home), looking for a job, and trying to keep accounting principles fresh in my mind by skimming my texts for information. What else can I do?


Thanks for input everyone. Appreciate it =).

[Gmax]

Well I'm going to be entering my final year of University next year, and I'm currently unemployed. I have little to no experience in the field of accounting besides what I have learned in class, my GPA isn't a perfect 4.0, but I would like to say I'm average. (personal things kept piling up and eventually caught up to me) I'm just wondering what sort of things I could do to help make myself look more appealing to future employers. Sort of concerned about my future.

As of now, all I'm doing is volunteering (instead of rotting at home), looking for a job, and trying to keep accounting principles fresh in my mind by skimming my texts for information. What else can I do?


Thanks for input everyone. Appreciate it =).

I would say stay out of accounting and get a real job such as a mechanic or an engineer. Accounting perspective isn't that good anymore.

[dandy2008]

I would say stay out of accounting and get a real job such as a mechanic or an engineer. Accounting perspective isn't that good anymore.

Too many engineers around, add to that the thousands of immigrant engineers arriving each year.
Foreign trained engineers are probably the most dissatisfied group compared to other professions.

[dandy2008]

"The engineering labour market study cited found that labour markets in western Canada, particularly Alberta, are in greater need of engineering talent than markets in Ontario and central Canada. The study also found that employment prospects for engineers in the computer, petroleum and aerospace sectors should be more favourable than for traditional sectors such as chemical, civil and mechanical engineering.

Demand for engineers is expected to remain strong in western Canada until about 2010, whereas the situation in central Canada will be characterized by a case of too many engineers."

http://www.canadianimmigrant.ca/careers/careerpaths/article/3017

[Gmax]

Too many engineers around, add to that the thousands of immigrant engineers arriving each year.
Foreign trained engineers are probably the most dissatisfied group compared to other professions.

I would vote for a car mechanic then, best job ever. If economy goes bad, people keep their car longer thus mechanic have more work to repair older cars. If economy goes well, people start spending more on their cars. I have a few friends who are independent car mechanics, they have very good stable income and very happy with their work. And i have A LOT of friends in accounting who lost their work recently.

[dandy2008]

I would vote for a car mechanic then, best job ever. If economy goes bad, people keep their car longer thus mechanic have more work to repair older cars. If economy goes well, people start spending more on their cars. I have a few friends who are independent car mechanics, they have very good stable income and very happy with their work. And i have A LOT of friends in accounting who lost their work recently.

So are you going to make the switch to become a car mechanic ? Its a two year program offered by many colleges.

[Gmax]

So are you going to make the switch to become a car mechanic ? Its a two year program offered by many colleges.

I think it is too late for me to switch. But i am consider to do something else, completely different from accounting after the UFE.

[dandy2008]

I think it is too late for me to switch. But i am consider to do something else, completely different from accounting after the UFE.

I hope its not finance.

[AirplaneKing]

Well I'm going to be entering my final year of University next year, and I'm currently unemployed. I have little to no experience in the field of accounting besides what I have learned in class, my GPA isn't a perfect 4.0, but I would like to say I'm average. (personal things kept piling up and eventually caught up to me) I'm just wondering what sort of things I could do to help make myself look more appealing to future employers. Sort of concerned about my future.

As of now, all I'm doing is volunteering (instead of rotting at home), looking for a job, and trying to keep accounting principles fresh in my mind by skimming my texts for information. What else can I do?


Thanks for input everyone. Appreciate it =).

I'd say if you are looking for a good accounting placement next year, prepare yourself for the next batch of interviews coming in September/October when the Big Four make their offers. Go to a resume/cover letter workshop and work with them to make your resume as appealing and firm specific as possible.

The thing about accounting placements is that they don't necessarily expect you to have an accounting experience going in. What is more important is that you demonstrate leadership, initiative, and have a good head on your shoulders. Having a 3.9 GPA but nothing to support it looks much worse to these guys than having a 3.5 GPA but you're president of the accounting society and volunteer at the local hospital 3 days a week.

Your interviews will be mainly behavioural, so be prepared to answer questions relating to "when you demonstrated leadership", "when you had a conflict in a team, what did you do", "what your greatest weakness is" and so on. Think about possible questions but come up with your own, truthful answers. Anybody can spot a canned answer a mile away - you sound a robot.

Attend infosessions and network, get out there! Meet people, particularly more junior people as you'll have more to relate to and less people flocking to them at infosessions.

Good luck!

[EARTHY]

I would say stay out of accounting and get a real job such as a mechanic or an engineer. Accounting perspective isn't that good anymore.


What is this opinion based on?

[Gmax]

What is this opinion based on?

My opinion based on supply and demand equation. I don't have time now to support it by concrete numbers, but you can always google them if you want.

There are too many accountants now and demand is not there anymore.
In 2003 -2004 everybody expected that a Canadian version of SOX would be implemented in Canada, so accounting firms started hiring as crazy. Almost 100% of accounting graduates got a job they wanted and good singing bonus.
Students from other majors saw the great demand and started switching to accounting from. A lot of my friends came to accounting from finance, engineering, etc. So everybody was happy, until AcSB decided not to adopt SOX testing in Canada. So the firms didn't get as much work from the Sox testing as they expected, but then suddenly IFRS adoption talks started flying around. So the firms kept the staff in anticipation of IFRS.

The second wave was few years ago, when Canada decided to adopt IFRS. So the hiring started again. But at the end of the day, IFRS wasn't as difficult to implement and clients were reluctant to spend big $$$ on conversion projects + economic crisis so the revenues from IFRS clients were not that significant as it was expected before. So the demand for accountants went back again. But supply is still there, look how many accounting students are now and how many accounting students were in 2002?

[bobbings]

I hope its not finance.

lol Ya, people like to get their CA and then try out for the CFA so they have "best" of both worlds - accounting and finance. Sounds like a good plan though.

[dandy2008]

My opinion based on supply and demand equation. I don't have time now to support it by concrete numbers, but you can always google them if you want.

There are too many accountants now and demand is not there anymore.


How is that different from engineers ?

"Growing evidence suggests that the demand for engineering jobs in Canada, particularly in Toronto, is outpacing the supply, resulting in an increase of trained engineers either becoming unemployed, underemployed or working in areas not related to engineering.
This increased imbalance has had a significant impact on the engineering profession. As a result, increased numbers of engineers, recent immigrants
and recent graduates are forced to take jobs that do not make appropriate use of their education and experience."

Source: Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE)
http://www.ospe.on.ca/pdf/CCE_OctNovSpeakingOut.pdf

[ynot]

As of now, all I'm doing is volunteering (instead of rotting at home), looking for a job, and trying to keep accounting principles fresh in my mind by skimming my texts for information. What else can I do?


Are you volunteering for a non-profit doing their books? If not, look for volunteer positions that allow you to practice what you've learned.

Another option is to get temporary assignments from an accounting placement agency (such as Accountemps). It'll put cash in your pocket and give you experience and a work history. You can also look at programs that some large employers, including the government, offer whereby they hire recent grads (of course that'll have to wait until around your graduation date).

Finally, after graduating, you make look to one of the accounting association for a designation (CA, CGA, or CMA).

G'luck.

Tony

[pitz]

How is that different from engineers ?


Its not. Except that engineers are many years already into the cycle and the mess, and supply is gradually correcting itself relative to demand. Enrolments in some engineering programs have collapsed, esp. Elec/CompE and Computer Science. Whereas, in accounting, not only are there few demand drivers forseeable in the future, but the training programs are absolutely packed with people, ensuring a glut will persist.

Also, as demand picks up overseas, lots of the foreign engineers in Canada will return to their own countries to take advantage of the opportunities, because they know the language, the culture, etc.

In comparison, there's not that many accountants in Canada that can just pack up, move to China or India, and be productive working with local companies, so they'll remain here.

[dandy2008]

Also, as demand picks up overseas, lots of the foreign engineers in Canada will return to their own countries to take advantage of the opportunities, because they know the language, the culture, etc.

Most foreign trained professionals (including engineers) immigrated to Canada to start a new life and not to return home, besides the demand for engineers has been steady in China, India and the Middle East for quite some time.


In comparison, there's not that many accountants in Canada that can just pack up, move to China or India, and be productive working with local companies, so they'll remain here.

CGA has tons of Chinese and Indian students, there are hundreds of CGA students in China alone.

[Gmax]

Most foreign trained professionals (including engineers) immigrated to Canada to start a new life and not to return home, besides the demand for engineers has been steady in China, India and the Middle East for quite some time.




CGA has tons of Chinese and Indian students, there are hundreds of CGA students in China alone.

Accounting skills are not as easily transferable as engineering or other technical skills due to differences in legislation b/w Chinese GAAP / Income Tax and Canadian IT/ Gaap. So a Chinese immigrant who learn tax in Canada would have to learn it again if he decided to return to China. That is why he would probably stay in Canada.
I know that demand for accountants will further decrease also due to some firms start outsourcing accounting/bookkeeping/income tax preparation to India.

[pitz]

Most foreign trained professionals (including engineers) immigrated to Canada to start a new life and not to return home, besides the demand for engineers has been steady in China, India and the Middle East for quite some time.


I was referring to the foreign nationals who come to Canada (USA) to study science and engineering. I don't know about Accounting these days, but my engineering courses had lots of people with non-Caucasian language skills.


CGA has tons of Chinese and Indian students, there are hundreds of CGA students in China alone.

There's tons and tons of growth possible for the Chinese financial industry, especially as they move towards consuming more goods domestically. Most Chinese don't have access to banking or credit cards! But how does a Canadian-trained, English-speaking, caucasian accountant position themselves to take advantage?

p.s. I'm not sure auto mechanics is the way to go either. With cars being so cheap, there's increasingly less incentive to keep them on the road as long. And distance driven per year is starting to drop. And reliability has been on a long-term up-trend.

[balor]

How is that different from engineers ?


How is that different from anything?

In this day and age EVERYONE is going to university to get educated. There is simply an oversupply of educated people such that university/whatever won't guarantee you a job anyone. A few decades ago getting educated was a huge advantage but these days its like the new high school.

The only exception to this are professions where the supply is limited by a regulatory body such as med/dentistry/pharmacy/optometry.

[BananaHunter]

To Op,

Finding an accounting related job is your #1 priority. I graduated not too long ago and I can attest that for most jobs, related experience is what gets you the job.

Grades are very important if you want to get into Big4 or other large organizations. Outside of these giants, nobody cares about your grades, really. Entry level accounting simply doesn't have much to do with what you learned in class. Everything is computerized. Calculations are mostly done for you. Entry level often involves lots of data entry, generation of simple reports, and following internal control procedures like getting signatures before data is inputted into the system. Will you ever touch the company financial statements? Not if you work in a big company. There will be lots of people doing the leg work.

I highly recommend you do some networking with friends and family to see what real accounting is like. Most accountants don't have to even think about accounting policies. The higher ups do it. I'd say the hardest part in accounting is finding reliable and complete information. A lot of times people fill out forms inappropriately or their hand writting is so crappy you can't make out what it says and you're tempted to guess because you don't have time to make the call (or they don't pick up the phone and answer you after a month).

If you work for Big4, you'll be counting beans. If you work for a smaller accounting firm, you'll probably start off with boxes of receipts.

My point to all this isn't to scare you into changing career. It's to give you some insight into what entry level accounting is like. Because you don't want to walk into interview talking about academic accounting topics that the interviewer might know nothing about. You should be talking about how you're able to organize information well and is a people person (so you can easily beat information out of them).

[vegita40]

Thanks everyone for their input, I don't really plan on making a career change at this point. The insight was really good, I will go to some workshop classes, and try the temp positions as well as keeping my search for a position going.

Thanks again all!

[vegita40]

Oh any another thing, what types of accounting software do companies tend to use?

[nameh]

I would say stay out of accounting and get a real job such as a mechanic or an engineer. Accounting perspective isn't that good anymore.
I would say, quit trolling. Telling someone who's about to graduate to do a complete 180 and become a mechanic is dumb. Way to hijack the thread....

[Fluid]

dont become a CA, im in the same situation as you, cept I plan to try getting into the TTC :cheesygri

[Skye_Young]

If you enjoy accounting, don't switch, instead just relocate. Go from a big city, to a small city, such as a city in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or PEI, and such...there's a reason why so few of the accountants complain about finding a job. In Edmonton all my friends who were accounting majors all eventually found accounting jobs. Some were in small firms, other midsized and big firms. Their GPA's varied, but nonetheless that didn't stop them from finding a job. A lot of firms when you apply outside recruitment season, aside from the big four, don't even bother asking for your university transcripts.

[vegita40]

Thanks a lot everyone! I would have never imagined so many replies to my question so quickly. I'm just going to keep trying, keep myself up-to-date, knowledge is power right? I'll also put more effort, learn more, and hope that it's enough.

=)

[pitz]

mikeswatch, Gmax's version of events seems pretty accurate to me. Even if he is incorrect about the signing bonuses, it doesn't change the underlying point he is trying to make.

balor, the employment situation for for college grads would be far different, over the past decade, if North America didn't embark on the path of importing practically all of its manufactured goods from overseas. Not to mention the millions of immigrant professionals brought into the US under the H1-B and L-1 visa programs to fill all the jobs that should have gone to locals.

[CSR]

wow mikeswatch, that was totally uncalled for.

[lionheart216]

to OP,

You're better off than a graduating student who majored in marketing or management. and why would someone recommend someone to be a successful mechanic when you could be a successful accountant? some people just don't seem to know what they're talking about.

seriously though, i would rather choose the latter and earn enough money to pay a mechanic to do the dirty job. ( and i meant physically with all the grease and all).

[desolatioN]

I would say stay out of accounting and get a real job such as a mechanic or an engineer. Accounting perspective isn't that good anymore.

This is a bunch of horse raddish - its people like you that told me 'Don't go into IT, the IT field is not worth it and its all being outsourced to other countries!'.... fast forward to today, I'm 23 years old & I'm earning $52,000 in the IT industry and I don't even have a fancy University degree, I went to one of those 2 year IT programs, Academy of Learning (did I need it? No but it was a good experience & I learned how to be enthusiastic and professional).

If you are good at what you do and you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything you want, you just have to make sure that you keep on trying. I had to go to 4 different interviews before I got hired for my first job so try hard and be steady...the hardest part is the beginning, it just gets easier...:)

Also, you have to understand how interviews work, interviews tell the company what you are made so its your only chance to show them that you are worth being hired, nowadays, you need to be able to communicate well, express your ideas and impress interviewer(s), do whatever it takes to follow up and be professional. Your social skills and professionalism is what gets you hired (if you lack those, read up on Google for interview tips and try doing an interview with a friend), your University degree is what helps you do and keep the job after being hired. I notice alot of University and College's focus on making sure you get your paper work but you never really learn how to do an interview, so its vital that you learn how to impress!

- E

[7jai]

To continue this convo, I think a car mechanic is an excellent career just because Canadians cannot live without their automobiles - due to the vast land and distance we have to travel. I would consider going to centennial college and work on your license.


I would vote for a car mechanic then, best job ever. If economy goes bad, people keep their car longer thus mechanic have more work to repair older cars. If economy goes well, people start spending more on their cars. I have a few friends who are independent car mechanics, they have very good stable income and very happy with their work. And i have A LOT of friends in accounting who lost their work recently.