Daily Archives: October 28, 2012

What New Accounting Grads Want from Your Firm

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Survey of college professors provides clues for successful recruiting.

Internships and social networks speak loudest when new college accounting graduates weigh their first jobs offers, according to a new Public Accounting Report survey obtained by CPA Trendlines.

The study ranks the relative importance of factors to students when choosing a job offer, including:

  • Access to latest technology
  • Compensation and benefits
  • Desirable location or geographic base
  • Long-term career opportunities
  • Technical reputation
  • The firm’s long-term business outlook
  • The firm’s quality of life in terms of an employee-friendly environment
  • Whether the offer is from a Big Four firm
  • Workplace diversity

And the survey reveals the companies and CPA firms soon-to-be graduates are hoping to join:

  • A company in private industry
  • Any Big Four firm
  • Any Top 25 firm
  • A local firm
  • BKD
  • Deloitte
  • E&Y
  • Grant Thornton
  • KPMG
  • PwC

The survey also shows how many undergrads have actually worked in a public accounting firm before graduation, and the top 10 corporations would recommend as employers. But the most closely followed part of the survey are the rankings  of the top 25 undergraduate accounting programs.

The responses are tabulated in the following charts with analysis by the survey’s author:

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The Accountants’ First Look at Microsoft Surface

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introducing the Surface tablet

And the plethora of new tablets. 

by Randy Johnston 
Network Management Group 

Randy Johnston

Microsoft Surface has shipped, and I was one of the lucky people to get one of the very first units. We are going to see many new tablets released this fall including the iPad Mini, which I have on order ($634.99), as well as the new iPad4 and replacements for the Google nexus7 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 that I own, like and use. The tablet operating systems, usability and applications improve daily. I am the most productive on a tablet with a keyboard, but that may not be true for you. My skin type requires touching a screen multiple times for the touch to be recognized. For example, it is normal right now that I have to touch my iPhone 5 2-5 times for each character I type. This past Friday, I counted 17 touches to type a single letter. Interestingly, though, is that the Microsoft Surface has not required me to touch the screen multiple times. I’m not sure if there is a technology difference that makes this touch actually work, or if it is something else, but it is fun to have a correctly working touch Surface!

It is helpful for you to know that I have used every Apple iPad and every Apple iPhone since release. I “get” how Apple’s technology is supposed to work.

For business purposes, the Microsoft Surface may be a better product.
But should you wait?

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