The authors examine the issue of employability of university accounting students from the perspectives of accounting firm employers, junior auditors, accounting lecturers, and accounting students. Areas of investigation include perceived importance of employability skills and desirable personal qualities; and early employment problems encountered…

Recently, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) has focused its attention on mandating specific ethics coursework within the 150-hr requirement for eligibility to sit for the uniform CPA examination. This push for ethics education heightened attention toward ethics in the accounting curriculum and is the basis for the…

Ratings by two panels of southeastern U.S. business executives revealed the following: (1) communication ability was most important for business graduates; (2) practical knowledge was valued more than theory; (3) personal qualities were more valued than computer/math skills; and (4) total quality management was important, but globalization and…

Responses from 181 accountants and 74 human resources professionals (14.2% response rate) identified areas in which they feel entry-level accountants are deficient: verification of computations by hand and the level of job and internship experience, especially with computers. (SK)

Responses from 51 of 240 regional sales managers identified skills and characteristics important for sales personnel. However, few used formal tests or instruments to assess those skills in potential employees. (SK)

A survey of 264 business schools found the top criteria for recruiting entry-level accounting faculty were teaching skills and experience. Doctoral programs emphasize research potential. Interpersonal and communication skills were extremely important. (SK)

Fortune 500 executives (n=71) rated the importance of entry-level accounting skills now, 5 years earlier, and 5 years into the future. They suggested that the importance of accounting knowledge will decrease and the importance of computer, communication, and group skills will increase. (SK)

Nonpublic (n=820) and public (n=200) accountants rated 112 knowledge and skill areas required of entry workers. Some differences in the importance of these requirements for nonpublic and public accountants have implications for accounting curriculum design. (SK)

A questionnaire to which 339 of 1,000 executives responded yielded ratings of interrelationships among personnel, areas of knowledge and skills, and principal organizational activities within the information industry. Results identified how personnel managers perceive specific areas of skills and knowledge for entry level positions in the…

Discusses the adequacy of preparation provided by business schools in relation to four areas: (1) the mismatch between job expectation and experiences; (2) the educational shortfall between employers' expectations and reality; (3) the role of business schools in contributing to the discrepancies in (1) and (2); and (4) possible solutions. (JOW)

According to responses from 509 of 2,000 accounting employers, educational background is the most important new worker quality, training potential a close second. Industry respondents ranked background and work experience highest; public employers placed the highest premium on training potential. (SK)

Two groups were surveyed: 127 business students, 49 executives, and 28 faculty in the United States and 177 students, 31 executives, and 76 faculty in New Zealand. Both groups of students valued opportunities for advancement, challenge, and responsibility in their first job. New Zealand professors agreed with their students, U.S. faculty did not.…

Reasons for a lack of management accounting topics in business education include the following: (1) already full curriculum; (2) shortage of qualified teachers (Certified Public Accounting faculty outnumber Certified Management Accounting faculty 7:1); and (3) students prefer public accounting. (SK)

In this study, the authors provide some details about a variety of entry-level skills that are vitally important to systems analysts. They gathered the data from information technology practitioners, who related their experiences with real-world systems development projects. Such empirical evidence may be useful to faculty as they decide which…

In this article, the author surveyed senior level management majors, management professors, and campus recruiters to investigate the criteria used by the students in selecting desirable positions for employment and the accuracy of management professors' and corporate recruiters' perceptions of those criteria. The author identified the criteria and…