Personal Development - Financial Accountant - Essay Example

Personal Development – Financial Accountant Career Analysis The reason behind why one should choose accounting as a career over careers like investment banking and management consulting is that accounting, as a profession is deemed to be extremely desirable and allows for high compensation and lots of autonomy. It has been an image crisis that the job of accountant is boring and tedious. Also, accounting profession associates extremely low levels of stress and enjoys high demand in hiring when compared to all other finance jobs available. As for the purpose of why i chose the career path and the suitability of the professions, it is to be understood that the accounting profession is well in line with the study I have undertaken at the graduate level. The study of accounts at an undergraduate level opens the career path to be an accountant. Also my inclination towards the subject matter shall be beneficial for the future growth and prospects within the professional frontier. The role of a financial accountant is one that needs sound cognitive ability and good sense of judgement. The Big Four accounting firms recruit in huge batches whenever they have requirements. Such recruitment is done mostly of fresh graduates who shall offer a great and collegial work environment. With a surrounding of people within the same age group and the same inclination towards the subject, the environment becomes more acclaimed towards the company and the profession. Such opportunities help in developing great business networks as well (Tilus, 2012). The job of a financial accountant requires sound knowledge of the different functions of the company because of the level of applicability of the finance department with all different departments of the company. This shall also help in boosting knowledge about overall company functions and relationship and strength of different departments. This also offers the scope to financial accountants to identify loopholes in business practices and suggest changes that might be beneficial to the company. The financial accountant is in a very advantageous position to help the management and develop oneself and expand the scope to the managerial levels than simply restricting one to the level of an accountant. The financial accountant is often promoted to the levels of production or operations manager because of his vast knowledge about various company functions like wholesale, retail, manufacturing, operations, finance and HR and also for the managerial skills acquired thereof. Accounting profession allows for interaction with a number of clients and different companies owing to the nature of the job. Public accounting with accounting and auditing firms also requires attainment of specialised skills and for dealing with these clients and also working with them. This also acts as a tremendous learning opportunity because interaction with big players of the same industry giver a great on hand experience and knowledge about the industry and opens up greater career paths. The finance field also offers other jobs like managements consulting and investment banking with the accounting knowledge but the reason what sets the job of a financial accountant apart is that it has lesser stress and better working hours than the other two. Also the amount of travelling required is also very less and more predictable in nature than the other professions in the accounting field. Also the work stress remains only for certain months, the rest of the moth is more or less relaxed and there is great scope for a good work life balance. The accounting profession has more varied options in terms of job opportunities than ever before. Financial accountants get into public accounting roles that are amongst the largest recruiters. Such firms also offer numerous advisory services along with the traditional accounting practices and tax and audit work like corporate governance, corporate finance and due diligence. Other options include management accounting for many private and public companies and undertaking roles like internal auditing, tax accounting and information management. With the government, opportunities with different job roles become even more varied and challenging (Alba et al, 2005). The accounting profession allows great salaries and tremendous scope for a continued career growth and future job security. The key skills required within the profession require sound accounting knowledge, analysing financial statement, certain level of business economics background and knowledge of standards of accounting practices like the GAAP or IFRS. With my graduate degree in accounts, analysis of financial statements and development of a business economics background shall be easy and more as a part of my coursework. The course shall also offer knowledge over accounting standards in practice and provide and in-depth study of accounts and its applications. Job and Job Analysis You need to find a current graduate level role that you could apply for on finishing your degree. You should include this advertisement in your portfolio. You then need to analysis the job, perhaps using ‘Squeak’ methodology to understand its requirements fully. Skills and Capabilities Situation or Task: This part analyses the situation in which the job seeker is and the task he or she is desired to fulfil in order to get the job. The situation that I am put to is an interview of the desired job profile and company and my task is to sell myself to the interview panel. Such selling includes highlighting my key skills and knowledge that are well suited to the job requirements of the profile. I also have to portray how I am the best fit and the perfect candidate they are looking for. The skills and capabilities that I possess include a sound knowledge of analysis of financial statements and skill to use mathematical and cognitive tools to interpret the results obtained through mathematical calculations. Strong math base also provides for a basis of sound ability to deal with numbers. My knowledge of accounting standards practices GAAP is very strong and I also posses the working knowledge of the IFRS transformation. Apart from the undergraduate programs, I have also attended a specialised seminar on the IFRS which provides with a good knowledge about the changes that companies shall have to undergo in due process of its implementation. For management consulting requirements, i also have knowledge of budgeting for different industries through analysis of company budgets available on the public platform. Also, relevant coursework was also done on preparing mock budgets for working capital and capital and revenue requirements were also experienced. I have also studied detailed proposals of businesses available with the library to understand the various sources of funding and budget preparation for a business. The course also taught about costing and budgeting techniques and also making financial projections based on budgeted outcomes (Wells et al, 2009). On the personal front, I am an individual that works well with people and in groups. This can be observed in my group report [presentations and reference checking with my peers and seniors. I have also conducted a mock financial game wherein the entire class was divided in small groups and all were required to analyse financial statements of a company from different angles. The result of such study was strong knowledge of different aspects of financial statement analysis and learning by way of doing. This reflects my ability to lead people while being a part of the same team or group. Such skills are highly needed for the job of a public accountant when one deals with high profile clients of business houses and where you have to coordinate within your team as well as with the clients to bring consensus and lead all to a common goal of closing on successful deals. I am also a good learner which is reflected in my scores at university exam level. Good relation with peers ensures that I shall work well under the guidance of my seniors. My language knowledge is not restricted to English alone. I also have a working knowledge of French and Spanish. My communication skills are excellent and I have been a participant in most group events that need analysis and presentation. This skill is essential to work well with clients. Action Undertaken: This part of the STAR methodology requires a description of the steps undertaken to achieve the desired outcome and an analysis of what was done and why. I tried to portray my academic knowledge and also my personal skills that are best suited for the job requirements and supported my claims with adequate examples. For all questions that were related to academic knowledge, I was able to answer most of them. For those which appeared difficult, I decided to stick to answering as I do not know the answer rather than going roundabout guessing possible solutions. This creates a good impression on the interviewer about the confidence of the interviewee. With elaboration of group skills and communication ability, I tried to establish how well I would work with peers, seniors and clients. This skill is certainly desired by the hiring company. Results Achieved: This part of STAR methodology reflects on the entire event and seeks expression of the candidate personal judgement over the interview (WayneStateUniversity, n.d.). The hiring panel appeared interested in my answers and threw counter questions on my claims. This showed that they wanted to know more about me. This is a positive sign. Also, the interview signed off with an exchange of pleasantries and a request to wait for further response. Reference List Alba, J., Bathija, M., Thornton, M. and Staff of Vault., 2005. Vault Career Guide to Accounting. New York: Vault Inc. Tilus, C., 2012. Accounting vs. Finance: Which Degree is Right for You? Available at: [Accessed 17 January 2014]. WayneStateUniversity., n.d. Behavioral Interview Techniques – The STAR Approach. Available at: [Accessed 17 January 2014]. Wells, P., Gerbic, P., Kranenburg, I. and Bygrave, J., 2009. Professional Skills and Capabilities of Accounting Graduates: The NewZealand Expectation Gap? [pdf] Accounting Education. Available at: < http://www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/146746/Professional_Skills_and_Capabilities_of_Accounting_GraduatesJnlAccEd_18_4_09.pdf> [Accessed 17 January 2014]. Read More