Thunder Ace

Brian Dooley wrote in message news:...

    > So find out where those with jobs do their after hours boozing.

Now there's good advice if ever there was any. This works on several
levels. You can claim to your partner that going down the pub really
is the best thing to do. I've been searching for a good excuse like
that for years. Cheers Mate

TA

Brian Dooley

On 21 Jul 2003 04:30:11 -0700, [email protected]
(Thunder Ace) wrote:

    >Brian Dooley wrote in message news:...
    >> So find out where those with jobs do their after hours boozing.
    >Now there's good advice if ever there was any. This works on several
    >levels. You can claim to your partner that going down the pub really
    >is the best thing to do. I've been searching for a good excuse like
    >that for years. Cheers Mate

As in "I'm off to do some job-hunting, dear"?

Fat chance.

--
Brian Dooley

Wellington New Zealand

Axel Van Kampen

"zephyr" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > So accountants always become the managers.

Not where I work. Accountants become, you guessed it, accountants.

    > Most accountants do indeed start their careers as "bean-counters"

"start off"?
Thats basically what an accountant is, isn't it?

southerner

Axel,
The closest I have got to a bean in my 15 year accounting career is a nice cup of coffee. It is now about 10 years now since I did any debits or credits myself, but somehow I have continued to add significant value to my employers' business through general management and business skills. And you would also guess right if you thought that managing IT projects and resources is a key part of my role.

Thats the way it goes...I can't see anything on the horizon that would indicate more trained IT people and fewer trained accountants will get to the top levels in business.

Regards

Axel Van Kampen

"southerner" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Axel,
    > The closest I have got to a bean in my 15 year accounting career is a
    > nice cup of coffee. It is now about 10 years now since I did any debits
    > or credits myself, but somehow I have continued to add significant value
    > to my employers' business through general management and business
    > skills. And you would also guess right if you thought that managing IT
    > projects and resources is a key part of my role.
    > Thats the way it goes...I can't see anything on the horizon that would
    > indicate more trained IT people and fewer trained accountants will get
    > to the top levels in business.

Sure. I have just never seen accountants get to the top level more than
anyone else. Most of the time, the top jobs are filled by sales and
marketing people.

Zephyr

We could be a bit off the immigration topic here, but I suppose that
if the topic is "why do some immigrants to Oz struggle to find work
whereas others find it a struggle to lift their bulging wallets", then
we're still on topic.

In Oz, recent surveys of Australia's top 150 companies reveal that
investment bankers, accountants, engineers and lawyers are the top
four professions represented on corporate boards. In the industrial
sector accountants comprise over 50%, and even in IT and Biotech
accountants comprise one third of board members.

In the US, where the accounting profession is less powerful, roughly
two-thirds of the seats on boards of American companies are occupied
by people trained in law, finance, or accounting. In the largest 500
companies, more CEOs (27%) are moving up through financial ranks than
any other function.

In the UK accountants rule the roost at the top. Nearly half of chief
executives in the FTSE 100 have a background in accountancy or
finance. More than four in 10 (41%) of CEOs in the top 100 companies
had taken a finance route to the top.

Next most common UK qualifications are engineering, marketing/sales,
and then scientists. Presumably there are some HR professionals, and
maybe the odd IT guy who wanders in to plug in the laptops for the
important people at board meetings.

Seriously though, I am surprised that there aren't more IS people,
since most of these big companies must have CIOs. But perhaps the CIOs
often don't actually sit on the company's controlling board. I'm also
surprised that there aren't more lawyers.

My feeling is that finance and accountancy are accredited disciplines
that are generally perceived (rightly or wrongly) as 'harder' and more
quantifiable than some other professional qualifications. Many very
capable and experienced IT guys (including some posters on this board)
don't have accredited qualifications and this may prove a handicap in
job hunting in their new country. Qualifications of other disciplines
are often longer established (IT being decades rather than centuries
old) and more understood internationally.

The implication could be that executives with a career route outside
accountancy or finance will have a harder time reaching the board, and
this has a knock on effect down to junior management level, and
eventually to the taxi ranks where IT guys are often found. It'd be
difficult to see all the accountants in the boardroom from the night
watchman's desk.

Z