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| In the News |
| What An Interviewer Really Wants to Learn | 11/06/09 | | You've prepped for your big interview by lining up impressive answers about what you've done and can do, what's new in your field and in the company you're meeting with. But if you aren't tuned in to the three most common interview decision factors and their relative importance, then all your painstaking research, strategizing and rehearsing could easily come to naught. |
| Keep Your Spirits Up, Whatever It Takes | 11/04/09 | | Life has many trials, and earning our daily bread is one of them. During my job search, I rode an emotional roller-coaster. There were plenty of days when I was depressed and did not want to speak with anyone. But I never lost hope. With a little help from family, friends, career counselor and my inner faith, I always bounced back. |
| Finessing Your Age on a Resume | 11/02/09 | | Should older job seekers make it difficult for employers to gauge their age from a resume? While this is no time to scrap the traditional resume with work experience carefully dated, there are circumstances where older candidates needn't reveal all, resume consultants and recruiters say. |
| Job Hunt Can Threaten Jobless Benefits | 10/30/09 | | For a professional in transition, freelancing, volunteering, networking, or preparing to launch a business can shorten the path to the next job. But if you’re not careful, it can also prevent you from collecting unemployment compensation. |
| People Skills Trump Number Skills | 10/28/09 | | We've long written that interpersonal skills are vital to both getting hired and being a strong performer in one's job. But a recent survey suggests that for finance department job-seekers at least, the importance hiring managers attach to people skills has soared in the past five years. |
| Our Take: It's Not About You | 10/26/09 | | You'd never walk into an interview or start a new job wearing a sign on your forehead that read, "I don't belong here." Yet, that's the attitude some people seem to bring to the job-search process. |
| Your Self-Review Form Does Matter | 10/23/09 | | If you treat your performance review self-evaluation form as a bureacratic formality, you're wasting a chance to bolster your position and possibly fatten your bonus and salary too, says career guru Scot Herrick. |
| Body Language Speaks Loudly in Interviews | 10/19/09 | | You know the drill: You have to tell the interviewer about your accomplishments rather than your skills. You've got to listen carefully so you can match your pitch to the job’s needs. And it's important to project confidence and enthusiasm. Be aware, though, that it isn't only what you say that will be judged. |
| To Survive, Reach Across the Divide | 10/16/09 | | Speak of the devil and you get him. That ancient warning is worth heeding if your employer's business slips to a point where layoffs might hit your department. |
| Our Take: Kiss Off | 10/14/09 | | "Your qualifications are impressive…." You know what's coming next. But don't frown and bite your lip. Soon, those Orwellian kiss-off messages may reach you early enough in the interview process to do you some good. |
| Negotiating Tips From Across the Table | 10/09/09 | | A recent article by recruiter-trainer Bill Radin gives job-seekers a fresh slant on the ticklish subject of discussing compensation with a recruiter. |
| Get Your Family On Board | 10/07/09 | | When I hadn't found a job a few months after my layoff early in 2008, the prospects for my wife, five children and myself looked bleak. Everyone in both my wife's family and mine knew I was unemployed. What they did not know was, I could soon be reaching out to them for serious help. |
| CFOs Expect Hiring Pickup | 10/05/09 | | Economic confidence among corporate CFOs rebounded last quarter to a point where they're gearing up to spend more on staffing and capital investment, a new survey indicates. |
| Facebook as a Networking Tool - For Real | 10/02/09 | | If you remain skeptical Facebook can be of use in your professional life, it's worth reading Boris Epstein's guide to using the popular social network to make and maintain professional relationships. |
| Our Take: Fatally Visible | 09/30/09 | | Digital dirt on your professional image needn’t involve one of the big four career-bombs: beer, marijuana, foul language, or unclothed flesh. It needn’t even involve using your blog to vent at a past or present employer. Instead, an unwary professional can soil his image even by planned appearances in well-regarded, mainstream media outlets. |
| Perseverance is Key to Success | 09/29/09 | | If I had given up at any time during my job search, I would not have found a job, received a second round of publicity for my success and perseverance, or ended up where I am today. My experience illustrates why it is so important to keep your eyes on your goal and maintain the determination to reach it. |
| Get An Early Start on 2010 Job Search | 09/25/09 | | As the final quarter of 2009 looms, a Massachusetts-based recruiting firm put out a to-do list for finance and accounting professionals who want – or need – to move into a better job next year. |
| Our Take: Being Keanu Reeves | 09/21/09 | | Why do people network? At first blush, the question seems to answer itself: to find a new job, or be more effective in my present job. However, the recession is driving some job-seekers to think about network contacts more like the way they view other relationships in their lives. |
| Volunteering: More than 'Feeling Good' | 09/18/09 | | Too busy for volunteer work? There's a reason you may want to find time to squeeze some in: It can boost your career, and even help you be a better accountant. |
| Where to Place Resume Keywords | 09/16/09 | | Keywords are important in on-line resumes. A resume that lacks the proper keywords will yield little chance of an interview if it's evalutated in digital form. The trickier question is: Where is the best place to put the keywords in your resume?" |
| Identify Your Brand and Sell It | 09/14/09 | | Through months of unemployment, guest author Joshua Persky chased job leads. But as soon as the ex-banker and MIT graduate identified his personal brand and created a cohesive marketing platform, "the job leads began chasing me," Persky writes. Soon, he had a couple of offers. |
| Big Four Called Best Launch Points | 09/09/09 | | When BusinessWeek published its annual "Best Places to Launch a Career" list last week, the Big Four won the top four spots among the 69 large employers listed. That's just a slight change from a year ago. Then, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers also held the top three places (in different order), while KPMG placed fifth behind Goldman Sachs. |
| How Schools Rank For Accounting | 09/03/09 | | Even if it's been years since you graduated, it's always fun to find out how your alma mater did in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2010" ranking. |
| Resume Keywords: A Primer | 09/02/09 | | If you want to advance from anonymous job applicant to interview candidate, your resume simply must include the right keywords. That is a fact of life today, no matter which company you apply to.
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| For Many, Contract Work Can Add Stress | 08/31/09 | | If you're not in the right frame of mind, a temporary job could stress you out. According to a study conducted by McGill University researchers, employees hired for temporary, contract, fixed-term or "casual" positions are at risk for increased mental health problems. |
| Beat the Resume-Screen Algorithm | 08/28/09 | | It's one thing to learn the employer offered someone else the job you were hot for. It's another to learn you never even made the cut…because a purveyor of "artificial intelligence" screened out your resume. |
| Be Open to Change | 08/26/09 | | When looking for a job, especially in economically challenging times, it helps to be open to change. |
| An Intern's Journal: Conclusion | 08/25/09 | | This is my final post for JobsintheMoney as a KPMG intern. These two months have gone by so quickly. It seems like yesterday when I was still trying to get my work visa so I could go to Milan for KPMG’s global internship program. |
| Study Shows CFOs Get Paid to 'Manage' Earnings | 08/21/09 | | Chief financial officers’ compensation is influenced by both the complexity of the job and the CFO’s performance, according to a study by Steve Balsam, professor of accounting at the Fox School of Business at Temple University. |
| Accountants to Focus on Strategy and IT | 08/19/09 | | If you're a management accountant on a promotion track, expect to plow more time into communicating with stakeholders about business strategy and becoming expert in the technologies your company uses. |
| Our Take: The 'Just World' Axiom | 08/17/09 | | A contact in transition since last year relates that a recruiter, upon learning his last salary, replied, "Wow, you were pretty well paid." Problem is, my friend insists he was substantially underpaid compared with his peers. |
| Pondering a Jump? You've Got Company | 08/12/09 | | While most accountants are loyal to their employer, 23 percent plan to leave as soon as the economy improves, according to an informal survey by Ajilon Finance and the Institute of Management Accountants. |
| An Intern's Journal: Part IV | 08/11/09 | | Time goes by quickly when you wake up early in the morning, go to work during the day and have fun until late at night. That is pretty much what my life has been like the past two and a half weeks, as a KPMG global intern in Milan. |
| Our Take: Vicissitudes of Career Advice | 08/10/09 | | Career management advice is a lot harder to evaluate than investment advice. There is no GAAP for how to craft a resume or dazzle an interviewer. So it's only natural that highly experienced career management experts sometimes voice conflicting opinions as to how a candidate should navigate this or that facet of the hiring process. And there is often no credible published research that can help settle the question. |
| Finding the Recession's Upside | 08/07/09 | | The financial sector blowup and recession have soured the near-term career outlook for a great many professionals. But if you're any good, you know what to do when life gives you lemons. Here are some hints for squeezing lemonade, courtesy of placement agent Allison Hemming. |
| One in Four Firms Reduced Training | 08/05/09 | | If the boss has canceled your training and your next trip out of town to a conference, maybe you’re working for the wrong firm. While 26 percent of 150 large company senior executives recently surveyed by Accountemps said they’d cut back on professional development over the past year, slightly more, 28 percent said they’d increased training. |
| Resume Polish on the Cheap | 08/03/09 | | If you're having trouble creating or refocusing your resume, you may have to look no further than your local library for help. In The Wall Street Journal, writer Jonnelle Marte offers up many alternatives to the costly route of professional resumesmiths. |
| Your Inbox Is Not a To-Do List | 07/31/09 | | Among the endless supply of useful posts about enhancing your productivity available at the Web site Zen Habits is this recent piece by simplicity addict Leo Babuata, which addresses a particular behavior many of us are accustomed to: using our e-mail inboxes as a to-do list. |
| Focus on an Interviewer's Problems | 07/29/09 | | Here's a tip that could help in your next job interview: When asked if you have any questions for the hiring manager, inquire about the biggest challenges her department tackled recently or must tackle in the near future. Tell stories that show you solved similar problems in the past, and explain what you learned in the process. |
| An Intern's Journal: Part III | 07/28/09 | | Ciao from Milan! As I wrote in last week's installment, I’m one of the interns fortunate enough to participate in KPMG’s Global Internship Program. |
| When Following Up, Persistence Pays | 07/27/09 | | Would you call a prospective employer 63 times if your calls weren't picked up or returned? How about 24 times over a two-year period? |
| The Recorded Resume | 07/24/09 | | Having a hard time getting that resume out of your head and onto the page? I mean, what's so hard, right? It's just an inventory of skills and work history. Well, an inventory of skills and work history that can make a difference between getting the job you want or not. |
| Getting Back into Work After a Layoff | 07/22/09 | | So months and months after your layoff, you've finally found a new job. You're thrilled, relieved - and worried about whether you'll fit in and can handle the work. |
| An Intern's Journal: Part II | 07/21/09 | | It has been a week since I started my first client assignment at KPMG and I have had an amazing experience. |
| The Basics of Cover Letters | 07/17/09 | | When you think “first impression,” an image of you, confidently shaking the hiring manager’s hand, might come to mind. But a hiring manager has a very different picture – that of a mile-high stack of paper. In order to show off that slick new suit and those freshly-shined shoes, your cover letter needs to rise to the top of the heap. |
| Job Search Checklist | 07/15/09 | | Looking for a job can be a daunting task, even in good times. To help you organize your efforts, use this checklist. Being buttoned up is especially important if you're working and looking for a new position, because you have to stay on your game even while you're scoping out new positions. |
| An Intern's Journal: Part I | 07/13/09 | | My name is Mariola Lezcano and I am currently an Audit intern at KPMG LLP, in the New York City office. I was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and I moved to the U.S. mainland to go to school at Villanova University to study accounting. |
| 'Thank You' is Still in Vogue | 07/10/09 | | You might have hated it when your mother told you to say thank you, but the truth is it's good advice - even today, and especially during a job search. Not only are thank you notes an essential part of the process, but overlooking them could end up costing you the job. |
| Big Firms Tweet for Attention | 07/08/09 | | Accounting firms are beginning to tweet in force, using Twitter to reach job seekers and educate junior employees, making them aware of job development groups and activities. They believe that in the near future Twitter will begin to play more of role in recruiting at other levels, too. Among the early converts, Ernst & Young started a Twitter initiative last month while KPMG plans to launch a program in August. |
| China's U.S. Growth to Spur Finance Jobs | 07/06/09 | | Chinese economic expansion is sparking demand for various finance professionals for work within the U.S., says private equity consultant Song Jin. As privately owned Chinese firms move to invest in U.S. businesses and raise capital here, they'll need experienced U.S.-based investment bankers, lawyers, accountants and investor relations professionals, among others. |
| Who's Eyeing Your Personal Webmail? | 06/29/09 | | As a pro who's been around the block a few times, you know better than to write or send from your office computer anything not work-related whose content might ever come back to hurt you. Like storing your current resume, for instance. Or responding to an external job posting via e-mail from your office. But what if you use a personal Web-based e-mail account that requires an individual login password, such as Gmail or hotmail? |
| Don't Trip Over Your Smartphone | 06/24/09 | | There are two types of people in the workplace: Those whose Blackberry addiction renders them incapable of turning off the device and those who want to rip the Crackberry from their hands and crush it beneath their feet. |
| Redundancies at Large UK Accounting Firms | 06/22/09 | | The 50 largest accounting firms in the United Kingdom have reduced their headcount by about 3,000, or 5 percent, over the past year, according to an annual survey from Accountancy Age. |
| Seven Signs You're Getting Good Training | 06/22/09 | | Virtually every accounting firm offers training, but not all firms offer great training. Take this quiz to find out if you're getting just training - or really great training. |
| Making Even the Best Excuses Won't Cut It | 06/15/09 | | You blow a deadline on a big project. But you can't help that you came down with the flu the day before. You run out of gas on the way to a client meeting. But it wasn't your fault. You just didn't have time to stop at the gas station and you were sure you had enough to make it. You miss the due date to turn in your expense report. It totally slipped your mind. But geez, can't Accounting cut you a little slack again? |
| Our Take: When Less Is More | 06/12/09 | | Which is wiser: To pursue as many potential opportunities as possible, or home in on a carefully selected circle of job openings and professional contacts, giving each significant attention from the get-go? In my opinion, it's no contest. |
| Coming Aboard? Don't Forget Onboarding | 06/10/09 | | If you walk into the office on your first day and the receptionist doesn't know you're coming, they don't show you to your desk or how to use the phone, chances are you made a critical mistake during the final interview – you didn't ask about new employee training. |
| Open Your Own Firm With Eyes Wide Open | 06/08/09 | | Ten months ago, Ron Durkin and his son-in-law, Dan Dehner, saw an opportunity. The result, Durkin Forensic, has succeeded beyond expectation. The San Diego-based firm has already recouped Durkin’s $500,000 in seed money and is well into the black. |
| Do It All, Suffer the Consequences | 06/04/09 | | You have redefined "Take One for the Team" to mean "Take 'Em All for the Team." In fact, if your life story was a made-for-TV movie, you'd be the one knocking down all of your teammates so that you could catch the ball and run it into the end zone - every single time. Impressive? Not really. |
| Lessons From a Fruitless Quest | 06/03/09 | | Even as the economy writhes amid recession and restructuring, some jobless finance and accounting professionals are having trouble adjusting their expectations to the new reality. |
| Connecting with Care | 06/01/09 | | Your mother probably taught you to choose your friends wisely, because who you hung out with made you look good - or bad - depending on the crowd. Now it appears the same advice applies to connections you make on networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. |
| A Recruiter's Checklist - And Yours | 05/29/09 | | As we enter the recession's 18th month, some staffing companies have begun urging clients to develop HR and recruiting plans to use as the economy begins clawing its way back . |
| Don't Be Late. It Matters. | 05/28/09 | | It's a typical day-in-the-life. You drop off the kids at school while you're answering a text message from a client and leaving a voicemail for your boss. And that's before you hit the drive-thru for your morning coffee. |
| Profit From Your Setbacks | 05/22/09 | | Want to score big points in a job interview? Be prepared to discuss the position you’ve lost or other unfavorable career events in depth, says Korn/Ferry International recruiter Cheryl Buxton. |
| Made a Change? Functional Resume May Help | 05/20/09 | | A chronological resume starting with the job(s) you have now and going backwards in time to your first job is the resume of choice for job seekers and hiring professionals alike. But in some situations, a functional resume organized by core skills and aptitudes can be a better choice. |
| Hello, My Name Is… | 05/18/09 | | You know the scene: each week 10 to 12 people meet in a conference room to share their lives. Yet while the introductions initially sound familiar, this is not a typical self-help group. Instead, this is a Job Search Work Team offered through my career transition (outplacement) provider, Lee Hecht Harrison, a talent management solutions company. |
| Pessimism Among CPAs Eases | 05/15/09 | | Financial executives and CPAs are feeling a bit less pessimistic about the economy these days, according to the second quarter Economic Outlook Survey from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School shows. |
| Making the Move to Public Accounting | 05/13/09 | | Accountants who move back and forth between the public and corporate worlds can maintain - and even boost - their salaries, but only if they have the right combination of credentials and experience. |
| What's Your Resume's Story? | 05/11/09 | | Do you persevere through obstacles when others succumb? Are you a gregarious leader who motivates others into tackling difficult assignments? Although behind every job seeker lies a story of career challenge and triumph, few succeed at captivating reviewers with their tale, because they don't convey that story in their resume. |
| It's Always the Right Time to Join an Association | 05/10/09 | | After spending years studying finance, auditing and budgeting, what should you do after graduation? In addition to finding a job, get out there and connect with the local chapter of a professional association, such as the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). |
| Building Your Brand During Job Interviews | 05/08/09 | | In a competitive job market the ability to quickly and easily differentiate yourself can push you ahead of the crowd. That's exactly what Tom Murray, senior consultant at Lane4 Management in Princeton, N.J., helps his clients do. |
| Breaking Through the Wall | 05/04/09 | | The ability to reach a prospective employer directly can be vital to your job-hunting efforts. Your prospects increase dramatically if you can talk to a person, instead of "Human Resources." |
| Meeting Prima Donnas at Work | 04/29/09 | | If you get into a lot of arguments with your boss and don't enjoy your job, the problem may be that you're a self-serving narcissist rather than someone with a bad work situation. Sound harsh? Read on.
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| Is Forensic Accounting for You? | 04/27/09 | | Bribery involving a Fortune 500 and a foreign government. Untangling the next Madoff. For an auditor with a few years of experience, forensic accounting and litigation support (F&L) can be an exciting career option. |
| Entice Reviewers with a Winning Resume Design | 04/20/09 | | Without a reviewer-friendly resume, even the most talented professional can be passed over for a competitor. To make sure recruiters and hiring managers notice you, encase your experience in an eye-catching design. |
| Most CFO's Still Don't Commit Resources to IFRS | 04/17/09 | | Until the Securities and Exchange Commission sets a firm date for any required conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), public companies aren't going to devote staff or budget to getting themselves ready. |
| Keep Calm and Carry On | 04/15/09 | | The last month or so was marked by a maelstrom that included a clumsy backing maneuver that put part of my car in a ditch, a frozen hot water pipe, and the emergency purchases of a new natural gas furnace and a new car thermostat. In the midst of all this, I received an e-mail purporting to be from "HM Government." |
| Network Even When You Have a Job | 04/13/09 | | Networking isn’t just for the unemployed. As more workers look over their shoulders in anticipation of the dreaded tap, they’re increasingly reaching out. |
| A Twitter Cheat Sheet | 04/10/09 | | As ever more businesses and individual professionals take up microblogging on Twitter, "tweeting" may become an indispensable career tool. A recent post on Susan Weiner's Investment Writing blog offers tips for coming up to speed. While aimed at financial advisors, her advice is useful for other professionals too. |
| Managing Your References | 04/09/09 | | The care and feeding of references has taken on greater importance in today's market. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, you'll enhance your chances of getting a job if you go the extra mile when you’re preparing them. |
| Our Take: Job-Search Bubble | 04/06/09 | | Riding the subway home from a job-search networking party at which you met more jobless-services entrepreneurs than job-seekers, you skim a free local newspaper. One page is divided into two distinct advice columns, each about coping with a layoff. The next page reviews a career consultant's latest how-to book about bouncing back from being laid off. |
| Recruiters Not Responding? Here's Why | 04/03/09 | | A story on our sister site eFinancialCareers that showcased recruiters' complaints about "crazy" candidates struck a nerve among many users there. Several comments draw a link between overeager job-seekers - who recruiters may view as pests - and uncommunicative recruiters whom sincere and well-behaved job-seekers may label rude and unprofessional. |
| New Grad's Job Strategy Primer | 04/01/09 | | If experienced pros can't find jobs today, what's a new graduate with little or no professional experience supposed to do? College students who adopt the same tactics as their experienced counterparts have better chances of success than you might think. |
| Your Options In Negotiating Severance | 03/30/09 | | As the number of layoffs has risen, the willingness of companies to negotiate the contents of severance packages has fallen off due to fears of creating inequalities among classes of employees and the necessity to hoard cash. |
| Don't Be Like These Guys | 03/27/09 | | Successful individuals often urge keeping a positive mind-set, even while between jobs. As a cautionary flag, here are a couple of examples of its opposite. The poisonous attitudes that follow are markers of what not to let yourself do, or even think, in the course of your job search. |
| Larger-Than-Life Job Search Tactic | 03/25/09 | | Mark Heuer turbo-charged his job search by attracting potential employers to his online resume through an outdoor billboard advertisement. But he says the most important thing job-seekers should do is communicate directly with people. |
| An Accounting Student Meets the Job Market | 03/23/09 | | Kim Kaemmer thought for sure she wanted to earn her CPA and work in public accounting. But as she readies for her May 2009 graduation from the University of St. Thomas, a regional Catholic school in St. Paul, Minn., she's beginning to have second thoughts. |
| Our Take: Be Visible, Not Desperate | 03/20/09 | | Was Joshua Persky ahead of his time? Nine months ago, the laid-off investment banker made his pitch to passers-by in midtown Manhattan wearing a poster that read, "Experienced M.I.T. Grad For Hire." His out-of-the-box tactic brought encouraging words, worldwide media attention and many a contact - but few concrete job opportunities, and no offers. Persky found a new job in October, a full four months after his week inside the sandwich board. |
| Changing Jobs? Leave Bad Habits Behind | 03/18/09 | | People with experience in accounting bring a great amount of knowledge and skills with them when they move to a new job. But they also bring their old habits, including some harmful assumptions about how work should be done. |
| Your Facebook 'Friend' May Want a Favor | 03/16/09 | | With 175 million members and counting, Facebook is so firmly entrenched in so many lives that the time has come to start asking the tough questions: What’s Facebook really for? And how can Facebook help with your career? |
| Anger in the Workplace Isn't All Bad | 03/11/09 | | We've all been taught that anger is harmful and dangerous – especially at work. But a long-term study by Harvard researchers of 824 adults points to a different conclusion: expressing anger in a controlled way serves both careers and personal lives far better than keeping frustration bottled up all the time. |
| No Stimulus For Hotels, Sports Events | 03/09/09 | | Congress last month approved $787 billion in new spending to stimulate the economy and preserve jobs. Somebody tell that to the 13.2 million Americans who work in the leisure and hospitality industry – whose customers are standing aside in droves, partly because of those very same lawmakers' sermons against corporate "excess." |
| New Grads' Entitlement Colliding With Reality | 03/09/09 | | Bankers aren't the only people whose sense of entitlement is taking a beating lately. College students feel pretty entitled too, if a post in the Daily Beast blog is any indication. |
| Plug and Play Resume Customization | 03/05/09 | | Customizing your resume to match each job opportunity will result in more interviews and offers. But is the potential return worth the time investment? |
| Severance and Your Rights | 03/02/09 | | The firestorm surrounding Microsoft's severance package gaffe - first overpaying about 25 laid off workers, and then asking for the money back - brings up a question: Are former workers legally obligated to return money to a company that's let them go? |
| TU for the Interview? NVR! | 02/27/09 | | Thanks to mobile technology, you can find new job opportunities, network online and research prospective employers on the run. But be warned: When you call a prospective boss or send him a post-interview thank you e-mail, you should sit down and turn off your Blackberry. Formal communications standards and traditional etiquette rules still apply to the job hunting process. |
| How to Do Unto Others | 02/25/09 | | A recent blog post by corporate consultant Richard Skaare serves up a fresh slant on networking: the best ways to help a friend who is unemployed. |
| How to Manage an Exit Interview | 02/23/09 | | For whatever the reason - maybe you've been let go, maybe you're leaving for another firm - you're facing a human resource officer on your last day of work. |
| What NOT to Include in Your Resume | 02/18/09 | | It’s a tough job-hunting environment, so in your zeal to stand out you may have made a mistake on your resume that could sink your chances instead of enhancing them. So, in the interests of helping you stay safe, we present highlights of HR World’s list of 25 things you should never include in your resume. |
| Working Without a Net | 02/16/09 | | During recessions, many laid-off professionals shun a return to traditional employment, opting instead for careers as independent contractors or consultants. |
| Economy Pressures Smaller Firms | 02/13/09 | | If the economy continues to crash, accounting firms may find themselves forced to lay off employees to balance the books after the busy season. |
| Where 'Son of TARP' Could Create Jobs | 02/11/09 | | Here is our initial read on potential direct jobs impact from the detailed financial stability plan unveiled today by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. |
| Grow Professionally Online | 02/09/09 | | Looking for career guidance or growth? Want to share your wisdom with others? Then consider becoming an online mentor or protégé and let the coaching begin. |
| Half of CFOs Plan to Retire On Schedule | 02/06/09 | | Economic conditions have led about a quarter of chief financial officers (CFOs) to delay their retirement - bad news for those who were hoping to move up when the boss stopped working. |
| Firms Still Hiring, But More Slowly | 02/02/09 | | If there's an unwritten rule not to change public accounting jobs during tax season, plenty of accountants are ignoring it. And despite the emergence of some interesting staffing options, hiring in accounting and finance has slowed. |
| A Career Change Road Map | 01/30/09 | | Changing careers requires intensive research, self-knowledge, and passionate commitment to a goal. Ultimately, getting hired may rest on devising a marketable idea you can present to an employer in the field you’ve trained your sights on. |
| Coping With Difficult People At Work | 01/28/09 | | Vicky Oliver's book, Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots, comes at the right time. Until a year or so ago, "retention" was a mantra for HR officers. Now the shoe is on the other foot: It's employees who obsess about retaining their own jobs. So a tool kit for coping with difficult workplace personalities falls on fertile soil. |
| How Managing Up Positions You For Growth | 01/26/09 | | Even if no one reports to you, your job still involves managing people - the ones occupying slots above yours on the organization chart. It's called "managing up," and those who do it well can become indispensable to their organizations, resulting in choice assignments and promotions. |
| Fraud Threat Creates Opportunities, Too | 01/23/09 | | The financial crisis and recession will stimulate both fraud and employers' efforts to combat it. That spells danger as well as opportunity for financial professionals, says fraud expert Ralph M. Fatigate of BDO Seidman's consulting division.
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| SEC Could Add Enforcement Jobs | 01/21/09 | | The SEC might add as many as 120 new slots for enforcement lawyers and accountants later this year. That's how many new bodies one securities law expert believes the agency will need to restore its reputation as a market watchdog. |
| Strategic Career Change | 01/19/09 | | Since Change is the national theme of the week, we thought we'd look at a recent article in Psychology Today that, while it focuses on personality change, can apply to the idea of career change, as well. If nothing else, it's a helpful guide to taking stock of your position and whether it's really the right one for you.
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| More Ways to Hurt Yourself with E-Mail | 01/14/09 | | The day before we warned about new ways to injure yourself online - in particular, by losing control of important correspondence - a personal experience hammered home the message. |
| Analysts, Accountants Needed At FBI | 01/12/09 | | If you're looking for a way to utilize your analytical skills and the Madoff story makes you hopping mad, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has several openings with your name on them. But you'd best act fast, because most of those career doors are set to shut on Jan. 16. |
| Our Take: Networking is Hard | 01/09/09 | | Networking your way to a job opportunity takes both ingenuity and a significant time commitment. That's why so many of us get it wrong. |
| Wield New Tools, But Wear Protective Gloves | 01/07/09 | | Job-seekers are often urged to ramp up their use of online tools like personal Web sites, social networking, live-blogging and mobile Web-based e-mail. Just as with physical tools, however, any relatively new product poses a risk of self-injury. |
| Finance Smarts Needed at NCIS | 01/05/09 | | You won't get to work with Mark Harmon, star of the television drama NCIS, but if you take a job at the real Naval Criminal Investigative Service, you could find yourself leading the real-world version of his on-screen life. |
| ‘Preparation’ Tops the list of 2009 Resolutions | 12/30/08 | | The events of 2008 remind us that job security can be fleeting. Job market vigilance has become a modern day career survival technique, requiring professionals to keep a constant eye open for that next opportunity and be prepared to launch a job search on a moment’s notice. |
| Dating for Jobs | 12/29/08 | | Having spent the last six months of my life on a fairly concentrated job search - I'm looking for a position as a financial writer or communications professional - it's become obvious to me there are parallels between finding the perfect job and finding the perfect date or future mate. |
| Success with Behavioral Interviewing Questions | 12/19/08 | | Interviewing for a job can be nerve racking. Even experienced professionals can have a hard time demonstrating their capabilities and expressing themselves effectively, given the tension of an interview situation. The best way to reduce your anxiety and increase your interviewing proficiency, is to eliminate the element of surprise by anticipating the questions you’ll be asked, and preparing some answers. |
| Strategize Your Job Search | 12/10/08 | | There's always room for good, solid people in the workplace. Industries may be different, but there's always a need for good managers. But if you're searching for a job in today's marketplace, you need a plan of attack. The fact is most people are skilled as job holders - but not as job hunters. |
| CareerWire: Clueless on MySpace | 12/08/08 | | If you don't want your private life to ruin your career, then take steps to keep it private. And stop whining about free speech.
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| Ex-Bankers Make Good Accounting Candidates | 12/03/08 | | If hordes of unemployed investment bankers and fund managers are contemplating a switch to finance-related jobs, Seiki Murono hasn't seen the evidence. The managing director of Boyden Global Executive Search's San Francisco office says he's received a few extra resumes from ex-bankers - but hardly an onslaught. |
| CareerWire: Watch Your Back! | 12/01/08 | | An economy in recession encourages the in-house blame game. Take steps to avoid being scapegoated by an ill-motivated colleague or boss. |
| Selecting Your Ideal Boss | 12/01/08 | | It's often said people don't leave companies - they leave bosses. The expression suggests that bad chemistry with their supervisors can cause employees to quit. But the relationship between you and your boss is more complicated than that, and in truth even a boss you adore may not be a good match for you professionally. |
| CareerWire: Zig Where the Market Zags | 11/24/08 | | Classic bear-market specialties like litigation support, risk management and crisis management are among areas spawning opportunities for accounting and finance pros lately. |
| Considering Coaching? Consider This | 11/24/08 | | Many financial professionals view a personal cheerleader as a necessary investment on their way to achieving their goals. But before you embrace the idea that coaching is indispensable to success, think carefully about whether it's the best approach for you. To start, consider whether any of these descriptions apply to you. |
| Six Ways to Not Get the Job | 11/21/08 | | If you want to know all the stupid things people do when job hunting, ask Ed Navis. He's been reading resumes for two decades as a human resources consultant to mid-size companies and non-profits. Here are the top six mistakes he sees job hunters make. |
| Valuation Experience Needed in N.Y. Area | 11/19/08 | | Despite concerns over layoffs at Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions, CPAs remain positive about valuation work. With increasing regulatory oversight and forced consolidation in the financial services sector, more accountants are needed to deal with valuation matters. |
| Recruiter Sees Drop in CPA Searches | 11/14/08 | | A leading California-based recruiter of CPAs and finance executives says his business has fallen off significantly since the start of the year. Paul Herrerias, who heads the San Francisco office for Stanton Chase, says his volume of search assignments is down to a trickle, and he is having to market himself more vigorously than he has before. |
| Profiting From Performance Reviews | 11/12/08 | | To many, the annual performance review is about as welcome as a colonoscopy. Could any good ever come from a one-on-one where your boss - no matter how much he might respect your work - is required to detail your strengths and (mostly) weaknesses? Surprising as it may seem, experts answer in the affirmative. |
| Interviewing in Cyberspace | 11/07/08 | | Virtual jobs fairs and interviewing by avatar instead of by phone are moving into the mainstream, and could be standard several years from now. Here are some perspectives and coping tips from people on the front lines of cyber-recruiting today. |
| Public Accounting Still Favors Job Seekers | 11/05/08 | | While it may appear that all jobs in the financial markets are evaporating or experiencing severe reductions in compensation, public accounting continues to be healthy, with salaries increasing at high levels for experienced tax and audit professionals. |
| CareerWire: Tax Work, N. Calif. Top Pay Gains | 11/03/08 | | New surveys by Robert Half and Ajilon Finance provide detailed insights into expected movement in accounting and finance salaries for various specialties and metropolitan areas. |
| Options, Demand in Corporate Accounting | 10/31/08 | | Despite layoffs and a tightening job market in various industries, corporate accounting remains a strong line of work nationwide. Not only is there continued need for corporate accountants in a variety of positions, salaries are holding steady - and even increasing in certain high-demand areas. |
| Guide to Surviving a Merger | 10/29/08 | | The news hits you like a truck: the corporation or financial institution you work for has agreed to be acquired. Now what to you do? |
| SALT Skills Needed in N.Y., N.J. | 10/24/08 | | Given the ever-increasing complexity of the region's state and local corporate tax laws, New York and New Jersey CPAs with SALT experience are in increasing demand. The jobs offer strong pay and job security, but require some grueling hours and tons of reading. |
| Mass Customization and Your Job Search | 10/22/08 | | By utilizing a direct marketing technique called "mass customization," a job seeker can send out volumes of documents to prospective employers without having to hand-tailor each one individually. |
| Building Your Internal Network | 10/17/08 | | Building a network within your company can be as important to your success as developing contacts outside. But watch out: The wrong moves can sink you. Here’s how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls. |
| Q&A: Greg Burke, Chair, CalCPA | 10/15/08 | | California Society of CPAs Chair Greg Burke has an ambitious agenda. At the top of his list, Burke, wants to overhaul educational requirements that are beginning to restrict California CPAs from practicing out of state and can limit career opportunities. He also wants to recruit more veteran accountants to academia, and revamp committees to address industry trends more quickly. |
| Financial Tumult Pressures N.Y. Area CPAs | 10/08/08 | | Recent staff cuts at some of the Big Four, coupled with the woes in financial services, are beginning to concern the New York area's accounting community. Are the Big Four simply performing their usual annual pruning? Are CPAs working in the financial services industry vulnerable? The answers depend on who you talk to, and what sort of experience you're talking about. |
| Economic Woes Color California Hiring Strategies | 10/03/08 | | Although Ernst & Young doesn't anticipating making major changes to its business plans in the region, the firm is adapting its hiring strategy to address new demands spawned by the growing financial turmoil in the U.S. |
| Timing the Transition to IFRS | 10/01/08 | | Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission has set a 2011-2015 timetable for moving from U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to International Financial Reporting Standards, how long will it take the accounting world to make the change? |
| Networking Tips for Introverts | 09/30/08 | | Effectively building - and leveraging - a network of professional contacts is essential to your ultimate success. But if glad-handing isn't your style, networking can look like a high hurdle. The good news: There are several ways to make effective networking more comfortable. |
| Relocating Means Negotiating the Best Package | 09/29/08 | | You live in Baltimore and you've been offered two jobs: one in Kansas City and the other in Columbus. The jobs pay the same, but the company in Kansas City will pay your relocation expenses. How hard will your wallet be hit if you decide Ohio's the place for you? |
| The Initial Interview: Don't Be Screened Out | 09/26/08 | | Every interview I've had began with an initial phone screen, where the HR person/internal recruiter wanted to assess basic skills for the job and asked a few internal assessment questions. The skills questions should be a slam-dunk, as they're almost always just an extension of the job requirements. The internal assessment questions, however, can be potentially dangerous. You need take care not to be screened out of the next round of interviews. |
| Succession Plans Offer Opportunities to Firm Staff | 09/24/08 | | As accountants age and look for exit strategies from the firms they own, their succession plans become key factors to consider for those looking to move up the ranks and perhaps takeover the business. |
| Near-Term Stability for Wall Street Accountants | 09/23/08 | | The move by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to convert to bank holding companies will mean more work for accounting and compliance professionals in the short run, but may lead to eventual layoffs, industry observers say. |
| CareerWire: Good Time to Switch | 09/22/08 | | If you've been considering moving to another sector, the time might be right. As long as you're switching into the right industry, of course. |
| What's Behind Layoffs at the Big Four | 09/19/08 | | Recent layoffs at Deloitte weren't the first cuts made by a Big Four firm this year, but they were the most highly publicized. Every year, Big Four and next-tier firms have layoffs, but they do them in small pieces, spread them out geographically, and tend not to send out press releases about them. |
| Tech Skills Become Vital to Accounting Careers | 09/16/08 | | It's a given you have finance and accounting skills. But what's the next most important item in your career tool belt? If you'd asked CFOs that question five years go, they would have said "operations." But today, they'll answer "technology." |
| N.Y. Area CPAs Face the Economy | 09/12/08 | | Accounting professionals in New York and New Jersey are often seen as immune to changes in the financial markets, bumps in the economy and even employment changes on Wall Street. Skilled CPAs, after all, are always in demand. Aren't they? |
| Ins and Outs of Contract Accounting | 09/10/08 | | Accountants who want the stimulation of multiple clients but not the long hours of public accounting may find they can have it all by working for a contract accounting firm. But, as those who run such companies warn, project-based work isn't for everyone. |
| California Aids Prospective Academics | 09/09/08 | | As part of an effort to address a shortage of accounting professors in California, CalCPA is expanding its program to help accountants interested in academia shoulder the costs of their studies. |
| CareerWire: Layoff At Deloitte | 09/08/08 | | It's now official: The slowing economy is impacting demand for accounting work. So says Deloitte & Touche, the first of the Big Four to announce a mass layoff this business cycle. |
| Our Take: Age Matters | 09/03/08 | | Recently, two sports stories caught my eye by showcasing opposite poles of an issue many financial services professionals grapple with every day: the perceived relationship between job performance and age. |
| Tune Up Your Grammar | 08/27/08 | | Is your resume grammatically correct? For many job seekers, writing a flawless resume is difficult enough, yet nothing is more important. If it contains grammatical errors, reviewers may surmise you're uneducated, lack good communication skills or attention to detail. |
| Where You Went Wrong | 08/22/08 | | It's been months since you started looking for a job and you still haven't found anything. Wondering where you're going wrong? |
| Tracing The Career of Wikimedia's CFO | 08/20/08 | | California's many non-profit and education organizations offer some of the best opportunities for CPAs who want to advance their careers. Veronique Kessler has spent most of the past decade - more than half her career - working for such organizations. |
| Creating Your Personal Career Vision | 08/19/08 | | In an earlier post, I explained why it's important to create a "Personal Career Vision" before you leap into a job search. Once you've done that, it's time to stop the daily mad rush, reflect on where you've been and where you are now, and assess where it is you want to end up. |
| Economy Pressures Accountants' Optimism. Should It? | 08/13/08 | | A shaky global economy, rising oil prices and falling home values have cut into the optimism that accounting and finance professionals typically report when asked about their employment prospects. |
| CareerWire: Broadening the Mission | 08/11/08 | | A growing number of CPA firms are taking a wider view of their business. Beyond obvious extensions like tax planning and business consulting, some are offering marketing and communications services. |
| Our Take: Be Humble | 08/08/08 | | Humility helps. Haughtiness hurts. That's a message I'm hearing with increasing frequency when career experts discuss interviewing skills. |
| In California, Hint of a Slowdown - But Just a Hint | 08/05/08 | | The slumping economy may be impacting hiring at West Coast CPA firms. One hint: The managing partner at one of Los Angeles's largest full-service accounting firms says he won't be hiring as much as he has in the recent past. |
| Tax, Business Consulting Grows in N.Y. | 08/01/08 | | Outside of traditional accounting firms New York and New Jersey CPAs are finding growing opportunities at specialized tax and business consulting practices. To succeed, accountants must learn to play up their marketing, communications, and negotiation skills. |
| Risk Management Jobs in Chicago | 07/29/08 | | As the credit markets continue to deteriorate and large financial institutions tighten controls, a number of Chicago firms are seeking risk management professionals in many specialties. |
| Podcast: Earning the CMA Credential | 07/25/08 | | Listen in as the Institute of Management Accountants ' John M. Brausch, CMA, CFM, CPA, talks with Contributing Editor Dona DeZube about obtaining the Certified Management Accountant credential, including his experience in preparing for the exams. |
| The Value of a Personal Career Vision | 07/23/08 | | If you think you'll be happier in your career simply by switching companies, think again. To be successful and love your work, you'll need more than a job. Before you focus on resume writing, networking, and job hunting, you'll need what I call a "personal career vision" - a tangible blueprint of the direction you want your life to take. |
| E&Y Shuffles Executives in the West | 07/22/08 | | CPAs seeking Big Four experience in Southern California and the Southwest will have to reshuffle their contact files after a chain reaction of promotions in three of Ernst & Young's major Western offices. |
| CareerWire: Poll Finds Robust Job Market | 07/21/08 | | The accounting job market remains as strong as ever, in the view of most respondents to a JobsintheMoney poll. However, 32 percent saw some degree of slowing. |
| Salaries Up, But Gender Gap Widens | 07/18/08 | | The Institute of Management Accountants' 2007 salary survey uncovered both good news and bad news for accountants. The good news: Average salary for IMA members now tops $100,000, having risen 6.9 percent last year. The bad news: The gap increased between men's and women's pay. |
| Credentials as a Lever into Management | 07/16/08 | | If you're interested in moving into management, credentials can often provide the boost you need. A designation can move your resume to the top of the pile – but you'll still have to win the job during the interview process. |
| Northeast Mergers Impact Staff Loyalty | 07/15/08 | | Just when it seemed that merger mania was over, the New York and New Jersey metro region saw a crop of announcements of CPA firm combinations. Accountants facing the tumult that goes along with such changes should remember they have options: Being under demand means the "loyal to the end" staff accountant may be a thing of the past. |
| CareerWire: Firm Aims to Double Its Staff | 07/14/08 | | Mitchell & Titus, the nation's largest minority-controlled accounting firm, looks to add about 150 people to its staff over the next three years under incoming CEO Anthony Kendall. |
| Calif. FBI Offices Seek Accountants | 07/08/08 | | California CPAs looking for a different career path might consider - the FBI. Its offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities are seeking accountants to work in areas such as counter-terrorism, drug enforcement and corporate crime. |
| To Manage Your Career, Know Thyself | 07/06/08 | | When Socrates said "know thyself," he probably wasn't offering career management advice. But whether he intended it or not, it's career advice that works. Just listen to the experts. |
| Moving onto the Management Track | 07/02/08 | | If you're happy where you work, your near-term goals probably include a move up into management. In that case, you need to prepare by picking up new skills and possibly more credentials. |
| CFOs See Concern Over Long Hours | 07/01/08 | | Accounting and financial professionals have never enjoyed short hours and light workloads, but have things gotten even worse in recent years? According to a new survey by Accountemps, one in three chief financial officers (35 percent, to be precise) cited heavy workloads as the top workplace concern for their financial teams. |
| CareerWire: Another Angle on IFRS | 06/30/08 | | When the time arrives to transition to International Financial Reporting Standards, accounting program curricula and the CPA exams could prove a potential Achilles heel. |
| Little Compliance Hiring in Chicago | 06/27/08 | | While compliance jobs at all levels abound in New York, San Francisco and other parts of the U.S., in Chicago the market remains sluggish. |
| Standing Out from the Competition | 06/24/08 | | What are the likely trends in the California job market for the remainder of 2008? What should job seekers be doing to boost their prospects - in the short and long terms? |
| Our Take: Watch What You Say | 06/20/08 | | Our topic sounds like old hat in the context of a job interview. But many tried-and-true rules of interview behavior are just as valid for other professional situations.
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| CPA-Lawyers Find Growing Opportunities | 06/18/08 | | There's hot demand for CPAs in New York and New Jersey who can also put out the shingle with the Esquire moniker. The combination of passing the bar and having accounting expertise can provide a boost up the corporate ladder. |
| From Public to Private - Accounting, That Is | 06/17/08 | | With demand so high, today's accountants have an enormous number of opportunities to choose from when shifting their career gears. Once you've got some experience under your belt, you can pursue any number of specialties that match your strengths and interests. So how do you plot your direction? In part, the answer depends on where you started your career and where you sit now. |
| Tech Skills Gives CPAs a Leg Up | 06/10/08 | | While CPA firms in New York and New Jersey are beefing up their business advisory and consulting arms, they need more than accounting and business talent. They're looking for business experts who are tech-savvy, and able to understand how IT efforts can benefit accounting and business processes. |
| Accounting Job Market Holds Steady | 06/06/08 | | A new survey shows the accounting job market appears to be holding steady, with employers neither increasing or decreasing their staff. |
| Our Take: Active Job Search Techniques | 06/04/08 | | Recently we explained our philosophy of career planning and growth, which can be summed up as "active career management." Now, here are some techniques to help you maximize expected returns from the effort you put into your job search. |
| New Designation for Fraud Experts | 06/03/08 | | Accountants seeking to bolster their forensic and litigation-support credentials have a new option starting this fall, when the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants launches its Certified in Financial Forensics designation. |
| Number of New CPAs Soars in Bay State | 05/30/08 | | The number of people that have passed the Massachusetts CPA exam rose by more than 66 percent in 2007, according to the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants. The jump comes in the wake of changes to state regulations. |
| Accountants Dodge Wall Street Layoffs | 05/28/08 | | CPAs in New York and New Jersey often face the unenviable task of delivering bad news to a company's management. The region's financial services firms, after all, are in the midst of contraction, hit by the credit crunch, the sub-prime blowout and a variety of regulatory pressures. While being the bearer of bad tidings certainly takes a toll, accountants in the financial world are by and large being spared one thing: layoff notices. |
| San Francisco Firm Relies on Organic Growth | 05/20/08 | | Some CPA firms succeed by being all things to all people: Their growth stems from their ability to serve a varied clientele. Others focus on narrow specialties, and develop their staffs to thrive in the challenges posed by their target industries. |
| Learning by Doing Overseas | 05/16/08 | | When it comes to cultural awareness, immersion in a country's daily life beats reading about it every time. That's the thinking behind a new KPMG program that puts interns into short-term international assignments the year before they graduate. |
| CareerWire: SOX Workload Under Control | 05/12/08 | | Although demand for auditors won't vanish any time soon, the quantity of work needed to fulfill the much-feared Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 requirements appears to have peaked. |
| Our Take: Your Portfolio, Your Career | 05/09/08 | | "Career path." That's a phrase often spoken by HR staffers eager to show young employees that management is meeting their need for professional growth. Does the phrase mean anything - or is it simply hot air? |
| N.Y./N.J. Firms Bulk Up Offerings Through Associations | 05/07/08 | | A number of CPA firms in the New York/New Jersey area are joining together in alliances that allow them to access expertise they might not ordinarily have. These non-profit associations illustrate a new tactic in facing today's shortage of accountants. |
| Spanish Ability Aids California CPAs | 05/06/08 | | California CPAs may want to consider boning up on their Spanish as a career-advancement strategy. With the state's Latino population growing rapidly, accounting firms are serving more Hispanic-owned businesses and Latin American companies seeking to expand in the U.S.
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| 'Authenticity' Serves Women Executives Well | 05/02/08 | | Women who rise to the upper levels of business follow the same recipe for success as men as they combine vision, intellect, guts and hard work with their ability to influence others. They also add another ingredient: authenticity. |
| Chicago CPAs and Accountants in Demand | 04/29/08 | | Recruiters and accounting firm insiders report a strong demand for accountants and CPAs in public accounting, the corporate market, and financial services and alternative investment firms in Chicago. |
| Real Paths to the CFO's Chair | 04/25/08 | | Forget everything you've heard. The road to the CFO's chair doesn't always pass through public accounting firms and big company detours that could leave you stranded, staring at spreadsheets in your cubicle for decades. Here's some advice from two CFOs about how to break into the management game. |
| Q&A: Krista McMasters of Clifton Gunderson | 04/23/08 | | What does it take to reach the top in public accounting? JobsintheMoney News asked Krista McMasters, who recently became the first woman named chief executive officer at a Top 25 public accounting firm, to share her best advice for those who want to follow the trail she's blazed at Clifton Gunderson in Milwaukee. |
| 'Fairness Opinion' Expertise Sought in N.Y. | 04/22/08 | | New York and New Jersey CPAs with fairness opinion expertise are in hot demand. Just what's driving the boom, and what skill sets are needed to get into this growing area of accounting? |
| San Francisco Firm on Fast Track | 04/18/08 | | CPA job seekers on the look-out for firms on the rise take notice. Burr Pilger and Mayer took top honors as California's fastest growing accounting firm in 2007. In a state with firms like Armanino McKenna, Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt, and Novogradac & Co. posting 20 to 30 percent gains - or more - that's no small feat. |
| Call Me Anything I Want | 04/16/08 | | Would you jump to a new firm if it agreed to give you any title you wanted? Like, say, Chief of the Known Accounting Universe? Don't laugh. More companies are dangling "chief" titles as lures to keep current leaders onboard as well as to entice new employees. |
| CareerWire: Working Abroad | 04/14/08 | | A Chicago-area magazine describes some day-to-day concerns of Big Four accountants temporarily posted to India, Europe, Australia and elsewhere. |
| Tech-Risk Experts Needed in New York | 04/11/08 | | Considering the nature of business today and the growth of legal and financial reporting requirements, it's not surprising technology risk professionals are needed by many corporations. The demand is especially critical in the New York and New Jersey area. |
| When Negotiating, Look Beyond Base and Bonus | 04/09/08 | | Even in a ragged job market, candidates who get job offers can improve them. The key is being flexible about what you ask for - and having the confidence to ask in the first place. |
| How Accountants See Jobs in Non-Profits | 04/08/08 | | Compared to the rest of the people working in the non-profit sector, accounting and finance professionals are more likely to be male, have an MBA and work in middle management. |
| California Firms Leverage Growth | 04/04/08 | | Fast growth has been a common theme among California accounting firms. In Accounting Today's annual survey of the country's largest firms, four in the Golden State were among the 20 fastest growing. Revenues at Burr, Pilger & Mayer, Armanino McKenna, Novogradac & Co. and Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt each rose by at least 23 percent. |
| Master's Program at Western Washington | 04/02/08 | | Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics and Department of Accounting will unveil a new Master of Professional Accounting program tonight. |
| Despite Crunch, Hedge Funds Hire Accountants | 04/01/08 | | Discussion of hedge fund careers usually focuses on portfolio management, where top performers enjoy rock-star status and routinely pull seven- or eight-figure incomes. But funds' need for additional bodies actually is strongest in supporting roles - like accounting. |
| Detroit Firm's Focus is Over the Horizon | 03/28/08 | | Clayton & McKervey serves only middle-market entrepreneurs who want to expand globally. Such focus makes it easy to train employees, but harder to find the accountants it wants: Those who already know both IFRS and GAAP. |
| Show Up, Show Off, Get On The Team | 03/25/08 | | Globalization and increased regulation are making business more complex and causing multifaceted challenges for large and mid-sized businesses. To face them, more companies are creating cross-functional teams that include professionals from a variety of disciplines. This means opportunity for candidates who can be effective team players as well as great technicians. |
| CPAs Eyes Jobs as Recruiters, Consultants | 03/19/08 | | For many New York-New Jersey CPAs, saying goodbye to the 80-hour work week entails leaving their corporate, Big Four or regional firm to pursue jobs at small consulting firms, specialized recruiters, and others. |
| CareerWire: The IRS Got There First | 03/17/08 | | Some people say working for the IRS isn't glamorous, but it was the Service's investigators who first suspected something was amiss in (former) N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer's financial records. It just led them in a direction they didn't expect to go. |
| Roundup: Executive Moves in the Northeast | 03/13/08 | | The AICPA steps up its campaign for mobility laws, while Thomas Rollauer joins Deloitte's regulatory and capital team and Benjamin Gadon becomes a tax partner at New York's Mahoney Cohen & Company. |
| Few Women See Financial Workplace Gains | 03/12/08 | | Nearly all women working in finance believe they are paid less than men for the same work, and most don't feel they've made much progress when it comes to issues of parity. |
| Corporate Options Abound in N.Y., N.J. | 03/11/08 | | Accountants in the New York-New Jersey area are fast becoming well-respected experts in business issues beyond accounting, and are gearing up for choice spots in the boardroom. |
| CFOs See Slowdown in Hiring | 03/05/08 | | Chief financial officers expect hiring activity in accounting and finance to slow during the second quarter, with the great majority seeing no change in their hiring levels at all. |
| The Ins and Outs of International Assignments | 02/27/08 | | You're no longer competing only against the accountant in the next cubicle, now you have to beat out the accountant in the next country, according to a survey of more the 850 C-suite executives in the U.S., the European Union and Asia. |
| Q&A: Kenn McFarland, CPA, Hospital CFO | 02/26/08 | | "Young accountants don't want to make decisions because they want to do more analysis. I got some wonderful advice: Don't be afraid to make the decision. You've got to have it in your head but you've got to move with your heart." |
| The Art of Effective Presentations | 02/22/08 | | Although speaking in public frightens many people, it can help you gain visibility and exposure, and increase your chances of getting that new job or promotion. |
| Hedge Funds Expected to Add CPAs | 02/20/08 | | Hedge funds in New York and New Jersey need CPAs who can handle risk management. Even in the midst of the credit crunch - and maybe because of it - funds will bring on board more accountants as they mature and receive more scrutiny. |
| CareerWire: Recruiting Tools and Challenges | 02/19/08 | | Separate surveys by BDO Seidman, Robert Half and a professional association took different tacks to quantify the challenges of recruiting and retaining accounting talent, and the best tools for doing so.
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| Switch Jobs During Tax Season? | 02/15/08 | | With so many empty seats to fill, public accounting firms may be willing to overlook a candidate's willingness to jump during the busy season. But that doesn't mean doing so is a good idea. |
| Roundup: Mergers and Promotions | 02/14/08 | | Flexible scheduling is losing ground as a recruiting tool. Dixon Hughes absorbs a Memphis firm, while Archer Daniels Midland, CNET and Conn's name new CFOs. |
| Merger Trend Can Impact Careers | 02/12/08 | | If you work in a small CPA firm, would your career suffer if your employer were to merge with a larger organization? If you think so, you'd better start preparing now.
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| CareerWire: PwC Tops Professor's Survey | 02/11/08 | | Accounting professors ranked PricewaterhouseCoopers first among the Global Seven accounting firms in an annual poll that covers various dimensions including client service, staff training, ethics and compensation, and ranks employers separately in each. |
| Shrunken Bonuses Spark Grumbling In New York Area | 02/08/08 | | Accountants in financial services firms in New York and New Jersey remain secure in their positions. But with all of the flux going on in the sector, they're beginning to feel a tad discontented.
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| Roundup: Mergers, Moves Across U.S. | 02/06/08 | | The hiring landscape's still good, CFOs are sweating about recruitment, and firms are making business moves from Texas to California. |
| Pay Moving Higher in California | 02/05/08 | | Why are California employers nervous? Because a whole lot of accountants are open to the idea of changing jobs, and their replacements are nowhere in sight. |
| Opportunities in Healthcare Companies | 02/01/08 | | Whatever's happening in the economy, healthcare companies continue to need accountants to keep business going and handle a maze of regulation. |
| Roundup: Firm Mergers, Hires, Promotions | 01/30/08 | | CPA firms merge in South Florida, Chicago, Long Island, N.Y., and Fort Worth. In Tucson, a local CPA firm adds two staff accountants, while an industrial firm names a permanent CFO. |
| What Mid-Size Firms Seek in California | 01/25/08 | | Despite the slump in real estate and worries about the economy, the market for accountants in Los Angeles and Orange County shows few signs of tailing off. Several small- and mid-sized firms will be adding employees in upcoming months, and even beyond.
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| The View From Over 50 | 01/24/08 | | Twenty one percent of the U.S. workforce will be 55 or older by 2014, says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if you feel superannuated among your Gen X and Y colleagues, you've got age-appropriate company. And the good news is: Employers will value your experience. |
| Demand Rising from N.Y. Non-Profits | 01/18/08 | | Large not-for-profit associations and philanthropic organizations pick the Big Apple as a key spot to locate. For area CPAs with the right credentials, the nonprofit sector holds good, though specialized, opportunities. |
| A New Way to Injure Yourself Online | 01/14/08 | | Job-seekers are often urged to ramp up their use of online tools like personal Web sites, social networking, live-blogging and mobile, Web-based email. Just as with physical tools, however, using any relatively new product poses a risk of self-injury. |
| CareerWire: Sleep Working | 01/14/08 | | If your firm can't find the accountants it needs, guess who's going to keep things moving? That's right. You are. |
| Midsize Firms Act to Retain Young Accountants | 01/09/08 | | To keep junior staffers from bolting, midsized accounting firms are moving to provide more feedback from managers, formal input into firm decisions, departmental and individual employee work schedules calibrated to minimize the 24/7 syndrome, and mentoring programs. |
| New Skills Required for CFOs | 01/08/08 | | If you have designs on a chief financial officer's office in California or other points west, you'd be wise to strengthen your communication and other "softer" skills. The region's employers are more likely to hire executives who know how to present information clearly and work well with others. In other words, financial skills aren't enough any more. |
| N.Y. Area Mergers Driven by Need for Growth | 01/07/08 | | New York and New Jersey CPA firms are still in the midst of a serious reshuffling, as merger mania continues across the Empire and Garden States. But even an attractive merger deal can be fraught with angst for accountants wary of change. |
| Balance at Deloitte | 01/02/08 | | We talk with Deloitte Services' Anne C. Weisberg, a director specializing in talent diversity, about the firm's experience in keeping up with the changing workforce. |
| CareerWire: Escaping to Interview | 12/26/07 | | If you're job-hunting while working, there are better options than using your sick days to get away from your office for job interviews. |
| 'Average' Monthly Confidence Among Accounting Workers Gained in 2007 | 12/21/07 | | Employee confidence looks to end 2007 at a record low among both accounting and finance workers and the overall U.S. population, according to one widely followed monthly survey. But connoisseurs of rear-view-mirror driving can take comfort from this: averaged throughout the first 11 months of 2007, the monthly Hudson Employment Index slightly exceeded the monthly average for 2006. |
| More Risk Opportunities for N.Y. Area CPAs | 12/20/07 | | Management accountants in the New York metropolitan area are finding increasing opportunities in the burgeoning field of enterprise risk management. But the jobs require the right combination of technical, financial, industry, and managerial savvy. |
| Introverted? Consider Accounting and Auditing… | 12/19/07 | | Opportunities for accountants and auditors are expected to grow more than 22 percent between now and 2014, which may be good news for people who want to strike a balance between working with others and working alone. |
| CareerWire: Tips for Career Changers | 12/17/07 | | Thinking of changing careers? When it comes to making a plan, you've got to sweat the details. That and more in this week's CareerWire. |
| Office Politics and You | 12/12/07 | | Pam Hedges has spent nearly thirty years advising senior executives - including CFOs, controllers and other financial executives in a range of industries - about how to do their jobs better. Among her themes: being "politically competent" in the workplace by building strong ties with people, including subordinates and peers. |
| Big Four Diversity Programs: A Wrap-Up | 12/11/07 | | The Big Four initiated diversity programs before much of the finance world. But just what do those efforts consist of today? In recent interviews, the firms offered up details of their current programs. |
| Calif. CPA Focuses Practice on 'Special Needs' Families | 12/07/07 | | Some California accountants believe they don't have many options when it comes to what industries or areas they cover. But a few have broadened the playing field by creating practices around their own outside interests or causes. |
| N.Y. Area Litigation Experts in Demand | 12/05/07 | | Area CPAs acting as litigation experts are enjoying prosperity as New York and New Jersey accounting firms and corporations lean more heavily on their specialized skills. |
| Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Get Me a Job | 12/04/07 | | Fiddler on the Roof had Yenta, the matchmaker. The corporate world has recruiters. Same principle, slightly different parameters. But if you want to find a job you love, developing a relationship with a recruiter, says Heidrick and Struggles' Michele Heid, "is a phenomenal idea." |
| CareerWire: Ethics and the Real World | 12/03/07 | | Some recent surveys indicate the push toward corporate responsibility may not be as strong as many say - at least as far as job-hunters are concerned. |
| Is This Job Offer for Real? | 12/02/07 | | How do you protect yourself from fake job offers you might receive from spammers? Here are some tips. |
| It's Not About Balance - It's About Reality | 11/30/07 | | Notoriously long hours, detail-oriented work, and considerable face time are parts and parcels of the CPA's working life. For accounting firms, changing this kind of culture may be even more important than money in the quest for new hires. |
| 'Responsibility' Reporting Poised to Widen? | 11/28/07 | | Corporations and investors are increasingly adopting environmental, social and governance measures of performance, alongside the usual financial ones. That means expanded career opportunities for internal auditors, management consultants and other professionals who can apply a new generation of non-financial reporting tools. The activities of finance departments and external auditors will be affected as well. But it's going to happen slowly. |
| Area Accountants Feel Wall Street's Pain | 11/27/07 | | With record write-downs reported at large banks and investment firms, many of which are headquartered in the tri-state region, it's not surprising that hiring is slowing down. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut accountants needn't rush to these firms looking for a golden opportunity, at least not in the short-term. |
| Getting Credit When Credit is Due | 11/21/07 | | You're doing all the work and someone else is taking all the credit. It's not only unfair, but it may affect your career. Handling the situation requires tact, diplomacy and a plan. |
| How Clothes Make the Accountant | 11/20/07 | | In California, most accounting firms favor business casual attire. Staples of twentieth century office life - like ties and jackets for men or hosiery for women – are largely passe. So, what do the well-dressed accountants wear? Pay attention if you want to look the part. |
| What to do With Ethical Questions | 11/16/07 | | If you stay in finance and accounting long enough, someone is going to ask you to fudge something. What should you do? First, clarify the situation, then refuse to act unethically and seek input from outside sources and people further up the chain of command. |
| Network Your Way to the Top | 11/15/07 | | "I can find my next job all by myself" is one myth that needs to be exploded, say search experts. The old conventional wisdom, "It's not what you know, it's who you know," is alive and well. So get out of your chair, into some social and professional events, and nurture your network. |
| How Long Should Your Resume Be? | 11/14/07 | | For any resume, a key to success is length - or lack of it. It's critical to understand not only how a resume is reviewed, but what its length says about your professionalism. |
| CareerWire: How You View Networking | 11/12/07 | | Online or offline, on LinkedIn or through e-mail, many accountants and financial professionals understand the importance of keeping in touch. |
| Conflict Resolution Skills Can Boost Careers | 11/09/07 | | While accountants are used to helping clients solve difficult problems, they're often less adept at resolving issues within their own firms. Reserved by nature, they tend to shy away from conflict and let situations fester. What they may not realize is the ability to resolve disagreements can be a great tool in developing their careers. |
| Success with Telephone Interviews | 11/08/07 | | Telephone interviews can be trying. There are no visual cues from the interviewer, no body language to read and, in some cases, you've got to answer questions posed by a panel of voices over conference lines or speaker phones. Here's some tips on engaging successfully - long-distance or local. |
| How to Leapfrog the Pay Scale | 11/07/07 | | Through a recruiter, a former co-worker got an offer for 30 percent more than he was making. His employer offered him 50 percent more to stay. How do you orchestrate a deal like that for yourself? |
| Ask the Expert: How to Find Solid References | 11/02/07 | | "I've interviewed for a position with a company that wants to contact my current employer for a reference. Obviously, I don't want anyone in my firm to know I'm looking for a new job, in case I decide to stay put. However, I've worked here for the last 15 years, and so no other references seem relevant. What should I do?" |
| Accounting Workers' Confidence Slides | 11/01/07 | | Accounting and finance workers' confidence appears to be swinging downward more steeply than among the U.S. adult population as a whole, new surveys show. |
| Relocating Means Negotiating the Best Package | 10/31/07 | | You live in Baltimore and you've been offered two jobs: one in Kansas City and the other in Columbus. The jobs pay the same, but the company in Kansas City will pay your relocation expenses. How hard will your wallet be hit if you decide Ohio's the place for you? |
| Calif. CPAs Meld Tech, Accounting Skills | 10/30/07 | | The use of technology for business is opening up new job opportunities for California CPAs. Consider the growing number of consultancies that need CPAs to help implement and support business management software. The work can be stimulating for accountants who want to try something beyond public firms or private industry.
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| CareerWire: Networking Survival | 10/29/07 | | Networking is an important - most would say critical - tool to use in managing your career. Yes, there are drawbacks to it. But there are ways to address the downsides. |
| It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time… | 10/26/07 | | The new job sounded perfect: a great working environment, the right amount of travel and an exciting accounting challenge. But a month after you started, you realize the working environment is toxic, the travel is non-stop and your biggest challenge is figuring out what to do about it.
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| Accountants' Starting Salaries Pushed Higher | 10/25/07 | | Starting salaries for accounting and finance professionals are expected to increase an average of 4.3 percent in 2008, according to Robert Half International's 2008 Salary Guide. Public accountants, financial analysts and internal auditors are expected to see the largest gains. |
| Employers Open to Jobless CPAs | 10/24/07 | | With a dearth of talent on the market, companies in the New York metro area are considering candidates they might not have looked at before. That's good news for CPAs who got pushed out of large firms for growing too old, and for mass-layoff victims. |
| Q&A: Jerrold Pellizzon, CFO, Ceradyne Inc. | 10/23/07 | | "I don't think you can be focused on just being the guy who crunches numbers. It's the analytics that you need to put together with those numbers. To quantify something is great but you have to look at the quality aspect of something. I think a lot of times financial people are stuck on the quantifying approach too much." |
| Accounting, Job Security, and You | 10/19/07 | | Pretend you're a techie: Someone offers you a raise or even just an opportunity to work with a product that's new and cool. You'll probably happily leap to the new job. But you're an accountant. Someone offers you $10,000 more a year, and maybe - maybe - you'll consider their offer. What's up with that? |
| Should You Take Notes in an Interview? | 10/18/07 | | If a job interview is an exchange of information, is it proper for you to take notes during the conversation? It depends who you ask. We checked with a variety of career authorities and received a diversity of answers. |
| Firm Merging? Your Job's Probably Safe | 10/17/07 | | The perpetual search for talent and leadership is propelling a wave of mergers and acquisitions among accounting firms. If your shop is involved, should you be concerned about your job?
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| Ask the Expert: Waiting for the Right Offer | 10/16/07 | | "I've been offered a job at one firm, but also interviewed for a position at another, a place where I'd prefer working. How do I hold off replying to the first firm until I have a sense of what's happening at my first choice?" |
| N.Y., N.J. Companies Recruit Auditors Out-of-State | 10/12/07 | | New York and New Jersey recruiters are looking high and low for CPA audit pros as the field continues to churn and burn staffers. Now, firms are filling openings with folks from outside the area - another sign the market is red-hot.
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| CareerWire: Sometimes You Have to Sell | 10/09/07 | | If you prefer tooling through spreadsheets or a QuickBooks problem to chatting people up at a chamber of commerce breakfast, you may need to make a conscious effort get out more.
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| Firms Venture into New Territories | 10/05/07 | | Last month, California-based Armanino McKenna LLP ventured into new territory, launching what could be the accounting industry's first media consulting practice, Armanino McKenna Foster. The move is just one illustration of how some firms are expanding their non-accounting services. |
| Considering a Career Change? Plan Ahead | 10/04/07 | | Many career experts say modern workers will have multiple careers over the course of their lifetimes. Certainly a number of accountants mull what life would be like if they were focusing on something besides tax returns and accounting rules. But changing careers is difficult. It requires a great deal of perseverance, conviction and quite frequently a temporary downshift in lifestyle. However, the rewards can be fruitful. |
| Move to a Non-Profit With Open Eyes | 10/03/07 | | If you day dream about using your skills to sway the electorate, shelter the homeless or spread your religion, a move into the non-profit sector may brighten your workday. It'll also lighten your wallet. |
| Calif. Demand Strong, But Lags Other Areas | 10/02/07 | | The market for accountants and finance professionals in California will remain strong during the fourth quarter, according to the latest Robert Half International Hiring Index. But demand will lag behind the regional and national average in the state's four largest cities. |
| CareerWire: Listening to Your Critics | 10/01/07 | | As painful as it may be to listen to, honest criticism can help improve our performance on the job. Here are some ways to spin negatives into positives. |
| Looking for a New Job - Discreetly | 09/26/07 | | Elizabeth Taylor excepted, most people change jobs more often than they do mates. But no matter how many times you do it, looking for a new position when you already have one can be tricky. |
| CareerWire: Thoughts on Diversity | 09/24/07 | | Can diversity programs succeed without real culture change - change that extends far beyond the offices of accounting firms? |
| Audit Sector Outlook Remains Bright | 09/21/07 | | Auditing client companies' books was the traditional raison d'etre of public accounting firms. The growth of newer services such as consulting, merger advice and compliance testing has reinforced the market power of both CPA firms and the professionals who work in them. |
| Choosing a Resume Consultant | 09/20/07 | | It's a daunting task for anyone to prepare a good resume, especially if you're the kind of person that has difficulty expressing yourself on paper. If you are one of those people, or just figure you'd like some help, does it make sense to hire one of the countless writers out there who profess to be resume professionals? |
| Do Minority Women Have a Reason to Stay? | 09/19/07 | | For many minority women, cultural challenges and a feeling of exclusion make it easy to leave their current firms. They can empower themselves to succeed, but many are asking if it's worth it. |
| CFOs Less Upbeat About Economy and Hiring | 09/14/07 | | Business sentiment among CFOs dived this quarter, according to a survey by Duke University and CFO magazine. A Duke finance professor says the results raise the odds of recession. |
| A Blog on Certification Woes | 09/13/07 | | Building on the popularity of the Internet as a form of communication for younger CPAs and accounting students, the New Jersey Society of CPAs' Web site now features the “Exam Cram Blog.” |
| Fewer Top-Level Shifts in Finance - For Now | 09/12/07 | | For better or worse, if you work at a giant public company your odds of having a new CFO this year are the lowest since 1995. But that's about to change, a C-suite headhunter predicts. |
| Will This Recruiter Get Me a Job? | 09/11/07 | | Time is money. So, should you make an investment by interviewing with agency recruiters when looking for a new opportunity? The answer is yes - if the recruiter has available jobs that match your skill set and career goals. |
| Building Your Safety Net | 09/07/07 | | Demand for accounting and finance professionals, from both CPA firms and private industry, has been robust for so long it's hard to imagine it might weaken. But financial markets are mired in uncertainty over the near-term path of the U.S. economy. If the worst happens, are you ready for the fallout? Here are tips on how to prepare. |
| Ask the Expert: How Do I Resign 'Professionally?' | 09/06/07 | | "We've had a management change at our firm, and I am very unhappy with my new supervisor. The one I worked with for the last five months has just disappeared. I'm planning to resign and wonder whether I can do this verbally, or must I write a resignation letter?" |
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