Class Wrap-up Paper

1. Before this class began, the concentration I had in mind was accounting. I chose accounting based on the exposure I had in high school. I was drawn to accounting initially; math is one of my stronger subjects. Once enrolled in the course, I realized this course is less about math and more about thinking logically. Instead of memorizing formulas and theorems, I spent most of my time managing and distributing money between company accounts. After several accounting classes I decided to look into it once in college.
2. I have decided to not change my initial concentration. The combination of the information presented by guest speakers, along with the career exploration assignment, has helped secure accounting as my concentration.
3. I am nearly positive that accounting is my primary concentration. However, I elect a second concentration in Computer Information Systems. The CIS guest speaker did a very good job in convincing me CIS would open many doors. Given the continued abundance of computers in the workplace, companies will still need developers and IT professionals. My academic advisor informed me that it would take me an extra semester to graduate. In the grand scheme of things, this seems like a very wise investment. If I can maintain a solid GPA, I am much more marketable for jobs in the future. The only other question I would have about double concentrating would be the benefits of working for a company that utilizes both degrees.
4. The guest speakers were very helpful in terms of choosing a concentration. The two most beneficial were the accounting and CIS speakers. The accounting speaker gave good perspective on the normal routine of a controller. All the tasks he mentioned I wouldn’t mind doing, and some of them I would consider fun. He also gave a feeling for the time it would take me to move up the ranks of the company, and the benefits at each position. Finally, he informed me on the types of qualities recruiters look for in their applicants. The speaker convinced me that CIS may be another option. With the added information regarding benefits and job opportunities in the CIS field, I found a new interest.
5. Over the course of high school, I always thought I would choose business as a major. My interest in money was the initial thing that drew me to business. Considering money runs our world, I want to be directly involved with it. I am very pleased with choosing business as my major. I am confident that the material I will, and have already learned will be of broad use in the real world.
6. I would feel comfortable with meeting with a career advisor in the College of Business, because I already know just enough to be able to understand the help that they offer. I have always felt that with more information you can more easily succeed in a subject. By meeting with an advisor, I could gather information about what prospective employers are looking for and thus be more prepared for interviews.
7. Out of all of the information I received in this class the project most helpful was the career exploration assignment. By researching the different types of companies looking for accounting majors, I was able to see which companies I should investigate as possible employers. By looking at the possible salaries for these companies, I was able to see how much money I would be making while working for each of those companies. In terms of where I would be living, I was able to better narrow down possible residencies.

Business Publication #3 Business Week

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9B5QH480.htm

This article summarizes Burger King’s plan to overhaul the image of their company from a drive-thru to a sit down style restaurant. How Burger King intends to do this is what I found interesting. Plans to redo the interiors and exteriors of all 12,000 restaurants worldwide are extensive. The exteriors will feature new signs, many saying "Home of the Whopper", but the interior holds the real changes. All of the tables and chairs are replaced with more elegant style furniture and furthermore, LCD televisions are used as menus. The estimated cost for this plan is $300,000 to $600,000 per restaurant. Needless to say, this is quite a big risk of the corporation. So far, sales have increased in test cased restaurants, however many franchise owners are still skeptical. Those opposed to this feel the culture of Burger King has already been established and it would take more than renovations for people to consider Burger King anything more than a fast food restaurant.

Business Publication #3 The Economist

http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14563636

This article summarizes the ever growing popularity of smart phones throughout the world. Even with a weak economy, the market for smart phones has risen. However, the main focus is to inform the reader on companies creating preloaded smart phones, which I find interesting. The two main companies leading this development are Motorola and INQ. Instead of having popular applications, like Facebook or Twitter, available for download via online marketplace, the phones come preloaded with these applications. By anticipating customer usage, these companies are better able to serve their user base, including the ability to import contacts from the user’s social networks out of box. Economists say this innovation will be extremely popular as more people turn to smart phones for their business and personal lives.

City Exploration

Salt Lake City, Utah

Close Proximity to Family: Yes, it is not in the same state, but well within driving/flying distance. http://www.50states.com/us.htm

Mountains: Yes, the mountains are located within driving distance from Salt Lake.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Gif/VolcanicPast/RegionMaps/map_usa_regions_rocky_mountains.gif

Weather: Yes, being geographically close to Denver the weather will be similar to Denver's. http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/utah/salt-lake-city.htm

Sports Teams: No, Utah has its own basketball team (Jazz) and will not broadcast Rams and Broncos games as frequently as Denver would. I can still buy the premium sports packages to watch my favorite teams, but I would not be able to attend every home game. http://www.50states.com/us.htm


Dream Companies: Some but not all are located in Salt Lake City.
KPMG: Yes, http://www.kpmg.com/global/whoweare/locations/Pages/default.aspx
Stifel Nicholas: No locations, http://www2.stifel.com/site/content.aspx?id=6
Gamestop: No locations, http://www.gamestopcorp.com/factsheet.aspx
Google: No locations, http://www.google.com/corporate/address.html
NFL: No locations, http://www.hoovers.com/nfl/--ID__40330,target__business_directory--/free-co-samples-index.xhtml

The cost of living index rates Denver at 104.88, which means it is above the average cost for cities in the United States.

Cost of Living: The cost of living index rates Salt Lake at, 97.87 which means the cost of living is below average for cities in the United States.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Close Proximity to Family: Yes, Denver is definitely within driving distance from Cheyenne. http://www.50states.com/us.htm

Mountains: Yes, Cheyenne is within driving to the mountains. http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Gif/VolcanicPast/RegionMaps/map_usa_regions_rocky_mountains.gif

Weather: The weather is not the exact same as Denver's, but it is located close enough to Denver that it will be similar. http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/wyoming/cheyenne.htm

Sports Teams: Wyoming does not have any professional sports teams, so they may broadcast Colorado sports more frequently. Even so, it is not realistic that I would be able to drive to every Broncos home game from Cheyenne. http://www.50states.com/us.htm

Dream Companies:
KPMG: No locations, http://www.kpmg.com/global/whoweare/locations/Pages/default.aspx
Stifel Nicolaus No locations, http://www2.stifel.com/site/content.aspx?id=6
Gamestop: No locations, http://www.gamestopcorp.com/factsheet.aspx
Google: No locations, http://www.google.com/corporate/address.html
NFL: No locations, http://www.hoovers.com/nfl/--ID__40330,target__business_directory--/free-co-samples-index.xhtml
Cost of Living: The cost of living index states that Cheyenne is 86.50, which means it is below the national average for cost of living. http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Cheyenne-Wyoming.aspx#

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Close Proximity to Family: Yes, Santa Fe is within driving/flying distance of Denver. http://www.50states.com/us.htm

Mountains: Yes, Santa Fe is within driving distance of the mountains.http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Gif/VolcanicPast/RegionMaps/map_usa_regions_rocky_mountains.gif

Weather: Yes, the weather is comparable to Denver because of their geographical locations. http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/new-mexico/santa-fe.htm

Sports Teams: No, New Mexico does not have any professional sports teams, so they may air Colorado sport more frequently. This however does not change the fact that I would not be able to drive to every single Broncos home game. http://www.50states.com/us.htm
Dream Jobs:
KPMG: No locations, http://www.kpmg.com/global/whoweare/locations/Pages/default.aspx
Stifel Nicolaus: No locations, http://www2.stifel.com/site/content.aspx?id=6
Gamestop: No locations, http://www.gamestopcorp.com/factsheet.aspx
Google: No locations, http://www.google.com/corporate/address.html
NFL: No locations, http://www.hoovers.com/nfl/--ID__40330,target__business_directory--/free-co-samples-index.xhtml

Cost of Living: The cost of living index lists Santa Fe at 121.76. This means it is more expensive to live in New Mexico than most places in country. http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Santa_Fe-New_Mexico.aspx#

Internships

KPMG
KPMG Campus Internship
http://www.kpmgcampus.com/job/interning.shtml
The campus internship program offers students a chance to get a head start on what goes on at KPMG. The site mentions that employers look for more than just good grades, they look for applicants that have proven they can deal with the tasks presented at auditing firms. The internships also give students a chance to develop relationships with people currently working for KPMG. This opportunity will help students find a mentor they can go to if they are ever having in trouble in the workplace. The final part of this internship is, most of the applicants that do a good job end up getting hired by KPMG after graduation.
To apply students are encouraged to see their counselor before a career fair comes to campus.

NFL
NFL Summer Internal Auditing Internship Program
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80b0a833&template=with-video&confirm=true
This internships lets students apply the knowledge the have learned at school and apply to their love of sports. The internship covers many different categories, but the one I am interested in is the internal auditing position. This program gives students the opportunity to engage in mentoring relationships, guest speakers and develop connections throughout the industry.
To apply send a resume to the recruitment office of the NFL.

Ernst & Young
College Internship Program
http://www.ey.com/US/en/Careers/Students/Programs/Internships
Similar to KPMG Ernst & Young is one of the Big 4 accounting firms and offers semester or summer internships to students. This program gives students the opportunity grasp some of the concepts that they will doing every day once graduated. The team building skills networking and feedback from work are all major reasons why I would consider this internship.
To apply talk to your college recruiter to see when Ernst & Young are coming for summer internship interviews.

Possible Jobs

KPMG
External Auditor
http://www.us.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=30&l2id=0

Stifel Nicolaus
Internal Auditor I (click on the job title to go to job description)
https://www.hiretrue.com/hiretrue/showJobBoardPositions.do?jobBoardPK=17

Google
Financial Analyst, Mergers and Acquisitions
http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/answer.py?answer=159188

Gamestop
Director of Tax (click on the job title to go to job description)
http://careers.gamestop.com/Careers/Jobs/NonStores.aspx?dept=Corp

NFL- This corporation did not have a job requesting a degree in accounting, but I am going to do a double concentration in finance and this position lists a finance degree as one of its requirements.
Analyst
https://www.nfl.apply2jobs.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=73&CurrentPage=1

After reading all of the job descriptions, I have decided that accounting is definitely the right concentration for me. Every job listing I read with an accounting concentration is something that I would enjoy doing everyday. Ever since I was little, I have been interested in money. The idea that money is the core of our society has always made me interested in managing it and seeing how it gets distributed between companies. The company I am leaning towards now is KPMG. Aside from the auditing position, the experience I would obtain from this job would be unmatched for future jobs. Another reason I am strongly considering the Big 4 is the variety of accounts I would be working on. The Big 4 audit for so many different companies that I could get a feel for the type of company I would like to work for in the future. Aside from the auditing positions I now am feeling more comfortable with the financial positions than I was originally. I found out that most of the auditing positions have a base salary, so I would not have my entire salary based upon my stock picks.

Career Exploration

The concentration I am interested in is Accounting.

One job a person with an accounting degree can have is an auditor. An auditor keeps track of their companies financial information. This can include; keeping track of public records, making sure payments are made on time and offering services to clients. These services can include; budget analysis, investment advice and information technology consulting. The education needed for an auditing position is a 4 year bachelors degree in accounting. The majority of the training for auditing is usually done on the job. The most prestigious certification an auditor can get is called a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). Many firms value a CPA as much or more than an MBA. There are many other certifications; CMA (Certified Managerial Accountant),CIA (Certified Internal Auditor), just to name a few. According to the source, the employment outlook for the next 5-10 years is good. The demand for auditors is very high and it is predicted the that the total auditing jobs will increase by 18%, making almost 226,000 new jobs. The world will always need auditors, but the major factor that will determine jobs available is the amount of accounting regulations that are put in place. Sarbanes Oxley drastically changed the accounting industry and the more regualtions that are put in place, the more accountants will be need to carry out the new laws. The starting salary for an auditor can be anywhere between $31,500 and $48,250 a year. The three things that concern me about this job are; the fact it may get repetitive, uncertainty in passing the CPA exam and the major gap in starting salaries.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm


Another job a student with a accounting degree can have is a financial analyst.
A financial analyst usually work hand in hand with financial advisers. Analysts look at companies financial information and decide if the company would be a good investment. Sometimes analysts are given bonuses if the stocks the pick increase in value. The education required for this job is a four year bachelors degree in finance, business administration, accounting, statistics, or economics. Unlike auditors there is not a specif certification needed to advance through the ranks of a company. There is certification that can make you more marketable to potential clients. The most common certification for financial analysts is a CFA (Certified Financial Analyst). According to the source, with the way the economy is progressing the outlook for financial analysts is strong. The amount of jobs for financial analysts, with an increase of 34%. The only problem is these knew jobs will be harder to get, this is because of the large amount of people that want these jobs. The major factor impacting financial analysts jobs is without question the state of the stock market. In a "Bull Market" brokerage firms will be hiring as many analysts as possible, because they feel with more analysts the brokers can get more information about the stocks they are selling. In a "Bear Market" however; firms will not be hiring as many new applicants and will only be keeping the analysts that have provided the firm with good stock picks. The average starting salary for a financial analyst is between $36,446 and $58,989 a year, plus bonuses for good stock picks. There are three things that worry me about this job as a possible career choice. The first is the competitions of the job market. The competition means my grades and interpersonal skills will have to be much better than the average applicant to obtain a job. The second reason I am questioning this as a career would be the risk in this job. With the amount of money I make depending on stocks, I would never be certain of the amount of money I would be making. The final reason is, I would be investing other people's money. I do not know if I could deal with being the reason a person loses money.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos259.htm#training

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?hdSearchByOption=0&hdLocationOption=0&hdKeyword=financial+anaylst&hdJobCategory=FA03&hdNarrowDesc=Financial+Services&hdZipCode=&hdStateMetro=&hdGeoLocation=U.S.+National+Averages&hdCurrentPage=1&hdViewAllRecords=&hdJobCode=FA06000010&hdJobTitle=Financial+Analyst+I&hdCurrentTab=1&hdZipCodePosted=&hdPaycheckCalc=&hdpageName=&hdOmniJobTitle=Financial+Analyst+III&hdOmniNarrowDesc=Financial+Services&op=salswz_psr&pagefrom=salaryresults&hdOmniState=&hdOmniGeoLocation=U.S.+National+Averages&d50th=72294.9797&jobcounter=5&countertype=1&totaljoblistnum=2&wsrcode=SW2&geo=U.S.+National+Averages&metrocode=&geometrocode=&zipcode=&jobcode=FA06000012&narrowcode=FA03&state=&statecode=&r=salswz_salresnxt_psr&educationcode1=&cmbEducation=&joblevelcode=&jobfamilycode=10&rdbLocationOption=0&txtZipCode=&hdNarrowDesc=&hdAjaxDisplaySection1=1&hdAjaxDisplaySection2=&hdAjaxKeyword=financial+anaylst&hdAjaxKeywordWithOR=%23financial%23+OR+%23anaylst%23

A third career I am considering is a financial manager. A financial manager oversees all of the operations of their company. Some of the tasks financial mangers deal with are, the preparation of financial reports, setting long term goals and implement cash management strategies. The minimum requirement to be considered for a financial manger position is a bachelors degree in finance or accounting. With the consistently increasing competition for these positions many applicants are going back to school to get their MBA degree. Since each company runs their financial operations differently most of the experience for this job is learned progressing through the companies ranks. There is no required certifications to become a financial manager, but two certification that will put your ahead of other applicants are a CPA and CMA (Certified Manger Accountant). The employment for financial managers is expected to grow at the current rate it is growing, with a 13% increase in jobs available. The competition level for these jobs is high, considering the high paying salary, there will always be more applicants than positions available. With this job, the amount of jobs available will strongly depend on the economy. During a strong economy companies will be more likely to promote more people to financial manager status. Similar to what our accounting guest speaker said, "in a down economy, the Big 4 will rarely promote people to partner." The average starting salary for a financial manager is anywhere between $237,364 and $397,215. Even though this is a position I would love to achieve there are a few things that worry me about this job. The first would be the high level competition. Even more so than a financial analyst position, the competition for this kind of job is so high I do not know if I would be able to beat out all of the applicants. The second would be the high level of stress that comes with this job. Having a lot of control of the company, could make me second guess a lot of my choices, resulting in a lot of stress. The third is the amount of time it would take to achieve this position. I understand that in the business world you have to work your way up the ladder, but I would like to achieve this status of financial manager soon rather than later.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos010.htm#training

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?op=salswz_psr&jobfamilycode=10&txtKeyword=Financial+manaer&hdOmniNarrowDesc=Financial+Services&hdZipCode=&hdOmniTotalJobsFound=41&pagefrom=selectjob&hdJobCategory=FA03&hdGeoLocation=U.S.+National+Averages&countertype=1&totaljoblistnum=2&joblevelcode=&hdCurrentPage=1&hdNarrowDesc=Financial+Services&hdLocationOption=0&hdViewAllRecords=0&hdJobTitle=Chief+Financial+Officer&hdSearchByOption=0&hdKeyword=Financial+manaer&rdbSearchByOption=0&hdStateMetro=&jobcounter=1&hdSortBy=0&hdJobCode=FA06000031&hdJSBoolDisplayAdvertisement=&hdAjaxKeyword=Financial+manaer&hdAjaxKeywordWithOR=%23Financial%23+OR+%23manaer%23&hdAjaxDisplaySection1=0&hdAjaxDisplaySection2=1