Public Speaking on a Daily Basis

Many people have the false impression that accountants are quiet, socially akward professionals who choose a career like accounting to minimize interaction with others. That couldn't be farther from the truth. As accountants, we need to interact with clients and peers on a regular basis. No one can go it alone. That's why communication skills are vitally important for CPAs. Early on in your public accounting career, you'll likely be required to do some amount of public speaking. Even if it is simply providing an update to your audit team or clients on a regular basis, a small meeting is still an opportunity to polish your public speaking skills. If you get nervous in these situations (which we all do), then here are a few tips to help you put your best foot forward every time you have to speak to more than one or two people:

1. Always be prepared - Other than impromptu meetings, any meeting that is on the attendees' schedules before the actual date means that an agenda, outline, or plan should be prepared. No one wants to feel you are wasting their time in a useless meeting, so be sure to have an objective for every planned interaction. If someone else is calling the meeting, always assume your input will be requested, and have something prepared to talk about: an update on your portion of the project, the status of an audit, ideas about planned audit procedures. Whatever the topic, be prepared to say something and write it down to help you keep your train of thought.
2. Think of about your audience - Many people stand before an audience and worry about themselves: Am I talking too fast? Are my hand gestures too distracting? Am I using "um" too frequently? I hope they don't notice how much I'm sweating. By focusing on all the things you are self-conscious about, it often draws attention to those very things and makes you lose your train of thought. Focus on your audience any time you are speaking. What do they need or hope to hear from you? How can you best communicate the problem you need to address as a group? How can you solicit input from everyone in an effective manner? What do you need to say to keep everyone awake and engaged in the conversation? By answering these questions as you speak, you will naturally move the conversation in a productive direction, involving not just yourself but your participants. No one wants to stand before an audience, ask them a question, and get absolutely no response in return. If you focus on the needs of your audience rather than your own self-doubts, they will volunteer their input and join the conversation.
3. Facilitate, don't just present - This suggestion is a continuation of the above recommendation. Even if you are asked to be the main speaker at an hour long meeting, don't think of it as a presentation. Meetings are held to either inform people of something useful, address a problem, or develop a strategy for execution. All of these aims involve more than just the speaker. Plan what you are going to say as a faciliatation of discussion, rather than a presentation. You shouldn't be behind a lectern with 100 slides of data, rambling on about everything you know. Ask the audience questions throughout your presentation, seek their input, throw out interesting suggestions and see what sort of response or questions they generate. Facilatate the group discussion, rather than being the only person in the room with something to say.

By being well prepared, making your audience the primary focus of your discussion, and soliciting a response from the other meeting participants, you can make every professional group interaction effective.

Bouncing Back from a Bad Interview

As much as you prepare, research, and rehearse, sometimes you just can't avoid a bad interview. I once got lost going to an interview, arrived over an hour late, then spilled my lunch all over me when my host took me to the company cafeteria. I left the place feeling like a dog with my tail between my legs. Needless to say, I didn't get a job offer. Sometimes the interviewee just seems to have it out for you. I had another interview with an accounting firm that seemed almost hostile toward me. I found it strange they would invite me for an interview as though there was some interest in me as a job candidate, when the interviewer was checking his watch incessantly, talking about how important he was to the firm, and allowing little time for me to respond to his questions or ask questions back. He then brought in a partner to tag-team me, making the interview feel like an inquisition. Despite leaving with the feeling that I would never get a call back, I was invited for a second interview and eventually received a job offer from the firm. Given the less-than-welcoming attitude of the firm's employees, it was an easy decision for me to decline their offer.

Whether you are having a bad day or your interviewer seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed themselves, we've all experienced interviews where we left feeling beaten up and inadequate. One rough interview can be damaging to your psyche, particularly if you have an entire week or season of interviews lined up. In bouncing back from these negative experiences, it's important to remember that you always have a second chance. Don't assume that one awful interview performance with a particular company will show itself in subsequent interviews with other organizations. Fortunately, your next potential employer has no idea you had a bad previous week and completely flopped with another interviewer. Treat each and every interview as a clean slate.

As painful as it can be, you need to review your mistakes as objectively as possible in order to work on areas of improvement. If you feel you performed badly in your last interview because you hadn't prepared any questions, or failed to conduct sufficient research about the company you were interviewing with, be sure to go above and beyond in these areas next time. The first example I mentioned above taught me that being logistically prepared for an interview is just as important as being mentally and technically prepared. After that experience, I always ensured I knew how to get where I needed to be, that I had the appropriate attire, and that I allowed more than sufficient time to arrive. By putting my best foot forward from the moment of arrival, my clumsiness disappeared as well (meaning no more lunch mishaps).

Even if you do have a bad interview with your dream employer, don't sell yourself short and assume you are out. Some mistakes can be overlooked. As an auditor, I once hosted a group of interviewees and found many of them to fumble through the initial icebreaker and meet-and-greet session. It seems nerves had gotten the better of most of them. But as the day of interviews, lunch, and panel discussions progressed, they all seemed to increase in confidence and competence. The group turned out to be one of our most impressive recruiting classes in several years.

If and when you have an interview experience that leaves you cringing, just remember that you start anew each time you go into an interview with a new organization, that every negative experience is a learning opportunity, and that you still have a chance to turn things around.

2011 Changes to the CPA Exam

The Journal of Accountancy recently posted a video discussing the changes to the Uniform CPA Exam which took effect on January 1, 2011. In the video, Colleen Conrad, CPA, the Immediate Past Chair of the AICPA Board of Examiners highlights the fact that the CPA exam is designed to test the knowledge required of an entry level CPA. Upon surveying CPA firms, the AICPA Board of Examiners found that the expectations of entry level CPAs in the field has been quite dynamic over the past year, and therefore the 2011 exam will reflect these changes.

The format of the exam will shift from a large simulation at the conclusion of 3 of the 4 sections, to multiple smaller simulations. This is intended to expedite the grading process, however, Ms. Conrad notes that faster grading will likely not take effect until the later part of the year.

The BEC section of the exam will now include essays, which means that the essays on the other 3 sections will be removed. This change will add 30 additional minutes to the BEC section and reduce the Audit section by 30 minutes.

CPA firms surveyed by the Board of Examiners reported that entry level CPAs are increasingly required to be familiar with IFRS. Therefore, general IFRS questions have been added to the exam. Because IFRS is not yet readily used by all US firms, the questions will not require candidates to have intricate knowledge of concepts, merely familiarity with certain topics.

It is highly recommended that exam candidates take advantage of the practice examinations available at www.cpa-exam.org, in order to familiarize themselves with the format and resources of the exam. In 2011, there are new calculator and research functions that test takers should be comfortable navigating in preparation for the exam.

Reacting to Opportunities for Your Career

I read an article in the recent issue of Management-Issues that got me thinking about the trajectory of my own career. The article , entitled Reacting Matters as Much as Planning, challenged the notion that a thorough plan or budget is always the most valuable road map for an organization. As is often the case with many small businesses that skyrocket to success, reacting to an unexpected challenge or opportunity can become a defining moment and a launch pad to greater things.

The same can be said for our careers. We're all dealing with a tough economy right now, which has brought the career plan of many accounting professionals to a screeching halt. Perhaps you have recently been laid off, or have decided to earn another degree now that your planned promotion has become a thousand times more competitive to win. I myself had a career plan all mapped out when I finished my undergraduate accounting degree. I intended to immediately pass the CPA exam, work in public accounting until I made senior manager, then move on to start my own business or become an executive at a small company. Life has certainly changed all of that, but I do not regret a single deviation from my initial career path. When I had my first child, my goals shifted. I wanted to make motherhood my full-time focus, while still keeping my part-time attention on continuing my accounting career. I initially moved from a life of intense client-focused travel in public accounting, to a corporate accounting job that allowed me to be home at 6pm every night. But even after that, I needed more time with my son, so I quit my job, not knowing how I would continue my career. The time off gave me an opportunity to write a book, start a blog, and expand my network. Through professional organizations, I met someone who was looking for a qualified part-time CPA to manage curriculum and tutor students for several online accounting MBA courses. It was the perfect opportunity for me, and one which I hadn't planned on at all. While I've been positioning myself to make my next career move when I am ready to get back into the full-time workforce, I am still keeping my mind and network open for the right opportunity for continuing professional development.

So while I've deviated quite a bit from my original career plan, the side trip was much more fulfilling than my original path could have been, and my flexible perspective has enabled me to grasp hold of opportunities that have unexpectedly come my way. If you are disappointed that your career is not moving exactly where or how you planned, take a step back from your career road map and look for new opportunities open by unexpected circumstances. Perhaps your new degree, company, or another change in the economic environment will unexpectedly move you up a few rungs on the professional ladder when the time is right.

The Importance of Being Honest

Have you ever called in sick when you actually had plans during a workday? Taking an occasional day of hooky a bit further, have you ever told your boss you were at a client site when you were really running personal errands or meeting up with a friend? Some professionals even stretch their little white lies as far as claiming to be out of town at a training or on a client assignment when they are really on vacation. Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum of dishonesty, you should know that employers are increasingly hiring private detectives and using technology such as phone GPS to keep tabs on employees who claim to be out sick or traveling for work. In 2008, a landmark court case found that an employer did nothing unlawful in hiring an off-duty police officer to follow an employee suspected of abusing her paid medical leave. The fired employee filed the suit against her employer and lost. This set a precedent for companies suspicious of employee activity, particularly when claiming to be off sick or on disability leave.

For client service professionals such as those in public accounting where team members are constantly on the road or out of the office, the opportunities play hooky are all the greater than in other industries. While working for the Big Four, a fellow senior associate on my audit team did not show up for work at least once a week, sometimes multiple times a week. His obvious fibbing about being caught in inclement weather (he did commute nearly 2 hours to the office each way), his wife's poor health, and a host of other stories got more and more creative as time went on. While those of us who worked directly with him suspected his reasons, it took quite a while for his bosses to catch on, since they were often out of the office or working in a different area of the building, and failed to notice just how frequent his absence was. He was eventually fired, but only after a painfully long time of pushing his luck to get out of work.

If you are in the habit of abusing any of your time on the your employer's clock for personal use, be warned that the corporate surveillance business is currently booming. According to workforce productivity firm Kronos, there has been a 20 percent increase from 2006 to 2010 in US salaried employees taking sick days when they're not really ill. Kronos' Senior Director Joyce Maroney speculates that "people are staying in jobs they don't like because of a fear that there won't be another job out there," so their lack of enthusiasm for work or dislike of their employer provides them with justification for abusing their sick leave.

As an accounting professional, your integrity is the most important asset upon which you build your professional reputation, not only with clients but with employers as well. If you are dishonest in your personal activities, your employer will question your reliability in other areas such as specific skills or experience represented on your resume. The public accounting profession is also one in which each level of professional is relied upon to train more junior staff. So even if you're not a partner or manager, you most likely are setting a glaring example for other staff members or interns. By setting a lax tone when it comes to occasionally abusing sick leave, you are telling your supervisees that it's okay to manipulate the truth when it comes to work-related matters. That is a dangerous precedent to set in a profession that exists to provide independent assurance over the honesty of the representations of others.

The next time you feel there is no harm in stretching the truth to get out of work, keep in mind the importance of being honest in our profession (and also the increased likelihood your boss is keeping tabs on you).

Continuing Professional Education...From a Toddler

Observing the behavior of children provides an insightful glimpse into the human psyche. I have spent the past 21 months taking a break from my full-time accounting career to stay home with my 2 year-old son. Each day he teaches me something about what it takes to succeed in life. Many of these lessons are applicable to my professional as well as personal life. The following are just a few things he's taught me about being a CPA:

1. With relentless determination, you can learn anything. - If a toddler is determined to do something, they won't give up until they have accomplished it. My son now grunts and hollers if he's trying to lift a toy onto a shelf that is an inch too high, or if he's trying to put a puzzle piece together that just doesn't seem to fit. His cries indicate frustration and determination. Rather than run immediately to his aid, I let him work it out for himself, and he almost always succeeds. We need to have the same determination in developing our professional knowledge. If you are assigned to a client in an entirely new industry, or are challenged to research a complex accounting issue you hardly understand, don't throw your hands in the air or run immediately to someone you know will give you all the answers. Try and work things out, do your homework, dig deeper, and ask questions. You'll learn infinitely more than if you give up and pass the challenge onto someone else. You'll also develop your problem solving skills, so you will have a better idea where to start the next time you are faced with a similar challenge.
2. Asking questions is the only way to acquire knowledge. - As I just mentioned, you often have to work things out for yourself, even if you don't know what you're doing. But you must also learn to leverage the knowledge of others. My son seems to be learning dozens of new words each month, because he constantly asks what everything is. He also learns what he can and cannot touch or play with by asking. If he didn't trust me to guide him, he would be constantly hurting himself by touching the stove, electrical outlets, or knives, and he would never learn to talk. Reaching out to more experienced and knowledgeable professionals will help you to develop your professional expertise much more rapidly than if you stubbornly insisted on fulfilling all of your responsibilities alone, from the confines of your cubicle. I've worked with many new professionals who were terrified of speaking to clients or managers. Rather than ask a simple question, they would spend an entire day trying to explain something that a more knowledgeable person could have clarified for them in five minutes. Knowing when to ask questions is key to learning.
3. Take a break when your body tells you it's overworked. - Infants and toddlers have an amazing ability to sleep wherever they are when their body tells them it's tired, whether it be in the car, on your shoulder, or in a stroller. They just close their eyes and seem to block everything out. While we can't just take a nap in the middle of a meeting, we do need to listen to our bodies when they are stressed. Busy season for CPAs often comes with 80 hour work weeks, caffeine overloads, and little sleep. If you are having trouble concentrating and functioning during your day, your body is trying to tell you something. Take care of yourself and avoid pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion. You'll be a lot more productive in your waking hours if you sleep more than one or two hours a night. No job is worth sacrificing your mental and physical health.

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.