Career Planning Final Exam

By: Mariam Saeed

My Career Choice is an Accountant

Accountants…

1. Prepare and examine accounting records, financial statements, and other financial reports to check for accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and general expected procedures.

2. Report to management regarding the finances of establishment.

3. Establish tables of accounts and assign entries to proper accounts.

4. Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems by making use of modern technology.

5. Provide internal and external auditing services for businesses or individuals.

Personal Information

~ Name: Mariam Saeed~ Age: 17

~ Holland Code: Social, Investigative, Artistic

~ Birkman Colors: Blue and Yellow

Holland Code

SocialPeople who like to work with people to enlighten, inform, help, train,

or cure them, or are skilled with words.

ArtisticPeople who have artistic, innovating or intuition abilities and like to

work in unstructured situations using their imagination and creativity.

InvestigativePeople who like to observe, learn, investigate, analyze, evaluate or

solve problems.

After taking the Holland Code Test I got Social, Artistic, and Investigative. I got these because I like to learn by investigating and solving problems and I want to also work with people in a business one day.

Birkman ColorsInterest color= bluePeople with blue Interests like job responsibilities and occupations that involve creative, humanistic, thoughtful, and quiet types of activities. Blue Interests include abstracting, theorizing, designing, writing, reflecting, and originating, which often lead to work in editing, teaching, composing, inventing, mediating, clergy, and writing

Usual style= yellowPeople with yellow styles perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is orderly and planned to meet a known schedule. They prefer to work where things get done with a minimum of interpretation and unexpected change. People with a yellow style tend to be orderly, cautious, structured, loyal, systematic, solitary, methodical, and organized, and usually thrive in a research-oriented, predictable, established, controlled, measurable, orderly environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results

After taking the a Birkman test, the colors I received were blue and yellow. I got these colors because I want a job where I can work in a peaceful office area with a structured daily procedure. I want to be organized and succeed in my career area by being orderly and hard working.

Career Path

1. Attend a four year college to earn a bachelors and associates degree.

2. Major in business and decide what field I want to pursue.

3. Get involved in internships and other job offerings.

4. Go to Grad School.

5. Prepare to take the CPA exam.

Why I chose this CareerBeing an Accountant has always been something of interest to

me. When I put my heart into something I know I can succeed in it, and becoming an accountant to me seems like something I can put my all into. This field has always interested me and no matter what in the back of my mind I’ve always have had an interest in accounting. To me, being an accountant seems like an extremely reasonable career for a girl. Being a CPA isn’t anything like hard labor, and once you understand how to do your job you are set for life. Becoming a CPA seems like something completely reasonable for me for many reasons. It doesn’t have extremely odd hours or shifts, and a plus side is the salaries are great. I know for a fact that I want to do something in the business field and this seems to be the perfect match for me.

This job has a balance between hard work and good pay with reasonable side effects as well. Many family friends I know work as a CPA and they all enjoy their jobs and are extremely happy with what they do. The knowledge needed to succeed in this career will hopefully come at ease to me because I’m going to have a great interest in what I’m doing since I’m going to want to succeed. Anything in the business field to me seems reassuring compared to any other careers in medicine or science. I actually have an interest for what I want to pursue so I am hoping that as I continue my research my desire to become an accountant only grows and becomes stronger.

5 Skills Necessary

Organizational keeping everything organized in an accountants work station is necessary.

Critical ThinkingYou need to think on the spot if there are any errors in the accounting process.

Business Ethicsaccounting is the language of business, you will need this to succeed in any business.

Problem Solvingmath skills are needed along with a lot of numbers.

Use of Technologyappropriate accounting software knowledge will be necessary.

Job Outlook~ Employment of accountants and auditors is expected to

grow by 22 percent between 2008 and 2018.~ This occupation will have a very large number of new jobs

arise, about 279,400 over the projections decade. ~ As the economy grows, the number of business

establishments will increase, requiring more accountants to set up books, prepare taxes, and provide management advice.

~ Accountants who have earned professional recognition through certification, especially a CPA, should have the best job prospects.

~ Applicants with a master's degree in accounting or a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting also may have an advantage.

~ Individuals who know how to use accounting computer software and information systems have an advantage in getting some accounting and auditing jobs.

Educational Requirements~ To become a CPA an accountant

must pass an extremely difficult national exam. The test is four parts, and it is required that you must pass all four parts within 18 months of passing the first section. If you keep on failing you just have to start over from square one, making this test extremely rigorous and stressful. Previous experience in anything is good for success in a career, and in accounting it’s the same deal. Many colleges offer students the opportunity to gain experience through internships conducted by business firms.

~ Need at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related business field.

~Most accountants to get a job are required to be a Certified Public Accountant.

~People planning to succeed in the accounting work should have a good background in math and be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures quickly.

~You must be good at working with people, business systems, and computers.

~Basic accounting and computer software packages should be familiar.

Salary

~ Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services……………………$61,480

~ Management of companies and enterprises………………………………$59,820

~ Insurance carriers……………………$59,550~ Local government………………………$53,660~ State government………………………$51,250

Projections for the Future

Projected Employment, 2018…….. 1,570,000

Change from 2008-18: 279,400 … 22% increase

Professional Organizations

~ American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

~ National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

~ Institute of Management Accountants

~ The Institute of Internal Auditors

Related Careers~ Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

~ Budget Analysts

~ Cost estimators

~ Financial analysts

~ Personal financial advisors

~ Tax examiners, collectors and revenue agents

~ Computer network, systems, and database administrators

~ Computer software engineers and computer programmers

Shadowing Experience~ The FedEx Youth Leadership Conference at

Dowling college was a wonderful experience. I learned that in any career, working together with co-workers is an essential aspect towards success in any business. This trip taught me a lot about teamwork and the importance of it in the real world.