Welcome to the Accounting Department, Where Everybody Counts

Deciding on a career is a challenging task. It is difficult to find a career that people will
want to continue working in thirty years from now. Choosing a profession at the age of eighteen
is even harder. What if their interests change? What if a career sounds fun and enjoyable now,
but is torture to go to in ten years? Once someone picks their desired career, they need to think
about which college will prepare them the best for that occupation and which cities are looking
for new employees certified in this field. There is so much more research to do after deciding on
a career that interests someone. When deciding on a career, people must look into their personal
profile, professional profile, and college profile to find the best career and college for their
desired profession.
Personal Profile: An ISFJ Accountant
When I took the personality, value, skill, and interest tests through My Plan, it told me
that my personality type is ISFJ, which means I am an introvert, a sensor, a feeler, and a judger. I
was not surprised when I got introvert because I am usually reserved and shy. I do not open up
quickly to someone I just have just met. I am usually more realistic than idealistic, I like when
there is one answer to a problem, and I am usually grounded. These are all traits of being a
sensor. When I got feeler instead of thinker, I knew it was accurate. I am constantly putting other
peoples feelings before mine, I try not to hurt anyones feelings, and I usually see both sides to
any argument. Judgers like when things are planned out, organized, and controlled. I can be
controlling at times, mostly when it is necessary. I am a very organized person, and I hate it when
things are planned at the last minute. I also do not like change. I like things better when they stay
the same as time passes. My personality type did not come as a shock to me. Each of those parts
is basically me in a nutshell.
The skill test has a summary overlook that tells me what my highest skill traits are in
each section. My basic skills include writing, mathematics, and reading comprehension. Writing
and math are the two subjects in which I excel. I passed my math class last year with flying
colors, and I had the opportunity to write a sixty page novella in a creative writing class. Both
accomplishments have made me want to pursue a career in either (or both). My highest social
skills are negotiation, coordination, and social perceptiveness. I am good at evaluating systems
and judgements along with decision making in the solving skills area. I scored the highest on
installation, operations monitoring, and equipment selection in the technical skills test. This
surprised me. I am not one to install machines and equipment. I think that one might be a bit off.
My resource management skills are time management and management of personnel
resources. My time management skills are inconsistent. I am easily distracted, and it can be hard
to focus for an extended period of time. However, I always get my work done, and I get a good
grade on each assignment. I am learning about time management a lot this year. I really need to
stop procrastinating and just get my homework done. My skill interests are conventional and
social. This is the order of my career values from most important to least: Achievement, Support,
Relationships, Recognition, Working Conditions, and Independence. I value achievement a lot,
but this part of the test was a bit off. I would also like to work independently in the career I
choose. I like to work at my own pace and make deadlines on my own. I do not mind working in
groups, I just think I am better at working by myself.

Each test had a section where the results proposed a list of careers that suited my
answers. In the personality section, the test recommended the careers of an Orthotist and
Prosthetist, a Librarian, or a Physician Assistant based on being an ISFJ. I would love to be a
librarian, but I am afraid that by the time I graduate college most libraries will not be looking for
new employees. My interests suggested the careers of Graduate Teaching Assistants, Clergy, or
Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors. I do not want to be a teacher because I do not
have the patience to teach, and I cannot see myself spending hours a night grading papers and
getting frustrated. Based on my skills, the careers of Audiologist, Dentist, or Surgeon were
advised. My value level showed me that education is critical based on my recommended career
options of Education Administrator, Elementary and Secondary School teacher, Orthotists and
Prosthetists, or Occupational Therapist.
Despite all of the careers these tests recommended, I would like to be an accountant. I
really like math and numbers, and accounting would allow me to work with numbers daily. I like
figuring out math equations and the feeling of accomplishment after I finish a tricky problem. I
would not be interested in working in education because it is a very competitive profession, and
it would be hard to get a position. Last year in my math class, I had the highest grade throughout
the entire year. I scored high on all of my tests and got full credit on every assignment. I finally
understood math and decided then that I wanted to go into a career that deals with math. When a
speaker came into one of my classes, he talked about his career as a tax accountant. He spent the
entire period explaining and presenting his expertise in the taxes field. It was very interesting. In
addition, when I went to Cleveland State University for a college visit, I got to oversee a class. I
chose a tax class that was for junior and senior college students. Despite the higher-level class
information, I was able to follow the professors lecture. I really enjoyed learning about taxes, so
I think accounting should be the field I look into for a full career.
There are a bunch of political leaders with the same personality type as me, including,
Mitt Romney, Jimmy Carter, Mother Teresa, and Robert E. Lee. Some famous people with the
same personality type as me are Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Kate Middleton. Kate
Middleton said that when she met William, she turned very red and was very shy (Famous
ISFJs). Introverts are usually reserved and shy, and I am no exception. Kate hopes that she can
make a difference and help out as much as she can (Famous ISFJs). This shows that Kate is a
feeler. I want to make a difference and help as much as I can, as well. Some of Kates peers
thought she was too sensible and serious (Famous ISFJs). I can usually be too serious or too
goofy, there really is no in-between for me.
Profession Profile
In order to be an accountant, a college or technical degree is required. Most companies
suggest that anyone who wants to become an accountant should at least have a Bachelors
Degree in accounting, finance, or business (Tax Accountant Job). An accountant looks over
financial records, calculates taxes that are owed, files tax returns, make sure taxes are paid on
time, manages bank accounts, bookkeeper/auditor, and suggests other ways of doing something
or improving profits (A Day In). Accountants need to be detailed oriented and know how to
communicate with other people (Tax Accountant Job). Other skills that are required in order to
be an accountant include: active listening, excellence in mathematics, reading comprehension,

writing, and speaking (A Day In). They need to be able to have oral comprehension, written
comprehension, mathematical reasoning, number facility, and deductive reasoning (Tax
Accountant Job). Additional required skills include analytical skills, communication skills, detail
orientation, and organization (A Day In). I like to believe I am an active listener. I always seem
to listen more than talk. I am great at math and writing. However, I would need to work on my
communication and speaking skills. I am shy and get nervous easily, so I would need to work on
my self-confidence. I am very detail oriented and organized. I like everything to be in its place at
all times.
A few benefits of being an accountant are that people can utilize their math,
organizational, communication, comprehension, and analytical skills. Organization is super
important when dealing with financial records and businesss fiscal plans. It would be
unprofessional if someone brought the wrong paperwork to an accountant/client meeting. It
would give the accounting firm a bad reputation and reflect poorly on the employee. A
disadvantage of being an accountant would be during the time when tax reports need to be sent
in, accountants can spend up to eighty hours a week working on recording that information. That
would mean many long nights and hours of work that might have to be taken home in order to be
finished on time. Another downside is that it could get frustrating when the numbers do not add
up and having to start over and redo the work. When someone spends a couple days working on
a specific task regarding the spendings of a corporation, it would be discouraging to start over. It
could also be difficult to make presentations in front of colleagues and the board, especially if the
audience is all strangers. It might make them nervous and rush through their presentation. That
could lead to leaving important information out and leaving people confused.
Accountants can work up to forty-five hours a week (Accountants and Auditors). During
the busier times during the year, such as when taxes are due, between fifty-five and eighty hours
a week are common (Accountants and Auditors). A beginning accountant can expect to be paid
around $40,000 a year (Bramwell). The minimum starting salary is $38,940 and the maximum is
over $106,880 (Accountants and Auditors). The average wage of an accountant, however, is
between $63,550 and as much as $71,000 (Bramwell). The salary increases based on ability,
promotions, and education. The higher the education someone has, the more their annual salary
will be (Accountants and Auditors). The extent of someones work ethic and ability will also
contribute to how much their salary is each year (Accountants and Auditors). An Associates
Degree will result in having an annual salary of approximately $30,000 (Accountants and
Auditors). A Bachelors Degree will bring in a paycheck of $48,000 a year (Bramwell). Someone
with a Masters Degree in accounting could expect to make $50,000 a year (Bramwell).
In my opinion, an accountant is someone who records the spending and income of a
business. They monitor their spendings so they do not go over their quota and make sure they are
not overspending on little things. They also calculate the income businesses make and how that
evens out the spending. They can also help people fill out their tax forms and send them in for
them. If someone is interested in being an accountant, they should take any math class that is
offered at their high school. They should push themselves to go above and beyond. If there is a
Probability and Statistics class, it would be smart to take that if someone wanted to become an
accountant. Any post-secondary education will help in the long run. Students can get some

prerequisites out of the way and then solely focus on their college courses. It is a fantastic idea to
take advantage of post-secondary learning because students get college credit for taking the
classes and it allows students to get a feel for how college will be when they get there.
Kent State has a four-year accounting program of required college core classes and
business-related classes. It is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business and requires 120 credit hours of work (Kent State University). Cleveland State also has
a 120 hour credit accounting program for students. Students can specialize in one of four areas
within the field of accounting by concentrating their electives in: Public Accounting,
Governmental or Institutional Accounting, Management Accounting, or Internal Auditing or
Information System Auditing (Cleveland State University). Bowling Green State University has
a special accounting program that is strictly accounting, statistics, and business classes
throughout 122 course hours (Bowling Green State University). Some companies that employ
accountants are Macys, Cleveland Clinic, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital, University Hospitals,
insurance companies, American Greetings, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, selective colleges
(Ohio University and Ohio State University), and many others (Top 100 Companies). I think
working for a big corporation like Macys or University Hospitals or even the Columbus Zoo
would be where I would want to work. I think it would be fun to see how much each of these
businesses spend each year on their necessary products. It would be interesting to be the one
recording the spendings of each business and deciding what they could do to lower their
spending.
College Profile
Kent State University
One of the colleges I researched was Kent State University. Kent State was founded on
September 27, 1910 by John Edward McGilvrey (Kent State University). The college was
originally named the Kent State Normal School. The very first classes did not take place on
campus when it was opened because the school was not fully developed and built. Students had
to go off campus in order to be considered a student of Kent State (Kent State University). Kent's
address is 800 E. Summit Street, Kent, OH, 44240. Their phone number is 330-672-3000 and
their website is http://www.kent.edu/. Kent State is a public university. It has no religious
affiliation. The college is co-ed. Kent State has many locations throughout Ohio, including:
Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Salem, Kent, Geauga, Stark, Trumbull, and Tuscarawas (Kent State
University). Their undergraduate and graduate student number reaches 27,500. There are 6,200
students living on campus (Kent State University).
Kent has many different facilities for their major programs: College of Applied
Engineering, Sustainability, and Technology, College of Architecture and Environmental Design,
College of the Arts, College of Art and Science, College of Business Administration, College of
Communication and Information, College of Education, Health, and Human Services, College of
Nursing, College of Podiatric Medicine, College of Public Health, and the Honors College (Kent
State University). An accounting major is available at Kent. It is offered as a Bachelors Degree,
Graduate Degree, or as a Minor.
The tuition for an Ohio resident to go to Kent State is $20,346, This includes room and
board, a meal plan, books, a twelve to eighteen credit hour semester, and miscellaneous fees

(Kent State University). A nonresident would expect to pay $28,546 for all of those necessities
(Kent State University). The application requirements are a 3.34 GPA, an SAT score of 1050
(math and reading), and an ACT score of 23. The admissions requirements are a submitted online
application, the paid registration fee of $45, a high school transcript, a cumulative GPA, an ACT
and/or SAT score, completion of the required high school preparatory curriculum, and noticeable
grade trends (Kent State University). January 15 is the deadline to submit the application in order
to be considered for scholarships. February 15 is the deadline to submit the FAFSA to a federal
processor. March 1 is the deadline to submit a freshman application for the upcoming fall
semester. Scholarship deadlines range from October 31 until January 15 (Kent State University).
Some types of financial aid include: scholarships, grants, loans, and federal work study.
Scholarships can be based on academics, talent, financial needs, and field of study. There are
over 700 scholarships offered by Kent State University departments (Kent State University).
Some scholarships are only available to a student taking a specific program or major (Kent State
University). The requirements for scholarships are filling out the application, sending ACT/SAT
scores, and paying the application fee. Some scholarships require an essay or a short response.
Kent State has many restaurants and diners, shopping malls, live music concerts,
churches, health and beauty salons, museums, lodging, and other activities to do on a rainy day
throughout the city. Apartment buildings, laundromats, gas stations and car shops, libraries, post
offices, and police stations are all in close range to the campus (Kent State University). There are
local gyms, movie theaters, bowling alleys, stage theaters, and festivals. There are even late night
movie showings on campus. Kent has plenty of fraternities and sororities to join, a campus
magazine, and a newspaper (Kent State University). There is plenty to do at Kent State
University, in and outside of class.
Cleveland State University
The second college I researched was Cleveland State University. Cleveland State was
founded by G. Brooks Earnest on December 18, 1964 (Cleveland State University). CSU has
more than 120,000 graduates and 17,350 currently enrolled students. The student faculty ratio is
18:1 (Cleveland State University). Cleveland State used to be called Fenn College back in 1923,
but the name was changed in 1964 (Cleveland State University). Cleveland State's address is
2121, Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44115-2214. Their phone number is (216) 687-200 and
their website is http://www.csuohio.edu/. Cleveland State is a co-ed public college. There are
some organizations dealing with religion, but the college is not religion oriented. Cleveland State
has eight separate buildings for different major programs, consisting of: Monte Ahuja College of
Business, College of Education and Human Services,Washkewicz College of Engineering,
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, School of Nursing, College of Sciences and Health
Professions, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, and Cleveland-Marshall College
of Law (Cleveland State University). An accounting major is offered at Cleveland State. It is
offered as a Bachelor Degree, Graduate Degree, or Minor.
An Ohio resident would pay around $19,878 (without commuting) for books, room and
board, the college courses themselves, and other fees. A nonresident of Ohio would pay around
$21,499.20 (without commuting) for the same college essentials (Cleveland State University).
The application requirements are a completed application, whether it be online or paper, an

official High School transcript, a postsecondary course transcript (only if it applies), the $30
application fee, and the official ACT/SAT scores (Cleveland State University). The requirements
for admission are a 2.3 GPA, an ACT score of 16, an SAT score of 770, only including math and
reading, and the completed Ohio Core Curriculum requirements (Cleveland State University).
The deadline to apply for the Honors College is January 15. In order to be considered for
Freshman Scholarships, students have to apply by March 1. Fall Acceptance ends May 1 and
spring acceptance ends November 1 (Cleveland State University). Some scholarships that are
only offered to incoming freshmen are the Presidents Award, the Provosts Award, The Plain
Dealer Charities Scholarship, the Moses Cleaveland Scholarships, the Academic Department
Scholarships, and the Freshman Scholar Level 1 and 2 (Cleveland State University). Each of
these scholarships require a different minimum ACT or SAT score that starts at twenty-three and
goes up to thirty, a cumulative GPA higher than a 3.0, and students must be a United States
citizen or born outside of the United States depending on the scholarship.
CSU offers many opportunities through campus life. They have movie nights every week,
haunted house ticket giveaways, bowling trips, Skyzone trips, fashion shows, sock hops,
festivals, and many more activities (Cleveland State University). They have over 200 different
clubs and organizations students can join. Some include LGBTQ services that help make those
students feel more comfortable by showing support, multi-faith communities, sororities and
fraternities, and services projects (Cleveland State University). In addition, CSU has sixteen
varsity sports teams. There are plenty of places to go off-campus. Cleveland State is right in the
middle of a city! There are shops and diners everywhere. Tower City, Progressive Field, the Q,
and University Circle are popular sites for students. There are local grocery options for students
such as Heinens and the West Side Market. Cleveland State is surrounded by city life. College
students are never bored outside of class because there is always something going on!
When deciding on a career, people must look into their personal profile, professional
profile, and college profile to find the best career and college for their desired profession. My
personality type is ISFJ, and I agree with it for the most part. When I get to college next fall, I
will be studying accounting. Accounting interests me because I love math, organizing, and small
details. I hope to be studying at Kent, but there are other universities that also offer stellar
accounting programs. Kent has been the school of my dreams since fourth grade and my number
one choice for college.