It Really IS Exciting Being an Accountant

by Martha Sale, Assoc. Professor

I’d be the first to admit I didn’t choose to be an accountant because I thought it was the sexiest career available.  My dad was a very practical man. He insisted that, not being independently wealthy, I needed a well-paid job. I’ll also admit that engineering was my first choice, but after a detour from school during which I worked in a start-up business owned by an accountant, I settled on accounting.

It has proven to be a really fun career for me. However, for those of you who still think being an accountant couldn’t be fun, try on this bit info.  In a news release on Tuesday (September 6, 2011) the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers announced that they plan to hire 15,000 accounting graduates and experienced professionals over the next five years in China and Hong Kong, to meet growing business opportunities in mainland China. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as they say. All the big accounting firms are hiring for China and other locations around the globe in a variety of positions. They need people to meet the demand generated by international financial markets for information that has been vetted by US accounting firms.

What could be more exciting than a profession where you would have the opportunity to travel to exotic locations, work in your choice of industries and know that the demand for your skills were likely to keep you above the curve on advancement and compensation. With the current abysmal economic outlook, that’s pretty exciting even for an excitable accountant like me.