Chair's corner.

AuthorCastelanno, James G.
PositionRecruiting students and future accountants - Brief Article

The issues of student recruitment and accounting education are top of mind for our profession. I'd like to share my views about the issues of student recruitment and accounting education with you, and to encourage you to personally contribute to our efforts.

Let me frame the issues by discussing them in terms of the CPA Vision. When we created the Vision for the profession, we described the process as "seeing the optimum future, then seeking a bridge from the future back to the present." Here's my Vision, the optimum future, as it relates to people entering our profession.

First, of course, I see an abundant supply of highly qualified entry-level professionals Now, you might think that the demographics will take care of that in due time. Generation Y is about to kick in, a generation almost as big as the Baby Boom generation, and twice as big as Generation X. I'm sure that will help, but I also believe that we can't rely solely on demographics to bring us out of the serious decline in students choosing accounting careers.

I see professionals with solid foundations in auditing and attest, services that have a significant effect on the public interest. Our entry-level professionals will have excellent knowledge of accounting and auditing standards, tax, business law and, very importantly, ethics. But, perhaps the largest difference I see in future entry-level professionals is their broad-based business knowledge, and their skills in applying that knowledge. Understanding the business environment is critical if our entry-level professionals will be effective implementing the risk-based audit approaches of the 21st century.

The skills of the future entry-level accounting professional will be highly valued. They'll be competent communicators, having excellent research skills, and the ability to interpret, analyze and integrate information from many sources. They'll be of sound judgment and have a solid foundation of integrity. Leadership abilities, project management skills and entrepreneurial thinking will be commonplace.

We'll no longer hear quotes from college students like the Taylor Research & Consulting Group reported to us last year. Instead of, "If you're a detail-oriented person who likes to work by yourself, then it's for you," we'll hear, "If you're a leader, who enjoys people and wants to make things happen, then it's for you."

So what's it going to take to build the bridge from that future back to the present? The AICPA is doing its...

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