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/care...s/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.