Accountant
(Female, Age 47) from Clawson, MI
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 47 who works as a Accountant in Clawson, MI. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Accountant |
|---|---|
| Salary | $44,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 36.25 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | Clawson, MI |
| Years Experience | 22 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
Non-Profit Legal Services provided as a benefit to UAW members
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Prepare journal entries, prepare financial statements, prepare tax returns, prepare budgets
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
3 weeks vacation, 10 sick days, employer funded 401k plan, Fully paid health, dental and vision insurance
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
well compensated
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes, I work with others. I enjoy this because I always have someone I can go to for help.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 2
Hours: 5
Co-Workers: 3
Supervisors: 4
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 6
The Actual Work: 7
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
| 5am to 6am | |
| 6am to 7am | |
| 7am to 8am | Get up, shower and dress for work. |
| 8am to 9am | Drive to work. Start at 8:45 am. First 15 minutes is spent getting coffee, putting my lunch in the fridge and checking email. |
| 9am to 10am | Check my schedule for the day. Develop a plan to complete all goals for the day. Prepare Bank Reconcilitions for several of my plans. This is basically the same as an individual bank reconciliation. |
| 10am to 11am | Prepare journal entries. I prepare entries to record information from the bank statement such as service charges. These must be input into the accounting system so that the general ledger balance agree to the bank reconciliation. |
| 11am to 12pm | Filing. I take the bank statements, bank reconciliations and journal entries and put them away in book or file. |
| 12pm to 1pm | Work with another Accountant to determine why our miscellaneous expenses have decreased since last year at this time. This involves running reports and analyzing the data. We also discuss the information to find possible reasons. |
| 1pm to 2pm | Lunch – personal time |
| 2pm to 3pm | Finish financial statements for the third quarter and forward to my Manager for review. Continue to analyze third quarter statements. I must give an explanation for each line item if it varies more than 5% from last year. |
| 3pm to 4pm | Continue to analyze statements. I spend most of my time researching an increase in expenses for Postage. I run reports and pull voucher packages to determine what caused the expense to increase. |
| 4pm to 5pm | Finish up my Commentary for the third quarter financial statements. Give this to our secretary to update file and print out. I check the print out and correct any mistakes. Then I forward a copy to my manager. Clean up desk and office area and get ready to leave for the day. |
| 5pm to 6pm | Leave work. Drive home. |
| 6pm to 7pm | Personal Time |
| 7pm to 8pm | Personal Time |
| 8pm to 9pm | Personal Time |
| 9pm to 10pm | Personal Time |
| 10pm to 11pm | Personal Time |
| 11pm to 12am | Personal Time |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
Newspaper ad
What was the application process?
Submitted resume then interview
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes, I had to interview. I interviewed with the person who would be my manager as well as the head of the department (Controller) at one interview.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I really don’t remember since it was 22.5 years ago.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, I was given training on all aspects of my job
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Mostly learning to use the computer software.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes. I couldn’t do my job without my accounting degree.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
They would first need a Bachelor’s degree. Then just apply.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
need to be able to work with little supervision. Needs to be able to meet deadlines.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Get advanced degree, or take CPA exam
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes, because I wanted to be an Accountant and I am.
What are your current career goals?
I will probably stay in this job until I retire.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
I enjoy being an Accountant – it fits with my personality, likes and dislikes. It is not for everyone. If you don’t like this type of work, this is not a field to get into.
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Payroll Clerk | 2 years | 14000 | Process payroll for about 500 employees, as well as all reports |
| Prior Job 2 | Legal Secretary | 4 years | 13000 | Answer phones, greet clients, type various reports (pleadings, etc.) |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:3.73
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
2.75 | Walsh College | Bachelor’s of Accountancy |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
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