Accountants are made, not born. (Or, How to become an Accountant.)

The challenge to someone who has made a career decision to become an accountant is: How do I become one?

A critical area of importance in becoming an accountant is education. Choosing the right university degree and right accounting designation is not an easy process.

Once you have decided the educational path to take, it is important to consider what career path to take. The most difficult question for someone starting their career is: How do I get my first job?

This question is difficult to answer, because most companies looking to hire want someone who can do the job and not have to be trained. So where does this leave the first time job seeker?

Co-Op Programs: The best way to get your first job is to have already had some experience. Co-op programs at universities are an excellent way to get that critical first job experience.


Clerical Office Work: Another way is to find an office clerical summer job. Accounting is more than just office work, but it is office work. Getting a summer job where you will help out with clerical tasks in an office can give you a feel for some of the key components of work life in an office. If you've graduated school and have never worked in an office environment, do you really know what you're getting yourself into? An Office is certainly a very different place then Campus.


Volunteer: Volunteering to do accounting tasks for a non-profit is an excellent way to get a leg up on starting your career. Many non-profits in your town have limited funds to pay for salaries, but do have many accounting tasks that need to get done. It can be a great way to learn the job of accountant.

Who you know: Don't forget calling on family and friends. Someone you know (or someone that knows someone you know) runs a small business. It could even be a home based business. Offer to help an entrepreneur with their accounting (for a small fee) - they will be very grateful for the help and you can learn about accounting for a business.

Another point to keep in mind – there is no better time than now to start building your career network. As you begin your transition from university or college to your career, it is very important to start using LinkedIn. Facebook is great for college life, but has limits in its value in your future career life. (Read our blog post: Is Facebook a Career Killer?) The earlier you get your 'friends' into a career focused networking tool like LinkedIn, the more opportunity you will have to add value to your future career and future employers. In the business world, who you know is as important as what you know. You will want to have your network you have developed at school work for you in your career.

So, how did you get your first accounting career opportunity?

LinkedIn Connections – What is your Policy?

LinkedIn has certainly become the online place for business people to connect and stay in touch. While it is a very powerful tool, it is only as powerful as you make it.

 

Networking is more effective when you use it to give to your network as well as receive from it. The same applies on LinkedIn. If you want LinkedIn to work for you when you need it (i.e., when you are looking for work), you need to work with, assist and engage your network when you don’t need your network.

 

As someone who uses LinkedIn on a daily basis to connect and add value to my network, I regularly get LinkedIn requests. Many times, it is from individuals I do not know. Yet.

 

I am interested in making genuine connections with people. It is my business to know people and meet people - LinkedIn is a great tool for this. I’m not interested in the game of “How many Connections do you have?”

 

So how do I choose who to connect with?

 

I connect with people that:

 

• I know
• I have met in person
• I have spoken with
• I have engaged with online

 

When I get a request from someone I do not know it is my policy to reply to them and ask questions that will help me get to know them better before I actually connect.

 

I categorize networkers on LinkedIn into the following categories:

 

1) LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers). These people have a policy to connect with anyone and anybody. They call themselves “Open Networkers” but in my opinion are not real networkers – they are just looking for leads to move their agenda forward and have access to names they may not otherwise have.

 

2) Real Networkers. These people use LinkedIn to support their in-person networking activities, not to replace their in-person networking. These people are meeting people in person and using LinkedIn to stay connected and engaged with their network when they are not in front of them. Real Networkers do develop relationships on LinkedIn, but only as part of an engagement strategy with their network, groups and questions to build real relationships, even if they start them online.

 

3) Passive Networkers. This is how I would categorize the majority of people on LinkedIn. Passive LinkedIn Networkers connect with some people they know on LinkedIn, but really don’t go out of their way to connect or engage their network. These people are generally passive networkers in their day to day lives. While I am an avid evangelist of the powers of networking, I am aware that most people don’t love networking, and feel more comfortable not networking. For them, just being on LinkedIn and passively being involved is certainly a step up to those that do no networking at all.

 

4) I’m here, but leave me alone. There are people who have a profile on LinkedIn because someone they respect asked them to be a part of it, but have no desire to put an effort into networking at all. I respect the choice these people have made, but I feel for them – they are missing out on a revolution that is positively affecting the careers and personal lives of everyone around them.

 
I categorize myself as a Real Networker. What kind of LinkedIn Networker are you? What is your LinkedIn Connection Policy?

 

5 Reasons why CFOs don't Tweet (and 5 Reasons why they should)

In leading our firm's activity over the past year on Twitter, I have noticed that many Chief Financial Officers aren't active on Twitter. And I wondered why. So I spoke with CFOs and asked them “Why aren’t you on Twitter?”

These are reasons CFOs are NOT active on Twitter:

1) Twitter is complicated. Yes, it is complicated. It takes a long time to get the feel of the rules of the game. In a way, it is like learning a new language. You have to speak less, spell different, say things in shorthand, do things like @, #, RT, DM, and bit.ly.

2) Who cares what I have to say? Who will listen? Why should anyone care if you went to a concert, or what you ate for breakfast? It is not intuitive for people (born before 1985) to share this kind of information in public.

3) What am I going to tweet about? Your job? Your life? Your interest in collecting little spoons from around the world?

4) Regulatory concerns. A CFO of a public company is restricted up the regulatory Ying-yang of what they can say in public about the Company they work for.

5) Perception is that people who tweet aren’t very busy. CFOs are supposed to be busy people. If a CFO is tweeting, it shows that they are doing something other than work.

On the other hand, since we started our Twitter activity, I have also come across Chief Financial Officers that are active on Twitter. And I wondered why. So I spoke with CFOs and asked them “Why are you on Twitter?”

These are reasons why CFOs ARE active on Twitter:

1) Personal Branding. Tweeting allows you to communicate your ideas and influence what others think about you. [If you don’t know why personal branding is important, read these: How Important is Your Personal Brand by Santhie Goundar and You are So Much More Than a Job Title by Cindy Kraft.]

2) Following interesting people. There are many interesting people in the world, and they have something to say and articles to share. A progressive Senior Financial Executive wants to learn more from people with different points of view. Twitter is a great place to find others to learn from.

3) Network with people you never would have connected with. As CFO, there are people you can follow that you would never have connected with personally. You can use Twitter to listen to and interact with Investors, Industry thought leaders and Customers. Those CFOs that use Twitter regularly find it very powerful.

4) Add value to my employer. Not only do you add to your personal brand as a CFO who Tweets, but you add value to your employer as well. If you look good, they look good too.

5) Share interests with others. Whether your interests are work related, such as being an Excel Guru or a GAAP Master, or life related like your passion for skiing, golf or Barbequing, people who follow you will know about it. It makes for interesting conversations and better connections when you do meet with them in person.

If you are a CFO who Tweets, go ahead and tweet the following: I’m a #CFOwhoTweets

If you are a CFO who doesn't tweet yet, what are you waiting for?

You’re on LinkedIn. Now what?

You’ve heard your colleagues talk about LinkedIn. You’ve heard that it is indispensable to your professional career to be on LinkedIn. So you gave it a shot, signed up, put your profile up and connected with some people you know.

Now you’re sitting back and asking yourself - “Is that all there is to this? I don’t understand. There must be more.”

There is more.

However, the most important question you need to ask yourself is: What do I want to accomplish on LinkedIn? If you only want to be on LinkedIn just to be able to say that you are on LinkedIn - Stop Here - you’ve done all you need to do. However, if you want to build your personal brand, there are other things you can do to make the most out of your LinkedIn experience.

Seek out those you know.

Who you work with: LinkedIn works well in keeping in front of the people you know and want to stay connected to professionally. In your career, you deal with people inside and outside your organization - these people are ideal to request that they Link In with you.

Who you used to work with: There are people that you used to work with that remember you in a positive light, and would happy to reconnect.

How to find them: You can:

• import your contacts from your Microsoft Outlook email program,
• download the Outlook Toolbar to integrate into your Outlook,
• manually add people by searching for them, and requesting to connect,
• look at the connections of the people you are connected to see who you know.

Who you know says a lot about you. You can read our previous blog on this topic here.

Complete your profile.

If you haven’t added all your previous work and volunteer experiences, you should. This will allow others who used to work with you to find you. There is an indicator on your profile page provided by LinkedIn that lets you know how complete your profile is. This indicator should not be less then 90%.

Join Groups.

We all have areas of interest at work. LinkedIn has thousands of groups. There most certainly are groups that may be of interest to you. You can browse around the groups, or even click on the “Groups You May Like” tab in the Groups section.

Add Applications.

There are many applications you can add to your profile page that allow you to interact with others. My favorite applications are:

• Reading List by Amazon - allows you to share with others the books you have read, whether you like them or not, and you can review them as well. Others knowing what you are reading gives them a sense of what your interests are. Knowing what others are reading allows you to have conversations with them about their interests, or find something that might be interesting to read.
• Slideshare - if you have presented on topics that you think others would be interested in, this tool will share your brilliance with others.
• Events - this lets others see what events you will be attending, and allows you to see events being attended by others that might interest you too.

You can look for other applications that will allow you to enrich your profile.

Differentiate yourself.

If you want to differentiate yourself on LinkedIn and stand out in a positive way, it is highly recommended that you contribute to the conversations on LinkedIn.

You can do this by:

• Updating your Status - this is where you ask a question, share a thought, or post an article. It allows your connections to know what you’re thinking of, and keeps you top of mind.
• Comment on other people’s Status updates - by “Liking” someones update, or adding your comment to it, you are engaging others and adding value to them and to yourself.
• Discuss topics of interest in your Group - sharing an article, asking a question or commenting on other people’s discussions allows you to ‘speak’ with people you are not currently connected with and share your point of view.

Continue coming back.

Setting up your LinkedIn profile and forgetting about it will not bring you value. Coming back on a regular basis to check out what is happening with your network, adding to the conversations and updating your profile for regular changes will help you get the best out of LinkedIn.
 

Twitter Me This – Recruiting in 140 characters?

“Feel... Felt… Found…” Three words one of my business partners, Jonathan Buzelan (Twitter: @buzelan) stressed to me as he helped develop my sales skills. “You need to see their side, before you can bring them to yours,” he would say. “Let your client know you understand how they feel. If you ever felt that way, tell them; and finally, share with them what you learnt that got you to think differently.” The philosophy was simple, as he explained it, “changing someone’s mindset can be a near impossibility, but if you provide them with new information, then they may be willing to form a new opinion.” Why try to convince someone of your truth when it easier to get them to discover it on their own. And what in the world does this have to do with Twitter?

When I first started exploring social media groups I was not convinced that it had any use beyond the obvious: sharing photos of my children at the lake with friends and family. I was convinced that this was the limit of its power. The idea that social media sites could help develop business relationships or any “real” relationship for that matter did not seem possible. I knew Linkedin existed but I thought of it as nothing more than an online rolodex that at the time was still in its infancy.

As the popularity of social media sites grew, I made it my business to learn more about them. I was already sharing much of my personal life on Facebook and details about my professional life on Linkedin. But what was completely unclear to me was the value and worth of the social media site or better yet “social media tool” called “Twitter”. What value could a billboard like tool which limits you to a 140 characters deliver?

At first glance, Twitter seems like the least significant of all the three Social media tools. But what I learned was that Twitter is a lot more powerful than people realize. As the Practice Leader for CFO2Grow’s CFO Search practice one of my goals is to be top of mind for CFOs, CEOs, Board Members, Investors and other business leaders in my online and offline community. Having been in the Financial Recruiting business for over 10 years and in the finance world for 20, I have developed many incredible contacts from which I have learned much. Being top of mind comes from sharing that knowledge base and experience and then delivering that relevant content to my network.

Twitter is much more than an electronic billboard; it is the way I reach out to the online world. In 140 characters, the snippet of content I send out becomes a form of free advertising about a blog (like this one), an article I read, a new job posting, a Facebook or LinkedIn update, or even just a retweet that I can easily share with my network . And the more interesting and relevant my tweets, the more people are likely to click through and read on. Providing relevant and informative content is part and parcel of being top of mind, and staying there.

A 2010 Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey stated that while 78% of companies and recruiters use LinkedIn for recruiting and 54% use Facebook, Twitter sits at a respectable 3rd place with 44%. While there is no question that LinkedIn will continue to be the lead choice for recruiters and their companies, as Twitter grows in popularity it has the potential to surpass Facebook in its relevance to the online recruiting community. The Jobvite study further stated that while Facebook use for recruiting grew 15%, Twitter’s popularity has gone up by 32%. Harnessing Twitter’s potential is the next big thing for the recruiting community.

So if you are still scratching your head at the thought of being Twitter user, then let me say this, “I understand how you feel, because that is how I felt, but let me tell you what I found out.”

Follow us on Twitter @cfo2grow. (To follow Samuel go to Twitter @cfo2dergel)

(“Twitter Me This - Recruiting in 140 characters?” is part of an ongoing discussion on Social Media and recruiting. Here are 2 more related Blogs you may be interested in reading: “What Your LinkedIn Profile Says About You”, and “Is Facebook a Career Killer?”)

What your LinkedIn profile says about you.

While our previous blog discussed how Facebook can be a Career Killer, LinkedIn is a most definitely a Career Maker. Or rather, it has the potential to be. Forbes.com recently quoted a Jobvite study from June 2010 stating that 73.3% of companies now look to social networking sites such as LinkedIn for recruiting rather than traditional job boards. In fact, eMarketer reports that 80% of companies who recruit via social media networking use LinkedIn for their recruiting.

LinkedIn has become the social media home for executives and professionals. In fact, Forbes reports that LinkedIn is most successful in assisting recruiters and companies to identify potential exective and management-level prospects rather than entry-level professionals who still would do better to turn to traditional job posting boards.

Your LinkedIn profile is your resume, your public profile to the world. Whether you like it or not, companies and recruiters could be looking at your profile, even as you read this article. What does your LinkedIn profile say about you?

No profile – Not Good. This says you are not interested in networking or career building. It also says that you are not ‘with it’. No one wants to hire or do business with a luddite.

Few connections (under 20) – this begs the question, are you really a person worth knowing?

20-100 connections – many users fit into this category. This says you are a person worth knowing, but you’re not a connector.

100-500 connections – You are a connector. This is where most executives and professionals should be at. An executive or professional like you should have enough visibility to know 100 people like yourself.

500+ connections - You’re a star networker. If you’re not in a sales or recruiting role already, perhaps you should consider it. You are a go to guy (or gal).

Having a Closed Network – This says you are afraid of your contacts knowing who you know. It means you are protective of your contacts. The only valid reason I see for having a closed network is if you are a lawyer – maybe. Otherwise, how open you are to others defines how open they will be to you.

Having an Open Network – says you are interested in making a difference to the people in your network, by allowing all of them to see each other. To gain from networking, you need to give before you get.

So take a minute and look at your LinkedIn profile with a critical eye. Who are you connected to? Are all your connections old high school pals? Fraternity buddies? Friends? Or are all your connections career related? Are your career connections only related to your previous jobs? Or do you have many important connections at many different companies? Seek out connections that will give your profile a more well-rounded feel.

How are you presenting yourself to the world? Will a recruiter be able to see your strengths at first glance? Are your posts and comments intelligent and worthwhile? Do you contribute in a positive way to the online community?

Allow opportunities to find you. Use your LinkedIn profile to market yourself to the world.

Is Facebook a Career Killer?

Social media is the phenomenon of recent times. The top 3 social media sites of today - Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter - each have their own unique features which make people come back to them again and again.

The upside of social media sites is that they allow you to connect and create community, and these sites can be very effective, if used properly, to foster and solidify relationships in the real world.

The downside of social media is that people might end up knowing much more about you then you would want them to.

In my opinion, Facebook is the most dangerous Web 2.0 site for the professional and executive. There are many ways Facebook can be detrimental to your career. One example of how it can do this is through the Games functionality.

How is that? Well, do you REALLY want to let the world know that you play Farmville or that you are very into Horoscopes? We all have our outlets for fun - and that's fine. But you need to keep in mind that others can see in real time exactly when you reached another level on Farmville. Your current (and future) employer, clients, and employees may see this activity - and it can have a negative impact on your career. Needless to say, participating in this kind of activity during working hours, even if you are officially out of the office, only makes the situation worse. Perception is reality, how much more so in virtual reality.

One solution is for professionals and executives to create a Games profile on Facebook. This way you can enjoy your favorite Facebook games without letting the professional world know what level they just reached in the online mafia.

Games are one example of how Facebook can be a Career Killer. Be careful out there.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming posts on how other social media sites affect your career.