Career Success For Accountants

Are You In Tune With What Employers Are Looking For From Professionals In Your Field?

You have studied hard, you work hard and try to do a good job.

But are you in tune with what employers are looking for from professionals in your field?

When you are in a job and settled this might not be too much of an issue.  When you get to a point where you are looking at moving jobs or moving to the next level this becomes vitally important.

My background is in accountancy.  I started out in my career in the early 80’s.  At that time accountancy was very much a back office function.

There were no computers.  All the processes were manual and things that you can do now in minutes on spreadsheet took hours.

People progressed to senior levels based on qualifications primarily.  If you were good at the non technical bits of the job even better.

Fast forward to now and things are very different.

Automation is increasing dramatically.  Some are even claiming that a lot of what is currently done will disappear.  Not just tasks but whole jobs.

It’s never been easier to provide information.  Creating and running a report is easy and it’s a one time task to set it up.

Qualifications and technical ability is no longer a differentiator.  If you are to progress beyond doing tasks, you have to be able to manage.  If you are to move in to leadership you have to have leadership skills and attributes.

Scorekeepers are being replaced by business partners.  Yes you still have to report the results and performance.  The real contribution comes from the insight you provide, how you help shape and deliver strategy.

While there may be differences from profession to profession, what matters is that you are tune with what employers need if you are going to move on and move up in your career.

About the Author Duncan Brodie

Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.

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