As I neared my junior year in community college, I understood that I would be facing transferring and choosing the right major. Depending on how I want my career to be, I deliberately thought about the decision I would make. At first, I fell within my childhood dream of becoming a movie star. Sadly, the childhood dream had gradually faded due to impracticality. Looking for a career that provides me with a well-paying job and relates to math, I determined that accounting could be my best option, a career that I have strength in. There is no doubt that becoming a Certified Public Accountant is how I would achieve my career goal as a professional.
An accountant is an integral part of every business. By definition, accounting is the language of business, and it is crucial to have an accountant in every company. Accountant’s primary job is to help businesses run financial records, public records, and pay tax correctly on time. Accountants need to prepare reports accurately and reasonably at the right time, so the employer and investor can make a better decision. An accurate financial report enables investors and bankers to analyze the business’s financial situation efficiently. These users can evaluate the corresponding interest and risks connected with financing opportunities. As an accountant, we not only stay in the office and input numbers, but also assist businesses or people in making better decisions.
Basically, any degree can qualify you to be an accountant. An associate degree can prepare you for entry-level positions while a bachelor’s degree can pave the way for upper-level positions. In addition to educational requirement, CPA is the certification most frequently requested by employers; therefore, many accounting major students get licensed after graduation to increase their chances to be hired. Having strong computer skills is also important for accountants. They are required to use accounting software, such as QuickBooks, Sage 50, and Peachtree, to record business transactions. For more specific field, auditors perform overviews of the financial statements and issue opinions whether it complies with the GAAP regulation. Tax Staff is responsible for preparing tax returns for corporations, individuals, and partnerships. They also can provide clients with consulting services to help them create tax planning.
I like accounting because it can keep me financially secure. Accounting employees are among the least likely professionals to be concerned about threats to their job security such as layoffs, pay cuts, or reductions in benefits, according to a survey by HR services and staffing company Randstad (Tysiac). Also, when I worked with my former manager, he told me that I am detail oriented and good at math. Thus, He enlightened me that I should focus on the major I have strength on. In addition, accounting emphasis on experience. The career will be more valuable with the accumulated years of experience. Accounting appeals to me personally and professionally because I consider it as an honor to influence someone who is in desperate need of financial advising. Also, accounting is a highly prestigious profession in America. Therefore, I would like to receive these admirations from the public. Furthermore, an accountant not only makes a great impact on the business field but also creates a substantial effect on an individual’s life.
Everyone has some characteristics or traits that affect their own choices which can be either helpful or harmful. This is where personal strengths and weaknesses begin to make everyone different. We need to be able to discover not only our strengths but also our weaknesses. Weaknesses require us to ask for advice and support from others to make improvement. As we go through life, it is crucial to discover who we are and have the sense to understand and develop our strengths and weaknesses. By distinguishing our strengths and weaknesses, we become satisfied with our career path and also our personal life. To approach our goal successfully, we need to improve our weaknesses while keep enhancing our strengths.
Based on the result of Holland Code Career, I am the type of person who considers helping others as a pleasure because it uplifts my spirit to have a better life (Holland Code Career Test). According to the survey on Board of Directors of Nonprofit Organizations, those who experience the highest life satisfaction are those who work in nonprofits organization (Larcker). It is common sense that these accountants feel good about what they are doing, and that is why they think becoming an accountant is beneficial to this society. Therefore, I am an energetic individual who enjoys helping others, and this ability is helpful in my personal and professional life. Moreover, based on the result of “The TypeFinder Research,” I consider myself as “perceiver,” which means I like to go with flow (The TypeFinder Research). As we go through life, it is essential to discover who we are. Based on the result of “Personal Strengths Inventory”, my greatest strength is “Love of Learning,” this relates to my personality because I am always forcing myself to learn new things whenever is possible (Personal Strengths Inventory). In the workplace, CPAs need to constantly update their knowledge of the recent accounting code to stay ahead. Henry Ford once stated, “never stop learning, it will accommodate your stay young (Henry).” Thus, all of us who are learning now should explore as much as we can. For this reason, we need to improve our lifelong learning skills to be successful. In addition, I am also a team player who is reliable and always does more than required (Personal Strengths Inventory). I try my best to help everyone because there may be a time when I will need help as well. In agreement with “Personal Strengths Inventory,” perseverance is my other strength (Personal Strengths Inventory). To be successful, we need to have a driving force that pushes ourselves to achieve the goal. I am the type of person who can stay in the library from morning to night. I also take my schoolwork very seriously, and when I get some homework or a project, my goal is not just to finish it but to finish perfectly. Last but not least, based on the result of “DISC Behavior Inventory,” I am the type of person who is able to follow directions without being told the related duties (DISC Behavior Inventory). This trait can be beneficial for an accountant because one of the important rules in this field is to follow regulations. There are a set of rules that have been set by the AICPA for all the accounting organizations to follow in the accounting field. Since I have the strength to follow directions, I can assist the businesses to accurately follow the accounting code, which qualifies me to be an excellent CPA.
We all have weaknesses and most of us have a problem accepting it because we tend to ignore it. However, a way to improve a weakness is first to discover what the weakness is, and then set goals for change. Although it might take some time, ultimately, we will overcome it. I remembered the Learning Style Activity we did in class. I discovered my major weaknesses are communication skills and writing skills. For several years, I have had trouble grasping ideas for several reasons. Unfortunately, communication skills are the most important requirement in the workforce. To be an excellent accountant, I need to communicate with various clients effectively, so I can provide better professional services to them. In addition, this weakness is not only a limitation to my career advancement but also the concern of my daily life. As stated in Allen’s book, “the stresses of our new world are blowing out the weak spots,” so we need to overcome our weaknesses in order to succeed in life (Allen).
Choosing accounting as my concentration, I am able to have a good understanding of accounting principles and business’s financial situation. It also enables me to provide professional services for business entities, such as business financial advice, bookkeeping, tax consulting, and auditing services. To be a qualified accountant, mastering a couple of softwares are beneficial, such as GoSystem, OneSource, QuickBooks, PeachTree, and Lacerte. These computer skills are highly demanded by the recruiters. An understanding of solid accounting knowledge, such as GAAP, revenue recognition, bank reconciliation, double entry accounting, and journal entry, is also a basic requirement. My career goal is to become a Certified Public Accountant. In order to reach my career goal, I need to integrate all the knowledge I learned from accounting classes with personal soft skills, for example, time management, team player, problem solving, and self-confidence. Moreover, what I really want out of my career is to be satisfied with my job, to make others happy, and to make sound income for my family. I also want to wake up in the morning when I have a job where I can help my clients solve their financial issues. Another reason I want to be an accountant is that it can make great money. I would love to support my family since having a family is very expensive because money is always going to be involved. Although to be an accountant is an ideal career path, there will be a lot of dedication to accomplish. However, I think it will be worthwhile because this career will provide me with a bright future.
Works Cited
Accounting Job Description | What You’ll Do. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2017, from
https://www.allbusinessschools.com/accounting/job-description/
Allen, D. (2015). Getting Things Done. Penguin Publishing Group.
DISC Behavior Inventory. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2017, from
https://www.truity.com/personality-test/2776/test-results/4843893
Henry Ford Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved October 9, 2017, from
BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryford103927.html
Holland Code Career Test. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2017, from
https://www.truity.com/personality-test/2977/test-results/4662597
Larcker, D. F. (2015, April). 2015 Survey on Board of Directors of Nonprofit Organizations.
Retrieved November 29, 2017, from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/2015-survey-board-directors-nonprofit-organizations
Personal Strengths Inventory. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2017, from
https://www.truity.com/personality-test/2142/test-results/4843917
The secrets to job satisfaction. (2016, January 12). Retrieved November 29, 2017, from
https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/accountingeducation/newsandpublications/marsha-huber-accounting-education.html
The TypeFinder Research Edition. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2017, from
https://www.truity.com/personality-test/3688/test-results/4841040
Tysiac, K. (2012, May 17). Finance and accounting workers feel secure in jobs, according to
survey. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2012/may/20125725.html
Dear Professor,
I must admit, I did not take it seriously when I wrote this Midterm. I was not aware that not complying with the rubric you provided will lose so many points. As a result, I received a very bad grade due to my carelessness. However, thank you for giving me the opportunity to re-submit my Midterm.
- The following is the areas I improved:
- I went over the essay countless times to check my grammatical error
- Red part is the part I added to answer the missing content on the rubric
- Changed the title to fit the page appropriately
- Changed all the font to 12” Time New Roman
- Added the citation at the end of the quoted sentence
- Rearranged the order of essay to comply with rubric
- Delete extra spaces between paragraphs
I desire to express that my carelessness in not following direction was not intentional in any way. Kindly re-grade my Midterm and please allow me to reach my highest grade in this class.
Respectfully,
+447462439809