Is there anything else we should be asking about finding success in today’s profession?
• What one character trait do you feel makes you best suited for a career as a CPA?
• What is your priority (purpose) – money or ethical work product?
• How do you know whether you will be happier in public or private accounting? What are the pros and cons of each career path, and what amount of earnings can be realistically expected from each?
• How important is money in your happiness radar?
• What are the unexpected paths that your CPA license may lead you? For instance, I never expected to be working as an educational administrator, but I love it.
• Are partners in large firms willing to sacrifice income to help facilitate a better work / life balance?
• Why they truly wanted to get into accounting
• Where are all the 6 – 9 year associates who worked in public accounting? Where have they gone and why?
• How do you choose what aspect is right for you?
• Are we making a difference?
• How do you define success? Or Describe a successful CPA.
• What is the definition of success? A high paycheck? A decent paycheck, but with personal and family time? Is it doing what you like?
• How does our individual work create benefits to the global community?
• Where are you willing to look for success? Every shining star – breaks the mold.
• Why are all these different things called accounting?
• What role technology plays in the profession.
• Here’s a good question – how do you keep the intense commitmentment and focus required for success without robbing the other areas of your life?
• Good career planning and anwering some diffcult questions early on can save someone from
• How can national and state societies promote more frequent participation in their organizations instead of merely adding to the membership rolls? These organizations can promote the success of the profession and as a by-product the professional.
• Do my goals match the goals of my employer temporarily or permanently. Always ask if your situation is a good fit. If it is not get out of it and find one that is a good fit.
• How much time and should a CPA take to work on his own development as a business person, leader and possible employer and what kinds of activity should he be doing to achieve this.
• I would be interested in the difference of starting salaries and need between accountants without their CPA and accountants with their CPA.
• You should be asking, “Why the profession has not changed in so long? Why is it that the gate keepers to the plumb jobs in the profession are not required to be less discriminatory in their hiring practices and why is it that they are given so much power in the first place?”
• “What skills are the Universities not teaching our accouting graduates”? “What traits differentiate success in public accounting versus the private industry?”
• Whether the respondent believes that integrity and honesty are more important than any other personal attributes.
• anecdotes about how others got started would be helpful
• Do you like to deal with others in your work or work alone? Do you like to perform detailed work or look at things from an overview perspective?
• What do you need to know besides the technical skills. I see people fail because they lack other necessary business skills
• How many people have had a true mentor in their career; how long did it last; when in your career did it occur; and what did you get out of it?
