Mid-Career Dilemma: Transitioning into a Career in Accounting

I recently received a question from a professional looking to enter the accounting profession with 15 years of experience in a completely unrelated industry. She was completing a masters' degree in accounting with no previous accounting experience, and was frustrated when applying for accounting positions. Every interviewer seemed to question her lack of experience in the accounting field. I'm sure anyone who has attempted to make a mid-career transition into an entirely knew field understands this dilemma, which can make you feel as though your previous decade or more of successful experience is irrelevant and undervalued.

My recommendation to experienced professionals in other fields looking to break into accounting is to first get an accounting degree of some sort. A masters or MBA with a focus in accounting would be ideal if you already have an undergraduate degree in something else. Once you have your accounting degree, you can combine that with your particular experience to prove to employers that you are just the type of hands-on learner and experienced professional they need. If you are considering becoming a CPA and want to get your foot in the door with an accounting firm upon finishing your degree, pitch yourself to firms based on your industry expertise. If your 10+ years of experience are in a particular industry, look for a firm that serves a lot of clients in that industry. You would be an ideal member of the audit team since you already speak the language of your clients' business.

If you are looking to get into the corporate environment, an internal audit position might be a great way for you to get your foot in the door with an organization. After you've been there a while, you often have an opportunity to move into the accounting or finance departments, or another management function that interests you. The hardest part is finding the right organization that will give you the flexibility to combine your accounting interest, your degree, and your extensive experience to your greatest professional advantage. If there is a previous employer that thought highly of you in a function other than accounting, tap into your network of former co-workers and supervisors to get an internal recommendation to the accounting or internal audit departments.

To gain some actual accounting experience part-time if you're a full-time student, try working through an accounting temp agency like Account Temps. That way, you'll rotate through a few accounting positions as needed at various organizations, and you'll have some tangible examples of accounting functions you've performed when you're pitching yourself for a full-time accounting job upon completion of your degree.

Regardless of your specific experience, almost any expertise pairs well with accounting given that accountants are needed in every industry. Finding the right angle to position your transition from another field to accounting will be the spring board to your successful second career.

Updating Your Professional Wardrobe

A recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek addressed the decline of casual dress in the workplace, driven by a recent surge against it by bosses. Casual Friday used to be a "naughty thrill" that occurred once a month or less, allowing office employees to wear a pair of conservative jeans and a polo. According to a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, only 34 percent of bosses officially permit casual dress among employees every day, a significant drop from the 53 percent in 2002.

American society still remains incredibly casual, according to Clinton Kelly of the Learning Channel's What Not To Wear. For some, the difficulty arises in the absence of clear definitions within corporate dress codes for terms such as "professional dress," "business casual," and and one-off "casual Friday" attire. As a CPA, your dress cues should be dictated by your clients when on site. I used to audit banks, and most banks still have a culture of wearing full suits every work day. While it seemed archaic, I could never go wrong following such a strict dress code. In other environments, it's a bit more difficult to judge.

If you're new to a firm, don't immediately assume you can wear jeans and sneakers on casual Friday. Wear your normal work attire on the first official casual day and take note of what is permissible. I used to work in Pittsburgh, a town notoriously loyal to their sports teams. Almost every weekend the Steelers were in a play-off game, all of the downtown professionals exchanged their suits and pantyhose for Steelers jerseys and face paint. This was completely acceptable, even when working at most client sites. In other cities, this would definitely not be tolerated.

Women seem to have a slightly greater challenge than men in navigating the vague "business casual" dress code. Are sleeveless shirts, open toed shoes, or dressy capri pants alright for the office? That depends on where you work and what your role is. While corporate dress codes officially apply to all employees, I've noticed an unofficial double standard in most workplaces depending upon the female employee's role. It was much more acceptable for administrative staff to wear sleeveless blouses or skirts without wearing pantyhose, simply because they served an internal role and rarely had contact with clients. Client service professionals, however, were unable to bend such roles. If you are unsure where to draw the line, look to your superiors for guidance on how to dress. More likely than not, if your boss shows off her toes in a pair of dressy open-toed shoes, it's okay for you to do the same.

Bloomberg Businessweek asked image consultants and office fashion experts for the most common workplace style sins. I'm sure you've seen them all before. Just make sure you're not the guilty party:

1. Hooker earrings-anything long and dangly that looks cheap should be put away until the weekend.
2. Chest plumes-fashion experts advise men to stop unbuttoning shirts when you begin seeing chest hair.
3. Exposed bra straps-these can be distracting and are generally considered unattractive.
4. Tattoos-people don't expect a CPA to have a dragon tattooed on their forearm. If you have tattoos, keep them covered to avoid snap judgements by colleagues or clients.
5. Toes-many workplaces require toes to be covered for safety reasons. A lot of people find toes to be disgusting. Play it safe and keep them covered.

Wanted: Forensic Accounting Specialists

According to a recent article by Yahoo! News, forensic accounting is one of the top new careers offering a sexy new version of a traditional profession. Imagine CSI: Wall Street, a drama featuring a team of accountants brought in to unravel the pieces of a Ponzi scheme or insider trading deal gone wrong. With the passage of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform which includes the creation of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection as well as countless other regulatory reforms to be implemented and enforced, Washington's regulators have gone on a hiring binge. Thus, forensic accountants are in high demand. Even among consulting and auditing firms, forensic accounting practices are growing to meet the increased ethical scrutiny promoted both internally among companies as well as by regulators.

If you are looking for additional skills to make you more marketable or to reinvent yourself as an accountant, consider a career in forensic accounting. To become a forensic accountant, you must first become a licensed CPA. You will also need an additional forensic accounting industry certification such as the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation, which can be earned upon completing a bachelor's degree and passing the CFE exam. There is an advanced Certified Forensic Accountant certification, requiring additional training and expertise. To find out more about a profession in forensic accounting, visit The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Many online degree programs offer MBAs, bachelor's degrees, and certificates in investigative or forensic accounting that can enhance your career potential and expand your expertise.

Choosing the Right Leadership Outlet

It is said that leadership experience is a must on your resume. Without it, many people fear they'd have little to talk about during a job interview. However, not just any leadership experience will do. Given the myriad of extracurricular activities on most college campuses across the US, many students assume that leadership experience in any organization will satisfy recruiters. While you may have done a lot to advance the cause of your school's martial arts club or film club, many recruiters ask specifically about involvement in honors societies, professional organizations, and other exhibitions of academic interest. Having lead a large number of your peers in professional and academic pursuits speaks loudly of your ability to take a stand, collaborate, and propel ideas. In an interview, frame your experience in terms of what was accomplished under your leadership. Even though you've got to promote yourself, it's always important to highlight how you were able to include the opinions and talents of others to reach a compromise and accomplish tangible goals on behalf of your organization or cause.

Many people fear the executive role, opting for a committee chair or secretary position rather than president. Don't be afraid of the lime light, assuming that as president, you will be expected to carry the heaviest work load on behalf of the group. An effective executive is one who is able to recognize the strengths and ideas of others and delegate accordingly. While you may be the first point of contact for the organization as president, you do not have to do everything yourself. Potential employers love to hear about how you as a leader mobilized others to accomplish a goal. That is a much more impressive accomplishment than boasting about how you single handedly organized a banquet, decorated the banquet hall, hand-wrote all of the invitations, and prepared the meal for dozens of attendees. The first thought in an interviewer's mind after such a boast is "why couldn't you get anyone else to help?"

Leadership experience is more than just a resume filler. It is a life lesson that, if properly learned, will give you deep insight into what it takes to succeed in the business world. Having attained this insight will enable you to shine in any interview, breathing life into a mere bullet point on your resume.

Public Accounting is a Great Environment for Generation Y

The cover of the Fall 2010 Pennsylvania CPA Journal offers a Generation Y Anatomy Lesson for CPA firms hiring the most recent generation of college graduates born in the years 1980 to 2000.

Siting findings from a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, the article notes that Gen Y tends to have a high level of self esteem compared to other generations. The impact of this attitude on their work is that they have high expectations for their careers, desiring to feel a sense of contribution to their employers' success. As a member of Gen Y myself, this was one of the main reasons I thrived in the public accounting environment. I welcomed the significant amount of responsibility thrown at me from day one, and the opportunity to contribute during meetings with clients, partners, and senior managers, despite my low ranking "staff" status. I also had to remind myself, however, that I may have been assigned more basic responsibilities because I still had a lot to learn about the profession.

The Pew survey also found that Gen Y places high importance on work-life balance and autonomy. Face time and career advancement based on hours contributed seem senseless, because Gen Y feels they should be rewarded based on job performance and the quality of their work. Firms are increasingly tuning into this fact, as job flexibility, telecommuting, and work-life balance programs in the workplace have grown over the past decade. A Gen Y colleague of mine recently recounted a discussion with his boss, who called him into the office and noted that my colleague seemed to be "eager" to leave work each day because he would head out promptly at 5pm each evening. The boss suggested that he be more of a "team player" and hang around a bit longer, even if he wasn't busy. This seemed a ridiculous suggestion to my colleague, who felt that working late would only be reasonable if he had additional work or a tight deadline. This sentiment is often echoed across CPA firms by other members of Gen Y. With the frequent performance evaluation process in place at many firms, employees are provided with more opportunities to communicate their accomplishments and detail the quality of their work as evidence of their work ethic. We no longer need to punch the clock as a means of proving our worth.

One finding of concern that was uncovered in the Pew survey noted that Gen Y tend to take risks with the disclosure of personal information online. They are more likely than previous generations to neglect online security habits for the sake of convenience, and share personal or confidential information via social media. Gen Y, as well as their employers, should take note of such behaviors when it comes to client and other confidential information. Firms need to dedicate training time to highlighting and monitoring the protection of confidential information. Perhaps online professionalism and managing your online identity is a topic that needs to be taught at universities before graduates enter the workforce.

While Gen Y differs from previous generations, many CPA firms have been updating their operations and cultures to accommodate this hard working, ambitious generation of young minds. Our profession will be the better for it.

Amazing New Technology to Simplify Your Life

I just read a review by the CPA Technology Advisor that blew me away. Imagine having one charger for your smart phone, e-reader, cell phone, portable printer, and camera. You no longer have to keep a tangle of power chords and batteries under your desk, in your lap top bag, and in your car. Even better, your universal charger is wireless! PowerMat and WiPower are just two of the companies developing a mat that allows you to recharge any device just by laying them on the mat. These devices use inductive technology to eliminate the tangle and clutter of miscellaneous chargers to ensure you can recharge any portable device on the go, whether in an airport or on the dashboard of your car. For any accountant who travels between the office and clients, such a device would be a lifesaver. Keep your eyes opened for these handy devices to hit the market in the near future.

Being True to Yourself; Since When is that Networking?

Networking. It's a word that makes many people's skin crawl. That's because it often invokes an image of sleazy sales people trying to force fake conversation in order to accomplish an ulterior motive. While in school, your career counselors and professors use phrases like "expand your network" and "network your way into a good job" when giving you tips on getting hired. But does that mean you have to be something you're not?

It's time we realized that networking is not a four letter word. It's a tool that you cannot live without if you want to advance your career. That doesn't mean you have to study up about college football even though you hate it, just to impress your boss who is a football fanatic, or that you have to go fishing with your clients just to prove you can relate to them despite your disgust of baiting a hook. In a recent article by Virginia Business Magazine entitled Career vs. Culture: Do you Have to Choose?, two CPAs explore the social hurdles they had to overcome in order to succeed in their profession. One author notes that as the daughter of immigrants, she was taught to respect her elders and speak only when she was spoken to. This posed a problem for her when she entered the workforce, because she felt it was disrespectful to raise her opinion during a meeting or provide professional input directly to her boss. Being an active part of your team and showing initiative is a key component of networking, and one that can boost your career when done appropriately. Working with colleagues to find a compromise that melds the best of everyone's ideas is a skill that you will find is appreciated by those around you. It is possible to provide a contradicting idea without offending someone if it enables you to reach the best solution.

The second author notes that he was uncomfortable bringing his accomplishments and contributions to the attention of his peers and supervisors, fearful of seeming arrogant. He soon realized that he was the only one with the power to give himself credit where credit was due. Many of us are understandably uncomfortable praising ourselves, but we need to learn to highlight our contributions to our employer when the opportunity arises. Many firms have a performance review process which asks employees to periodically rate their performance and discuss personal accomplishments and areas for improvement. While we all have room for improvement, do not be too bashful and fail to showcase your successful contributions and fulfillment of responsibilities on your performance reviews. It's alright to nominate yourself for positions of leadership or awards if you feel you have rightfully earned them. You are the one responsible for building your resume, not your boss, so take advantage of every opportunity to get ahead.

The aspect of networking that most people struggle with is the social component. In an informal environment such as a gathering of fellow professionals or a recruiting event, how do you relate to strangers while making important business connections? A major rule is to avoid being something you're not. Don't try to talk about topics you know nothing about as if you were an expert, just to get people to like you. Thankfully, the workplace isn't high school. Try and steer the conversation toward something you and your colleague are both comfortable with. Find some common ground, perhaps the same Alma mater, familiarity with a particular city, or similar tastes in reading materials. Even if you speak with someone for two minutes before exchanging business cards and parting ways, you want to strike a chord with them that will make you memorable and leave an impression of approachability in the other person's mind. That way, they'll be much more likely to contact you later on for business or professional connections, which is, after all, the purpose of networking.

No one was born to network, so don't be afraid to work on aspects of it with which you are less comfortable. We all need improvement and the leverage of relationships to advance our careers.