Graduates advised to start small.

• Position: Accounting - Accounting graduates

For accounting graduates, landing a job at a Big Four firm or large corporation has been the traditional first step in their careers. Yet, the word from financial executives surveyed by Accountemps, Menlo Park, Calif., a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals, is to "think small." Forty-six percent of chief financial officers advise entry-level professionals to begin at small to midsized companies. Another 30% recommend starting with small to midsized accounting firms.

"Working at smaller companies--public accounting firms or otherwise-may provide finance and accounting professionals with more opportunities to assume expanded roles and increased responsibilities at an earlier stage in their careers" confirms Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career for Dummies. "Employees at small businesses frequently wear many hats because internal resources are often limited."

Moreover, "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related corporate governance mandates have placed heightened emphasis on the accounting function. This has resulted in strong demand for individuals with expertise in a wide array of accounting and finance disciplines to handle ongoing work, ranging from processing journal entries to performing account analysis and reconciliation."

How to Get a Job

Max Messmer...