1. Chapter 1 10/2/20151

2.  List five different careers you might want to pursue or learn more about. Choose any career of interest, not just those involving accounting.  A successful career begins with learning about yourself.  Jobs are simply work for pay  Careers are built on a foundation of interest, knowledge, training, & experience. 1. Have you ever taken a class or a session about careers? What did you learn? 10/2/20152

3. Who are You? Do some soul searching. The more you know about yourself, the easier it will be to make career choices. Consider the following: interests, skills values, lifestyle, and personality type – Skills & Traits (p. 7 chart)…will be needed for first assignment. – Skills – activities that you do well – What skills and traits do you have? Values – principles you live by & beliefs that are important to you…values change as you get older. Most people have a basic set of values that they follow throughout their life. – Examples: – Responsibility – Achievement – Relationships – Compassion – Courage – Recognition 10/2/20153

4.  Lifestyle – way you use your time, energy, & resources. ◦ What’s really important to you? ◦ Do you want to go for the big bucks? ◦ Do you want to live in a big city with endless activities or a small town where everyone knows your name? ◦ Do you want to collaborate with a group of people or to work solo? 10/2/20154

5.  Personality – set of unique qualities that makes us different from all other people.  Making career decisions ◦ Research the possibilities  Guidance counselors  Contacts (networking)  Library  Internet  Organizations 10/2/20155

6.  Map out a plan ◦ Make a list of careers researched and compare possibilities  Education  On-the-job training  Internships 10/2/20156

7.  Accounting isn’t just adding & subtracting ◦ Accountants handle a broad range of responsibilities make business decisions, and prepare and interpret financial reports. ◦ These are skills that successful businesses cannot do without 10/2/20157

8.  What Career Opportunities Exist in Accounting?  Where Accountants Work? ◦ For-profit businesses ◦ Not-for-profit organizations ◦ Public accounting firms 10/2/20158

9.  Operate to earn money for their owners (majority of U.S. firms are this way)  Accounting clerk – entry-level job that can vary from specializing in one part of the system to doing a wide range of tasks. 10/2/20159

10.  Operate for purposes other than making a profit  Most not-for-profit organizations have the goal of balancing their income with expenses rather than earning a profit for their owners or investors  Some “non-profits” get their income from donations 10/2/201510

11.  Provide clients a variety of accounting services including the independent audit ◦ Not done by company employees…CPA’s conduct the audit  An accountant who has met certain education and experience requirements and passed a national test. CPA’s are licensed by the states.  Audit – review of a company’s accounting systems and financial statements to confirm that they follow the generally accepted accounting principles 10/2/201511

12.  How would you as a member of the public use accounting information?  Public accounting firms have many job opportunities besides auditing… ◦ Financial planning, preparing tax returns, forensic accounting (take cases that involve issues like fraud or employee theft) 10/2/201512