Be aware of your body language
Posted by editor on Feb 20, 2009
One the most important things to remember in your accounting interview is to watch your body language. Even something as seemingly small as fidgeting will sow that you are nervous, or worse, incapable of handling stress - which you will undoubtedly face in an accounting career. Appearing too eager - either by the way you act or by the way you answer the questions - makes employers think that you have no idea of your worth or are desperate for the job. Which is a bad impression to give during an interview. Don’t be too stiff, either, which might communicate that you are too stuck up, or too inflexible. Allow yourself to relax a little, and try to infuse more confidence into your actions and manner.
Keep your body language in check and maybe you might just land that accounting job you’ve always wanted.
Situational Questions
Posted by Administrator on Jan 30, 2009
Your interviewer would more or less be sure to present you with situational questions that will check for your accounting problem solving skills. If you happen to have little or no experience in a presented question, say so and the interviewer may present you with a different question. If not, answer best you can for if you know your job, as we said, accounting is a very technical field which typically has the same principles that vary with their application. Questions regarding your job experience would also bring out your weak points so give all answers as accurate as possible. Never and we do mean never guess, for the one interviewing you may also be an accountant. For procedural questions, they would challenge your mastery of your skills in preparing spreadsheets, balance sheets and other information sets where you base your analysis of the cash flow presented. Your results may be challenged for real on-paper testing which they can choose to give you to see if you have the necessary skills for information presentation and analysis.
Part-Time Gigs - Flexible Times
Posted by editor on Dec 25, 2008
In today’s recession when the number of jobs available is more than the number of applicants, jobs are getting harder and harder to come by. No wonder more people opt to work part-time jobs taking several in a day for more profits while keeping the ability to turn jobs when needed. Most take whatever is available yet accounting is a very skilled job that extensive knowledge of the system is needed for one to become effective and amiable for hiring.
Shifting from one dedicated job to part-time jobs also allows the freedom of better time management but being so time dependent, it is more suited for the young at heart. It also becomes a nice place to brush up or learn new things allowing you to get more for less time. It also has the advantage of eliminating the boredom that often accompanies desk jobs for you get to face different people. It can get hectic and time management is a must to balance your life, no use earning a ton of money when you don’t have time to enjoy your life.
Accountancy Training
Posted by Administrator on Nov 26, 2008
Image Source: aspentraining.net
The training ground for an accounting career greatly varies. Sometimes, a degree in accountancy is not needed to be able to land the accounting job. Usually, accountants are evaluated with their length of work experience. Some accounting pre requisites include basic computer lessons in relatively general applications so they can be trained to use these programs which they will greatly use when involved in an accounting job or some related field. Computer classes often need to work with spreadsheets and some accounting softwares like Microsoft Excel and QuickBooks. Microsoft Word is the basic application you should be able to handle comfortably. Essentially, what an accountant needs after this is the aptitude for numbers.
Business image
Posted by Administrator on Oct 6, 2008
Image Source: hreoc.gov.au
Business is really like a game. Almost ending up between sport and war. Strategy needs to be employed to be able to win in a battle or a sport. Right? And in playing any sports, you need to acquire the best equipments so that you can have a fair chance or even a greater advantage over the opponent. Much like in business, you need to sport a crisp, business like image. It can really help you get the job you desire and the benefits that should come with it. It is inevitable that certain things in life, we ca not control. The very thing that we can control is how we should look, our image. You should avoid the pitfalls with these tips. You can de stress your image.
Attract. Look business-like and stylish,at the same time. Wear a well coordinated outfit.
Organize your wardrobe. Separate business attire from the casual ones. Keep at least three complete outfits that are ready to wear and pressed.
A tailored jacket is your armor. Long sleeves are a necessity. Wear socks or hosiery. This is non negotiable.
Shoes say a lot more than you stepping on them. They are a strong indicator of who and how you are. Polish them and make sure they are in mint condition.
What to look for in an Applicant
Posted by Administrator on Sep 29, 2008
Image Source: talentpen.com
Interviewing applicants are very difficult. Most especially when you’re looking for accountants. These are job positions that require precision and wisdom. Practical wisdom, that is. Some tips for the interviewer might help you narrow down the potential employee to a numbered few.
What you should look for in an applicant:
- Integrity… If an applicant shares unsolicited private information about a competitor they have worked for, you can be sure he’s going to do the same to you.
- Detail Oriented… Accountants need to be accurate. If you can particularly tell that a person seems disorganized during his interview, that’s a good sign he may be wrong person for the job.
- Knows how to Damage Control… Problems come and go on a daily basis in any business or job. You want a somebody thinks well, fast and solves problems rather than rant about it.
- Positive Outlook… People who thinks positive almost always come up with the best solutions.
- DO come on early
- DO fill out forms completely
- DO pronounce the interviewers last name correctly
- DO show enthusiasm
- DO wait to be told to be seated
- DO listen carefully
- DO ask for a job description
- DO communicate sincerity
- DON’T simply answer yes or no
- DON’T pretend to understand
- DON’T rely on your resume
- DON’T make negative comments
- DON’T over answer
- DON’T ask about salary and benefits during initial interview
The Accountants Job
Posted by Administrator on Aug 18, 2008
Image source: www.targetedsearch.net
In many public firms, accountants become increasingly responsible for management of other accountants and acquiring new accounts instead of pure accounting work.
Since all of these tasks require a high degree of teamwork, leadership and charisma, the accounting job interview will seek to uncover these attributes in addition to technical accounting skills. For that reason, someone preparing for an accounting job interview needs to spend a little bit of time working on their response to questions outside the realm of accounting. Their first step should be to do some research and discover exactly what the accounting job they are pursuing will consist of, in the short and long term. This research may be done with a combination of published and personal investigation and should uncover four elements; the daily duties, the desired results of the job, the personal characteristics the company desires; and the future career paths available to the position.
Accounting Job Search Secrets
Posted by Administrator on Jul 5, 2008
The accounting job market is not a level playing field and you may find it hard to land those rewarding accounting positions in top corporations unless you know what to do and how to go about it. There are numerous executive accountants who became successful not just because of their educational attainment and experience but they used job searching techniques.
The Accounting Job Search program will help you to apply some of those techniques to give you a shot at landing that profitable accounting position. This program is not based on your education or experienced but on what the market demands.
Do’s and Don’ts
Posted by Administrator on Jun 3, 2008
So you have been invited by your chosen company to come for a job interview, will this be your big career move or are you going to throw it all down the drain? Here are some do’s and don’ts to guide you:
Here are some don’ts to remember:
Accounting Job Interview Sample Questions (Part 3 of 3)
Posted by editor on May 30, 2008
by Chubs
General Ledger
1. Kindly share your experience with general ledger.
2. Explain the seven basic categories used in general ledger.
Payroll
1. Can you tell us about your experience in payroll?
2. Using the Internal Revenue Service rules, what criteria differentiate a consultant from an employee?
3. Have you experienced any disputes in handling payroll? How were you able to manage this conflict?
4. Were there any particular methods you used to ensure fewer discrepancies in managing payrolls?
Supervisory
1. Share any supervisory experience you had in an accounting department.
2. Did you ever use cost-cutting measures to resolve any problem within your department?
3. How were you able to monitor the performance of your department?