Ads to Help Pique Students’ Interest in Accounting Profession

By Jay Dismukes

In an effort to draw young people’s attention to the opportunities that an accounting career affords, the New York State Society of CPAs created and paid for two recruitment ads that have been running in college newspapers throughout New York state.

Begun in April and ending in late May, depending on when each school concludes its spring semester, the idea for the ads grew out of the many discussions that were held last year concerning the American Institute of CPAs’ failed global credential initiative, also known as “XYZ.” As the Society’s leadership held XYZ seminars to discuss the credential, they listened to members who said they felt the Institute’s attempt to add luster to the CPA image was misguided. The members and many national critics of XYZ indicated that the AICPA and the state societies would be better served spending their time, money and effort promoting the profession to high school and college students.

This spring, the Society’s Board of Directors concurred with the idea to increase recruitment into the profession and approved $30,000 from the remaining 2001-02 fiscal year for the funding of the full-page ads.

Society President Nancy Newman-Limata thinks the ads are a step in the right direction.

“While I’d like to think the students are looking for an interesting job, and maybe accounting isn’t their first thought, hopefully these ads will let them know that CPAs earn good money. Later on, they’ll find out how interesting the profession is,” Newman-Limata said.

According to Bill Pape, NYSSCPA associate director of member relations, the Society’s chapters have been informed of the recruitment measure as many of them have close relationships with some of the schools that are running the ads.

The Society plans to rerun the ads, or ones similar to them, once the fall semester begins.

We have placed recruitment ads in the following school newspapers:

• The Daily Orange, Syracuse University
  
• The Spectrum, State University of New York at Buffalo
  
• The Torch, St. John’s University
  
• Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell University
  
• The Lion’s Voice, Dowling College
  
• The Pace Press, Pace University
  
• Hofstra Chronicle, Hofstra University
  
• Washington Square News, New York University
  
• Columbia Spectator, Columbia University
  
• The Ithacan, Ithaca College
  
• Pipe Dream, Binghamton University
  
• Knight News, Queens College
  
• Envoy, Hunter College