Except… in this economy everyone who needs a job really does care. They care if they’ll be able to get jobs and avoid moving back in with their parents, and keep making their car payments, and then if they’ll be able to pay the student loans off that will inevitably come rolling in. Luckily for accounting grads, CPA candidates, and high-schoolers with a penchant for math, 71% of the largest firms in the country anticipate an increase in hiring in 2011 and beyond. Demand is certainly outpacing the supply of accounting professionals in today’s world. Luckily for whoever is paying for the student’s schooling, 2/3s of accounting graduates earn their degrees at public universities, which are significantly less expensive to attend than private colleges.
More affordable schooling options means that accounting graduates are becoming a much more diverse group than your stereotypical accountant. Numbers are nearly equal when comparing the amount of men to women in accounting programs. The combined percentage of ethnicities other than white is about 30% as of 2010, a number than is increasing each year (these numbers are based on the combination of BA and MAs in accounting).
The real number in question for these fresh faced young people who want a paycheck from following out their accounting passion is “How many minutes after I graduate before I get a job offer?”
Of course, that can only be determined by the particular graduate by way of their grades, demeanor, interview skills, and technical assets that they bring to the table. Relax young accountants and CPA candidates, while the Comparative Literature majors may be heading to the local mall for job applications, you’ll be heading into an office in your interview finery in no time.
Blogger: April Blake, Office & Member Services Coordinator, South Carolina Association of CPAs
All statistics are from the AICPA 2011 Trends In The Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits.
