Great Advice For Young Accountants

1. ‘Be curious. Don’t settle.’ --Jennifer Briggs, President & CEO, Indiana CPA Society

Learn as much as you can every day. It’s not only the best way to excel, it’s the best way to stay interested and interesting.

2. ‘Learn to think an entrepreneur.’--Rick Telberg, Founder and CEO, CPA Trendlines

“Here’s what they won’t tell you in college, or even in your first job: You’re an entrepreneur. Learn to think an entrepreneur. Learn to act like it. The most important skill you can learn beyond the basics for licensure are how to get new clients, and to amaze and delight them.

3. 'Understand your core values.' --Lynne Doughtie, Chairman and CEO, KPMG

“Really understand your core personal values and ensure that garnering trust and acting with integrity are cornerstones. Letting these values guide your actions will strengthen your decision-making, foster openness and collaboration, and allow you to carry out your critical role in protecting the capital markets.”

4. Follow your own career path. --Blake Oliver, Senior product marketing manager, FloQast Inc.

“You don’t have to follow the traditional career path in the Big Four anymore. It’s not about ‘making it to manager and then going to industry.’ You can start in industry. You can go to public after that if you want. You can even start your own firm in your twenties these days if you’re good at marketing yourself online. I know because I’ve done all three, and have watched others do the same.”

5. ‘Embrace your advantage.’ --Scott McFarlane, Co-founder and CEO, Avalara

“Don’t undervalue your unique advantages as a digital native. You have no fear of turning first to a technology to take care of time-consuming tasks, and spending the bulk of your energy on adding strategic value. Embrace this advantage, it’s big -- now go out and win the world!”

6. ‘Look for a firm that 'gets it.'' --Terry Putney, CEO, Transition Advisors

“Look for a firm that 'gets it.' A practice that embraces diversity between generations and cultures. Look for a firm that invests in new tools to serve clients, and a firm that sees its people as the most important attribute for its success. This profession continues to offer the best long-term opportunity for success for accounting grads, and now grads with non-accounting skills as well, both professionally and financially.”

7. ‘Don’t get put into a box.’ --Diane Yetter, President, Yetter Tax

Discover what you are good at in terms of the nature of the work and then find a way to marry those two things. If you can do the functional work where you excel in the tax area you enjoy – you will succeed – always! Don’t get put into a box – advocate for yourself to make sure you can succeed.”

Source: Accounting Today