Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Accounting

Degree Awarded: B.Computer Science (Adelaide Uni) & B.Accounting (Flinders)
Position Gained: Graduate Accountant in a medium sized Accounting Firm
Commencement Date: 10/7/2006

Could you give us a description of what your position will involve?

I work for a medium sized accounting firm in Adelaide that deals with a broad range of clients. I will be dealing with tax and accounting for various businesses and individuals and also financial planning.

With your experiences in securing employment what advice would you give to students who are in their first, second, and final year of study?

Keep busy. You don't realise how you learn from doing simple things such as playing sports, joining committees or anything that involves meeting new people and building relationships. These are the core abilities that employers admire, and your extra-curricular activities will give off an impression that you are proactive. 

Seize on any work opportunities given too you, work experience is a good way to get a feel for the career path that you choose to follow, no matter how brief the experience can be, you can always sell it on your resume and interview. 

How did you go about finding graduate employment?

Looked for job ads from various resources, internet is fantastic (eg Seek) and the university GRADJOBS mailing list was very helpful for when times were busy.

I produced a resume from the ground up which basically listed the core essentials (eg education, work exp.), with descriptions that had emphasis on the skills desired by the employers. Key skills that employers always seemed to be after were building working relationships, teamwork, working independently and communicating effectively with others.   It's good to have these skills noted on your resume, however you must have the evidence, whether it be from work experience or education experiences, to back it up.   This is the same for the cover letter, it must be relevant to the skills required from the employer and have past work or education experiences to apply to them.   If you are successful in demonstrating an understanding of the skills desired by employers you will have a good chance in securing that interview

I would have a template for my resume and 1 page cover letter and apply for nearly all positions available and relevant to my career. I would try to have applications out there all the time so I was always getting correspondence and could perfect my resume and cover letter accordingly.

Can you briefly describe the application process relevant to your position? What interview questions were you asked?

I secured an interview with an application that involved a cover letter, resume and academic transcript.

My first interview was a 20-minute interview with the directors of the firm.   My first question and one that has always stuck in my brain was, "So, are you a people person?". ... They asked me questions about my previous employment, what I did and so forth, but one key question was "why do you want to work in a accounting practice?". I just told them what it was about accounting practices that I found interesting.

I was able to score a second interview a couple of weeks later which was with 2 managers and they basically asked the same questions and tried to get to know me and my personality. The next day I got a phone call and was told that I got the job.

In your opinion, what factors enabled you to be successful in obtaining employment?

Interview experience and chemistry. Unless you are brilliant, you won't get the first job that you go for. Being in interview after interview will find you warming to the experience and the nerves will disappear and you'll start being yourself, which is what the employers want to see in interviews.   Your resume and cover letter should already demonstrate what you're capable of, it's the personality that they want to see in interviews, so show them. As far as demonstrating my attitudes and the choice of my career, I would speak honestly and remain positive in everything I revealed in my experiences. And finally, chemistry was important. You have to click with your potential employer regardless of how good you are, if you are to get the job. Ice breakers are fantastic in interviews and any non-job specific conversation that can be achieved with employers is a great way to show off your personality, but don't over do it of course. Also, asking questions about the firm is also a good way to demonstrate your interest.

Do you have any further helpful hints for graduates?

Keep on trying, any experience in life is good experience. I had heaps of interviews before I got the job and it ended up being the best job opportunity for me. I come from an angle in which I was very poor at interviews. The key is to roll with the punches, there will be lots of awkward moments, but after time you'll learn how to deal with them, and you'll be the confident one in interviews. Some interviews are not meant to be and there are some very bad interviewers out there so don't get down on yourself if you think you didn't sell yourself enough.

If you get stuck after you graduate, consider your options, do extra study, try and get lower level employment in your career, there's heaps that you can do and never forget that your degree is worth a lot, and I don't mean financially.