You and the World of Accounting

1. You and the World of Accounting Exploring Careers

2. Choosing a Career • “Not many of us know what we want to do with the rest of our lives, especially when we’re still in high school.” • “I’ll just take some liberal arts courses” • “Something will come up” • Talk to people who really LOVE what they do and odds are they took some time to figure themselves out!

3. Assess Your Career Vision • Before choosing your career, you’ll want to do some soul-searching. • The more you know about yourself, the easier it will be to make career choices. • What are your personal interests and skills? • What are your values, and how will they affect your career? • What lifestyle interests you? • How will your personality affect your career choice?

4. Your Interests, Skills, and Traits • You’re more likely to enjoy a career that uses your individual interests, skills and traits. Skills are activities that you do well. • Are you good at math? Do you write well? Are you creative? Do you like to meet lots of new people? Do you like to build things? • Know your set of skills and abilities ... It’s what makes you unique! • Here are some skills that employers have identified as being valuable:

5. Values • Values – principles you live by and the beliefs that are important to you. Values are about actions not words! • Examples of things people value: responsibility, achievement, relationships, compassion, courage, recognition. • What are some careers that might benefit from each of these? For example: Responsibility ... A surgeon OR courage ... A firefighter. Can you think of some?

6. Lifestyle Goals • Your lifestyle is the way you use your time, energy, and resources. • For example: Many people devote themselves to work, earn lots of money, and put off the benefits of free time until they’re older. • Others accept smaller paychecks and work fewer hours in order to spend more time with their family and friends now. • What’s really important to you? • Do you want to go for the big bucks? • Do you want to live in a big city with endless activities or small town where everybody knows your name? • Do you want to collaborate with groups of people, or do you prefer working solo? • Try to focus on careers that match your goals!

7. Personality Traits • What if all your friends had the exact same personality? If they were all shy? Or all serious? Life would be pretty predictable! • It’s a good thing we all have our own personality – a set of unique qualities that makes us different from other people. • What is your personality? Are you confident? Dependable? Funny? Friendly? Sympathetic? BE HONEST. Do you like being with people or would you rather spend time reading a book or on your computer? • Your personality affects your preferences for working with people, data or things!

8. Research the Possibilities • Once you have a clear view of yourself and how you want to live your life, the next step is to start researching careers to find the one that’s right for you. • Personal interest tests – helps you identify preferences. • Networking – a way to find out about particular careers by asking people to share information and advice. • You can use the library or the internet to help you research potential careers.

9. Set Career Goals • Once you have a clear vision of your interests and you’ve found a few potential careers ... It’s time to put a plan into action. • Map out a plan ... Make a list of careers and compare them. • Education ... How much do you need? How will you pay for it? • On-the-Job Training ... Go to school and to work! Get paid to see if you like it or not! • Internships ... Work as an intern. Many companies offer summer internships to students. Some offer modest pay. Oftentimes internships can turn into real job offers.

10. Chapter One Notes OrganizerExploring Careers • “Not many of us know what we want to do with the rest of our lives, especially when we’re still in high school.” • Talk to people who really LOVE what they do and odds are they took some time to figure themselves out! • Before choosing your career, you’ll want to do some soul-searching. • The more you know about yourself, the easier it will be to make career choices. • ______________________________________________________ • ______________________________________________________ • ______________________________________________________ • ______________________________________________________ • You’re more likely to enjoy a career that uses your individual interests, skills and traits. _____________ are activities that you do well. • Are you good at math? Do you write well? Are you creative? Do you like to meet lots of new people? Do you like to build things? • Know your set of skills and abilities ... It’s what makes you unique! • Here are some skills that employers have identified as being valuable: • ___________________ – principles you live by and the beliefs that are important to you. Values are about actions not words! • Examples of things people value: _____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________. • What are some careers that might benefit from each of these? For example: Responsibility ... A surgeon OR courage ... A firefighter. Can you think of some? • __________________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________________ • Your ____________________ is the way you use your time, energy, and resources. • For example: Many people devote themselves to work, earn lots of money, and put of the benefits of free time until they’re older. • Others accept smaller paychecks and work fewer hours in order to spend more time with their family and friends now. • What’s really important to you? Do you want to go for the big bucks? • Do you want to live in a big city with endless activities or small town where everybody knows your name? • Do you want to collaborate with groups of people, or do you prefer working solo? • Try to focus on careers that ____________________________________. • What if all your friends had the exact same personality? If they were all shy? Or all serious? Life would be pretty boring and predictable! • It’s a good thing we all have our own ___________________________ – a set of unique qualities that makes us different from other people. • What is your personality? Are you confident? Dependable? Funny? Friendly? Sympathetic? BE HONEST. Do you like being with people or would you rather spend time reading a book or on your computer? • Your personality affects your preferences for working with people, data or things! So research the possibilities • Once you have a clear view of yourself and how you want to live your life, the next step is to start researching careers to find the one that’s right for you. • ___________________________________________ – helps you identify preferences. • _________________________ – a way to find out about particular careers by asking people to share information and advice. • You can use the library or the internet to help you research potential careers. • Once you have a clear vision of your interests and you’ve found a few potential careers ... It’s time to put a plan into action. • ___________________________________________ ... Make a list of careers and compare them. • _____________________________ ... How much do you need? How will you pay for it? • _____________________________ ... Go to school and to work! Get paid to see if you like it or not! • _____________________________ ... Work as an intern. Many companies offer summer internships to students. Some offer modest pay. Oftentimes internships can turn into real job offers.

11. FINDING A CAREER • Finding a job that you LOVE that will support the lifestyle you want to live is a challenge! • You will be SOOO much happier if you can find a career that matches your skills, values, and personality traits! • Today, we are going to spend some time looking at potential careers. This is just the beginning of a process for you… please take advantage of the opportunity! • Go to the Career Key website and take the quiz: http://www.careerkey.org/english/index.html • Find the information I requested and type it up into the PowerPoint Slideshow that I provide! • Good luck!

12. Accounting Careers The Possibilities are Endless!

13. The Changing Horizon • “Some people believe accounting is boring” • Accounting can be a lot of things you would never have expected! • Accountant – handles a broad range of responsibilities, makes business decisions, and prepares and interprets financial reports.

14. Dynamic and Exciting Jobs are out there! • Think of any business: Nike, Detroit Pistons, Hard Rock Café, Bad Boys Records – they ALL look to accountants to help run their businesses! • Think of any celebrity: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Eminem, Jay Z, Jennifer Lopez … they all have financial advisors.

15. Accounting Professions • For-profit business – operate to earn money for their owners. Example: Detroit Pistons, Wal-Mart, Nike, entertainers like Alicia Keys. • Today computers handle much of the basic accounting work, freeing accountants up to do more planning and advising. • Therefore, accountants don’t need to be chained to a desk. If you worked for Alicia Keys, you would probably spend some of your time traveling. • Laptops and cell phones keep you connected.

16. Accounting Professions • Not-for-profit organizations, also known as non-profit organizations – work for a cause. Goal is to balance their income with expenses rather than earning a profit for owners or investors • Examples are the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, and the World Wildlife Fund, United Way, and the Sierra Club

17. In the Know • Shelly Hale .. Loves her job. In high school, she had a keen fashion sense and loved math and logic. • However, like most students, was lukewarm to the idea of becoming an accountant. • UNTIL … an internship became available in the accounting department at the Gap. • She took a job as an accounting clerk – an entry level job usually performing one or two accounting tasks. • She worked there while attending college to become a CPA --- Certified Public Accountant. • CPA’s pass a national test to meet specified experience and education standards to become “certified” to practice accounting. Much like passing the bar for lawyers!

18. Public Accounting Firms • Public accounting – firm that provides accounting services to clients. • These firms can be large or small – from a local business specializing in personal tax returns to an international firm like Ernst & Young, which provides services to businesses around the globe. • You might hear people refer to the “BIG FOUR”. These are the biggest of the public accounting firms: Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. • Accountants in these firms might work in tax planning or auditing. Auditing is the review of financial statements to confirm that they follow accepted accounting principles. • From entertainment to health care, conservation to entrepreneurship, the career possibilities in accounting are endless!

19. Chapter One Notes OrganizerPart Two: Accounting Careers – Endless Possibilities • Accounting can be a lot of things you would never have expected! • ______________________ – handles a broad range of responsibilities, makes business decisions, and prepares and interprets financial reports. • Think of any business: Nike, Detroit Pistons, Hard Rock Café, Bad Boys Records – they ALL look to accountants to help run their businesses! • Think of any celebrity: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Eminem, Jay Z, Jennifer Lopez … they all have financial advisors. • ________________________________ – operate to earn money for their owners. Example: Detroit Pistons, Wal-Mart, Nike, entertainers like Alicia Keys. • Today ______________________ handle much of the basic accounting work, freeing accountants up to do more planning and advising. • Accountants don’t need to be chained to a desk. If you worked for Alicia Keys, you would probably spend some of your time traveling.Laptops and cell phones keep you connected. • _______________________________________, also known as non-profit organizations – work for a cause. Their goal is to balance their income with expenses rather than earning a profit for owners or investors • Examples are the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, and the World Wildlife Fund, United Way, and the Sierra Club • Shelly Hale .. Loves her job. In high school, she had a keen fashion sense and loved math and logic. • However, like most students, was lukewarm to the idea of becoming an accountant. • UNTIL … an internship became available in the accounting department at the Gap. • She took a job as an _____________________________ – an entry level job usually performing one or two accounting tasks. • She worked there while attending college to become a ___________ which stands for __________________________________________. • CPA’s pass a national test to meet specified experience and education standards to become “certified” to practice accounting. Much like passing the bar for lawyers! • _______________________ – firm that provides accounting services to clients. • These firms can be large or small – from a local business specializing in personal tax returns to an international firm like Ernst & Young, which provides services to businesses around the globe. • You might hear people refer to the “BIG FOUR”. These are the biggest of the public accounting firms: Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. • Accountants in these firms might work in tax planning or auditing. • _____________________________ is the review of financial statements to confirm that they follow accepted accounting principles. • From entertainment to health care, conservation to entrepreneurship, the career possibilities in accounting are endless!