young professionals
Public accounting myth busters New accountants deciding between public accounting and private industry for their first jobs shouldn’t believe these accounting profession rumors.
F
lashback: Your accounting studies in college are ramping up. The first exam in a core course is behind you and more challenging subject matter lies ahead. It’s also recruiting season and the lobby of the business school is abuzz with employers networking with future entry-level staff. The selection of public accounting firms represented there is dizzying. “Should I start in public accounting or go straight to private industry?” is still a big question. Let’s reconcile some of the hearsay of the accounting industry from the perspective of accounting students with our wisdom as career professionals. Successfully articulating our profession’s value and breadth of opportunities with future CPAs often gets lost among our clients’ many needs.
Michael Watkins, CPA
Myth: Joining an accounting firm after college requires me to fit into a box (personally and professionally). False. While public accounting is a great place to start a prosperous accounting career, joining any firm, small
14
DISCLOSURES
•
MARCH/APRIL 2019
•
or large, does not mean your individual personality and interests must be left at home. Millennials have, in a way, tasked accounting firms and all large employers with innovating and evolving office culture to stand out among their competition and attract business schools’ best and brightest graduates. Public accounting firms promote job satisfaction and comradery by facilitating team-building activities, hosting happy hours, encouraging professionals to join office recreation leagues and empowering staff to launch fantasy football leagues or March Madness brackets, just to name a few popular “extracurriculars.” Furthermore, public accounting firms foster an exciting professional growth environment in which employees at all levels can develop their personal brands and specializations. While firm cultures vary by firm and by office or region, all are committed to hiring students with the drive and capacity to someday lead their firms. Stand out and firms will notice. Public accounting firms further increase curb appeal by touting factors like flexibility or the “work-life
DISCLOSURES.VSCPA.COM