Salaries
It is useless to state salary limits in terms of dollars and cents for such a profession as accountancy. The limits are wholly dependent on individual initiative and ability. The salary is commensurate with the importance of the work and no man can ask more.
Employment Opportunity
As yet there is no crowding in this profession, and men will find opportunities for establishing themselves in this field in any industrial community.
Necessary Training
A thorough study of the fundamentals of bookkeeping and business practice must precede the study of accounting. Theory of accounting, accounting practice, auditing, accounting systems, cost accounting, practical economics, business law, corporation finance, business organization and management, all enter into the training required for proficiency in the accounting field.
Experience Required and Where to Get It
The training briefly outlined in the preceding paragraph must go hand in hand with experience in practical work. It is highly desirable that men who elect this course take it in one of the large industrial centers where part-time employment can be secured in a large business office at first and later with a firm of recognized practicing accountants. In many such centers courses are offered by the local colleges with this need definitely in mind. Classes usually meet between 5 and 10 p. m. daily, thus leaving the business day for practical work. Those who aspire to the certified public accountant degree given in most States, can thus gain the required experience while preparing in college for the stiff examinations set by the State examining board.
Length of Course
Two or three years must be devoted to study and practice before a man can lay any claim to recognition in this field, and the full four-year period is none too long for those who would achieve the highest places in this profession. It must be remembered, however, that during this entire time good incomes may be earned—often better than a man has been able to earn before in ordinary office work. Unit courses of varying lengths are also available to those who merely want special training for special work such as auditing, or cost accounting. The length of time for these courses will depend upon previous general education, special training, and experience, but should rarely require more than from eight to ten months.
PLAN No. 1089. SALESMANSHIP
With the inevitable expansion in business immediately following the close of the great war there will be an unusual demand for salesmen. Already requests are being received for salesmanship training in connection with the Federal Board for Vocational Education’s program of re-education for disabled soldiers. The trained salesman will find a ready market for his services.
Who Should Be Interested
Men who have had a good general education, and who have a liking for the sales end of business should consider this calling seriously. Those who object to being away from home much of the time will not find salesmanship agreeable, as the great majority of selling positions require much traveling.
Training Necessary
The successful salesman must be able to talk fluently and convincingly. He must possess a good knowledge of English and a good working vocabulary; an understanding of human nature; a thorough knowledge of his wares; a familiarity with business customs; and appreciation of the value of business ethics; a fund of information regarding general business conditions; and many other qualifications that, like those mentioned above, can be acquired through courses of training. A familiarity with the principles of accounting and other business subjects also will prove helpful to a man who wishes to make the best possible preparation for the business of selling goods.
The formal instruction in salesmanship will not proceed very far before provision for contact with actual selling is made. Fundamentals can be covered in short intensive courses to be followed by more advance instruction on a part-time basis while the man is learning the practical side of his work in an actual sales department. When the foundations have been laid and the man has indicated the line of business he prefers to be associated with, the Federal Board for Vocational Education will through its placement department, secure for him a position where the practical side of the art of selling goods can be acquired.