March 1, 2024
With entry-level accountants in high demand across industries, the field is reemerging as a career launchpad for early talent
Key takeaways
- Early-career accountants are in demand across industries. Accountant is the second most-posted job role on Handshake, and is among the top five most-posted roles in nine different industries.
- After a dip in recent years, interest in accounting careers may be rebounding. About 2.5% of Class of 2025 bachelor’s degree students on Handshake are majoring in accounting, up from 2.1% of the Class of 2023.
- Accounting firms are increasingly emphasizing social impact—and it’s paying off. More than 1 in 4 accounting jobs posted on Handshake in 2023 mentioned social impact, and jobs that included social impact keywords in their descriptions received about 80% more applications.
- Students from a range of majors are applying to accountant roles. Business, economics, and political science majors make up a significant share of applicants to accountant roles, and tech majors now account for about 15% of the applicant pool.
Early-career accountants are in demand across industries
Employers posted more than 27,000 full-time accountant roles on Handshake in 2023, making accountant the second most in-demand role after general administrative support workers. Notably, the median salary listed for full-time accountant openings also rose by about 10% between November 2022 and November 2023. Industry leaders expect demand for early-career accountants to continue to grow; a 2023 report by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) found that 50% of US CPA firms expected to increase hiring of new grads into accounting functions, while only 6% expected to decrease hiring.
While a significant share of the demand for early-career accountants comes from financial services firms, students and new grads with accounting skills have opportunities available to them in almost any industry. About 75% of the accountant roles posted on Handshake in 2023 came from companies in industries outside financial services—including government, manufacturing, healthcare, and technology—and accountants were among the top five most-posted roles in nine different industries.
Kate Guerrero, director of Business Career Services at Cal State Fullerton College of Business, confirms that students in the College’s accounting concentration are graduating with a wide range of job opportunities. “In today’s dynamic accounting landscape, accounting students are empowered with a variety of career path options spanning public, corporate, and government accounting realms,” Guerrero explains. “While many of our students follow the traditional public accountant career path, we are seeing an increasing number of students exploring career paths, and securing positions, in industries outside of financial services.”
