Jiahe Fan

Instructor: Jill Sabean

UPEI-103
27 October 2017
Career Research Paper
Have you ever thought a better understanding of a specific job can have a huge

influence on you future? My future career goal is to become a professional

accountant. This is because accounting is the language of the business and

accountants provide financial information to the company through analyzing the

financial data. By this, the company is able to make a better strategic decision in the

future. Accountants actually take a lot of responsibility in the development of a firm

and this is exactly what I want in the future. In this paper, I will discuss the key

requirements of being an accountant, the benefits and disadvantages of being an

accountant, the future trends of accounting and my personality related to my future

career.

Understanding the key requirements plays an important role for student

First of all, a clear understanding of the requirements of becoming an

accountant could benefit students. This is because While capitalizing on traditional

strengths such as independence and concern for public interest, expectations of

performance placed on accounting graduates are complex and demanding requiring

them to develop broader skills and be committed to continuing professional

development and lifelong learning. (Cooper, 4). This quote explains that it is very

clear that nowadays the requirement of being an accountant is not only an

undergraduate degree, but also the ability to live and learn. With the development of

technology students who have a variety of skills are more competitive in the job

market. In addition, the demand of employers has changed a lot in recent decades.
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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017
This is because Employers demand graduates who can perform more than the

traditional accountant and thus the ranking on the importance of skills is different

from the graduates. (Yee Ting Ngoo, Kui Ming Tiong, Wei Fong Pok,99). This quote

explains that in recent years the requirement of becoming a professional accountant

changed significantly. The technical skills are now becoming the foundation of the

job. More and more employers are now expecting young graduates to have more soft

skills such as leadership, communication skills and organization skills. It also

illustrates that becoming an accountant is not all about the calculating numbers,

instead each accountant is supposed to become a leader in a team. At the same time

Employers demand for accounting graduates who can interpret and assess the

financial performance of an organization but this ability is not significant as

compared to graduates. (Yee Ting Ngoo, Kui Ming Tiong, Wei Fong Pok, 102). In

other words the ability of analyzing the financial information of a company plays a

very significant role in the requirement of being an accountant. Consequently,

accounting students are expected to gain soft skills and develop strong financial

analysis skills in order to meet the requirements of being an accountant.

Benefits and disadvantages of accounting

It is clear that becoming an accountant could have a lot of benefits and also

some disadvantages for accounting students. Accountants are usually well-paid so the

author Aurelio Locsin states :

At an average $70,130 per year, or $33.72 per hour, accountants earned far
more than the mean annual $45,230, or $21.74, made by all workers in the
country. The salaries for the upper 10 percent exceed $109,870 yearly, or

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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017
$52.82 per hour, though they could also fall to less than $39,640 per year,
or $19.06 per hour. (1)

This quote illustrates that accountants are usually well-paid so that accountants tends

to have a greater opportunity to live a good life. At the same time work as an

accountant is stable and the job field is growing currently so the author Gordon

Hanson states :

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that employment in the

accounting field will grow 11 percent from 2014 to 2024. This is faster than
the national average rate of seven percent. One big factor driving this
growth is that the Baby Boomer generation will continue leaving the
workforce in the coming yearswhich should pave the way for
opportunities for new accountants. (8)

This quote reveals that there are plenty of job opportunities from 2014 to 2024

because the Baby Boomer generation is leaving the workplace and this creates a lot

of jobs for young people. As a result, finding a job as an accountant may be easier

than finding a job in other professions. However, being an accountant also has some

disadvantages so the author Gordon Hanson states:

Accounting is typically a standard 9-to-5 job, except for certain times of the
year with impending deadlines. The most notable deadline is April 15 for
tax accountants. For most tax accountants, the heavy lifting starts after New
Years Day right up to April 15.(20)

This quote explains that at certain times accountants are very busy with their work,

which means they have to work on weekends during the busy season in order to help

their clients. During this time, the work can be very stressful for accountants.

Moreover, accountants are required to continue education. Almost all states require

certified public accountants, or CPAs, to meet annual continuing education

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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017
requirements in order to maintain and renew their license. (Robertson, 3).

Continuing education actually plays a important role in accountants career because

they have to know the new laws and regulations that will affect their work.

Consequently, accountants are well-paid and there are a lot of employment

opportunities for students. However, they have to have the ability to engage in

lifelong learning and to handle stressful work during the busy season.

The future accountants

With the development of technology, the future of accountants will have a big

change in the next several decades. First, accountants will use increasingly

sophisticated and smart technologies to enhance their traditional ways of working,

and these technologies might even replace the traditional approach (Islam, 2).The

implications for teaching accountants is also related with technology so Islam states:

Future accountants will increasingly need education in digital technology

(including cloud computing and use of big data), globalization (outsourcing
of accounting services), and evolving regulations (tax regulation, new
forms of corporate reporting, integrated reporting regulation, and so on).(7)

This illustrates that accountants are supposed to work closely with technology in the

future, which can improve their work efficiency. More importantly, the robots might

cause threats for the job opportunity because The second future is one where

machines take over many of the actual professional duties, and the people using those

machines look very different from a professional today. (Schneider, 2). This explains

that in the future robots will be used widely in accounting industries, which will be a

threat for job opportunities for accountants. Therefore, in the future accountants

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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017
works more closely with the smart technology and some robots will be used widely in

the accounting industry.

My personality related to my future career

According to my personality test, it shows that I am the ESTP type of person,

which means I always have an impact on surroundings. People with ESTP

personalities love to communicate with people, and that is very important for being

an accountant. As a result, the communication between accountants and companies

becomes a very important factor that could have a potential effect on accountants

careers. Furthermore, Professor Rick Adams also illustrated that the finance is

becoming the center of the company in recent years so more and more accountants

work very closely with different companies so having good communication skills can

help a lot on their career development, which suits my personality a lot. More

importantly, I have also done a personality test called Gallup 5 strengths test and

the results showed me that my first strength is communication skills. This will be

very helpful for me to become a professional accountant. Professor Rick Adams

explained to me that being an accountant can be very stressful when the busy season

is coming. For the reason that they have to serve their clients and usually they have

more than one client each day. They are expected to work under pressure, but the

future opportunity is very great because accounting graduates are able to not only

focus on the accounting department but also other departments such as marketing and

sales. Thus, my personality fits my future career and it will be very helpful that I have

good communication skills.

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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017
In conclusion, being an accountant requires some soft skills such as

communication skills and leadership. Also, strong financial analysis skills play an

important role for accounting graduates. At the same time, accountants have a very

competitive salary in the job market and although there are plenty of job

opportunities, they have to have the ability to engage in lifelong learning and they

have to work under pressure. Moreover, the robots have a great chance to take over

some accounting jobs but the future of accountants is still very optimistic. I think the

decision of being an accountant in the future is a good choice for me.

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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017
Work Cited
Aurelio Locsin. The Advantages of Being an Accountant Chron. Hearst
Newspapers. n.p. n.d. Web. 29 October 2017

Bill Schneider. Future trends impacting the accounting profession Industry

Issue.n.d. Web. 29 October 2017

Barry Cooper. The future account BusinessLine. Financial Daily, 04 July 2002.
Web. 29 October 2017

Gordon Handson. 10 Must-Know Pros & Cons of an Accounting Career

Rasmussen College. Rasmussen College, 3 May [Link]. 29 October 2017

Marie H. Kavanagh, Lyndal Drennan. What skills and attributes does an accounting
graduate need? Evidence from student perceptions and employer expectations.
Accounting & Finance. Wiley Online Library, 28 June 2008. Web. 29 October 2017

Maria Mdlina Grbin, Nadia Albu, and Ctlin Nicolae Albu. Determinants and
Perspectives of an Accounting Career. Empirical Evidence on Students
Perceptions World Academy of Science. Engineering and Technology. n.p. n.d. Web.
29 October 2017

Muhammad Azizul Islam. Future of Accounting Profession: Three Major Changes

and Implications for Teaching and Research Global Knowledge Gateway.
International Federation of Accountants. 10 February, 2017. Web. 29 October 2017

Tanya Robertson. Disadvantage of Being an Accountant Leaf Group Ltd. bizfluent,

29 September, 2017. Web. 29 October 2017

Yee Ting Ngoo, Kui Ming Tiong, Wei Fong Pok. Bridging the Gap of Perceived
Skills between Employers and Accounting Graduates in Malaysia American
Journal of Economics. Scientific & Academic Publishing, 9 February 2015. Web. 29
October 2017

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Jiahe Fan
Instructor: Jill Sabean
UPEI-103
27 October 2017