Satisfaction at any company, industry, or location
My name is Theo. A random conversation with a stranger shaped the course of my life. My first job out of high school was as a cashier at the local zoo. I greeted visitors, accepted payments for tickets and gave people directions to the restrooms.
One day on my lunch break, I saw someone I didn’t recognize in the lunchroom. I introduced myself between bites and asked her if she was new. She said that she didn’t technically work for the zoo – that she worked for an accounting firm –and that the zoo was one of the firm’s clients. She was working on-site to audit the zoo’s financial records, which is a requirement for most non-profit organizations. I asked her what being an accountant was like. She said that her favorite thing about her job is that she can work anywhere: some weeks her clients are in high-rises downtown, and this week she’s on assignment at a zoo! Every organization needs someone to keep track of their finances. A few weeks later I enrolled as an accounting major at our local community college.
While I was taking accounting courses, I applied for a job as a receptionist at a local accounting firm. The owner of the firm called me after seeing my resume and said that he thought it was fascinating that I was working at the zoo and wanted to be an accountant. After chatting for several minutes, he said that he didn’t think that the receptionist position was the right role for me, but he wanted to take me on as an intern. In my internship, I learned how to use various types of accounting software, office equipment, and performed a lot of data entry. I reviewed clients’ records, performed account reconciliations, and assembled tax returns. While I enjoyed the job and the people I worked with very much, I had an emergency medical situation, and had to leave my job and live with family in another state.
The good news was, with some coursework under my belt and the experience I had working at the accounting firm, I was better equipped when I approached my local staffing firm, Abel Personnel. When I was back on my feet, my recruiter let me know that, although there were no immediate openings for accounting roles, there was other work available that I could do until a more appropriate role for me became available. So for a few months, I worked a job that I didn’t particularly like, but the recruiter checked in with me every week to encourage me and assure me that an accounting role would come along soon.
Sure enough, Abel Personnel placed me in the accounting department at an international company. My role was a temp-to-hire accounts receivable cash applications clerk. My job was to process check payments that our business customers sent directly to us, to apply electronic payments received by our bank, and to make calls to customers who were late on their payments. Sometimes I would have to pull records showing that our customers placed an order, the document indicating that we filled the order, and the proof of delivery, which showed they had received the order. I always found it exciting that international visitors would tour our facility regularly. I enjoyed hearing them speak in different languages, and the gifts they would bring from their country.
In every accounting role that I’ve had, I’ve felt an incredible amount of satisfaction at the end of the period when all of the accounts are reconciled, cash drawers are balanced, and books are closed. It’s a fresh start. Just like the auditor I had met in the lunchroom at the zoo had said, you can take accounting skills to any company, and use them in virtually any location; this makes staffing firms particularly conducive to placing accounting candidates at various companies. If you have accounting skills or are in need of a skilled accounting professional, your first call should be to Abel Personnel!
