The green map shows the percentage of companies that are hiring
by region. In the light green box the numbers show the percentage
of the three most interested employers for accounting majors that
are hiring.
Dalton Runberg / The Collegian
Accountancy majors at the Craig School of Business may find they have broad work options upon graduation, but it could mean they’ll need to relocate.
Those who don’t choose to go into the public accounting side of accountancy may need to receive database and software training in order to get that first job.
In the United States, there are four public accounting firms: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte touché Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG. The Big Four recruit Fresno State students for summer work in the Bay Area between their junior and senior year, however students have to be willing to move.
“Ninety-five percent of those students who do a summer internship get a job offer after graduation from the Big Four,” said Debbie Young, director of internships and student experience at the Craig school.
But job prospects for accounting majors in the Valley are more difficult.
“It depends on how hard the student is willing to work to get hired,” Young said. “It takes six to eight months to get hired in this market for a graduate.”
Young believes that a graduate who wants to relocate to the Bay Area or Southern California could find an entry-level position relatively easily.
“Locally, the job prospects are picking up, but they are looking for that high-quality 3.2 GPA or better,” said Dr. Garo Kalfayan, faculty chair of accountancy.
Amy Lau, a senior in accounting who is currently doing an internship as a bookkeeper, hopes Kalfayan is right. Lau is a returning student with over seven years work experience as an office manager.
“I have to stay in the Valley because I have kids here, but if that were not the situation I would branch out,” said Lau, who feels there is a lack of corporate jobs in the Valley.
“There are few positions locally at Deliotte and many accounting students, so the competition is tough,” Lau said. “However, you can do government accounting and local businesses.”
Another senior, Richard Kramer, is looking for accounting placement locally as well as in the Bay Area after he graduates next fall.
“By the time I graduate I’m hoping that I’ll have some kind of offer,” Kramer said. “There are a lot of opportunities that the school helps us with. I need to get the most out of my education so I’m using all the resources that are available to me.”
But for recent graduate Kethey Moua, employment prospects are difficult.
“Now that I’ve graduated this past December, and I’m not going down the public accounting path, it’s a lot harder to get a job because a lot of companies want someone with experience already,” Moua said. “I did focus on the Valley in my last semester in school, but I could never find anything that I wanted so now I’m in the Bay Area.”
Moua has had some previous accounting experience in Fresno, so she initially thought it would not be hard to find work. But she found that a lot of companies want skill and experience in accounting and database software, particularly Oracle and QuickBooks, which are not taught at Fresno State.
Demand for accountants in the West is down right now, as Moua has discovered.
“If you don’t have that and you’re just as strong as the next candidate, they’re going to go with the one that has that experience,” Moua said. “I just went out last week and they chose the one with Oracle experience over me.”
The accounting curriculum at Fresno State does offer a course in Peachtree, which is similar to QuickBooks, but there are still hurdles for the recent graduate.
Recent studies reveal that accounting is not one of the top five sought-after majors by employers in the west. Currently there is more call for accounting graduates in the midwest and the east. Demand in Fresno and the Central Valley is dependent on the overall recovery of local businesses in the area.
But Kalfayan encourages students in the accounting major and recent graduates to be flexible.
“The degree is portable beyond accounting because there are many other financial jobs and many of them want accounting units or degrees,” Kalfayan said. “Graduates can cross over to finance-oriented jobs.”
This is the first article in a series that will cover the current job market across majors offered at Fresno State.
