NOREEN: Want job security? Learn to count
Should have obtained that accounting degree.
Even when there are far fewer beans to count, bean counters are in demand.
If you thought the recession has been tough on accountants, think again. Across America, demand for accountants is rising and enrollment in college accounting programs is growing.
Being an accountant is one of the most recession-proof careers.
“When times are good, people need accountants to tell them how good. When times are bad, people need accountants to tell them how bad,” said Paul Miller, an accounting professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Historically, many accounting majors have jobs the day they graduate and many more don’t have to wait too long. This year, UCCS awarded 35 accounting degrees; 10 of the students were hired right away, but other students didn’t take the trouble to tell the school of their plans, so precise statistics are hard to come by.
As in any field, Miller said, “a student with low grades and no personality will stumble.”
Even in a recession, some parts of the economy grow, and Miller pointed out that “every sector of the economy needs accountants.”
As business sectors evolve, accounting evolves with it. For instance, the FBI has expanded its number of forensic accountants in the last few years — bean counters as white-collar crime fighters.
Sure, some accountants have been laid off during the recession, but their prospects for landing another job are better than the average laid-off worker.
In the wake of accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom, Congress passed the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act in 2002. It included reams of new accounting regulations, creating a bigger-than-ever need for accountants, Miller said.
“The unemployment rate for accounts is very low. It’s about 3 percent, which is about a third of the national average,” said Katie Essman, Colorado Springs branch manager for Robert Half Finance and Accounting.
Essman, whose branch includes an Accountemps office, said “there are opportunities for people who are willing to be flexible.”
She said the temporary positions she fills tend to be more stable here than in other job markets, partly because of the high number of defense contractors. “Most of our professionals are working for a good length of time because so many companies have hiring freezes,” she said.
Bad times?
Many of the companies reporting profits in the last quarter did it mostly by cutting costs. They used accountants to do that.
“Careers are made in a market like this,” Essman said. “They’re made in a downturn.”
Go figure — and you might just have a job. In fact, you could sort of count on it.
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