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Is Your Accounting Career Making You Depressed?

Posted by Saundra Lee on Tue, Dec 21, 2010 @ 11:44 AM
  
  
  
  

I could not believe my eyes when I read the article about the Top 10 Most Depressing Careers and Accountant was #1!  They combined Financial Advisors and Accountants and listed reasons that made some sense for Financial Advisors to suffer from career depression but there was no explanation for the “Accountant  depression.”      

My livelihood is Accounting and Finance career consulting and I just have not heard too much about the depression aspect.  Is it true?

As I looked through the list and the reasons for depression, I noticed a common theme. It seemed as if the same things that make people depressed in a career are the same things that make others I know love that career because they have a different perspective.   depressed accountant   

For instance, one of the reasons listed for the stress for a Financial Advisor was that there is so much responsibility for other people’s finances and no control of the market. I know Financial Advisors that are passionate about their career because they understand the importance of educating clients about the market and making sure they do not fall prey to unscrupulous money managers that will not have the clients’ best interest at heart or, even worse, rip them off like the Bernie Madoffs of the world.

So how do you change your perspective?

It is not that simple.  Sure it is possible just to change perspective but I have found that when it comes to your job, perspective follows passion. 

  • If the passion is there, usually the perspective is too. 
  • If the passion is not there it might mean that your chosen career might not be the best choice for you. 

Maybe it might not even mean a total career change but maybe just an industry change.  If you are an Accountant in an industry you feel passionate about it could rekindle your enthusiasm toward helping that company’s fiscal well being.  The same goes for other careers as well, especially the #2 on the list, Salesperson!  It certainly worked for me.

This Holiday season might be a good time to think about perspective…

what you have and what you have to offer. 

  • If you have gained a new perspective on anything this year please share it with the other Dubin & Lee fans to offer encouragement for the year to come. 
  • If you need new perspective, please comment on this blog on Facebook or contact me and I will share a couple sources that have worked for me.

merry christmasHappy Holidays and

Merry Christmas from Dubin & Lee.

 

 

Posted by,

Saundra Lee

President

Dubin & Lee

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Comments

In the midst of my career after selling my first business I studied accounting and became a CPA. While I only spent 15 years in accounting and Finance, I noticed the environment with riddled with negativity. I was lucky enough to find roles within the arena that helped me avoid the dilemma the masses face.  
 
Most roles in Finance and Accounting are administrative by design or default. When you are considered administrative you are then put in a bucket called overhead. In other words, potentially needed, not often respected or appreciated the same way as other functions, and typically only have downside potential. What I mean by downside potential is your role is to make sure that everything functions well. If it doesn't, you did a poor job. If does, you did your job and there is no upside. 
 
Except for specific minority type roles (e.g. mergers and acquisitions or pricing) most people in the finance and accounting are typically not generating revenue or producing the products or services that cause revenue. While their jobs are difficult, not just anyone could do them, certifications are required, ongoing eduction is needed, and in most cases the positions are demanding, they do not get respect compared to other functions. I believe this is why depression sets in. 
 
To combat this I believe Saundra is correct. One must change perspective. You must realize that the others have no idea what it takes to do your job. You must be able to find ways to cut time out to show how your role contributes to revenue growth and product development and carve more time out to contribute to those priorities. In many cases, your internal customer needs some education to understand how you do contribute and how to better utilize your talents in finance to help them make more money. They also need to understand what it takes to get done what they request. 
 
Finance professionals also need to learn how to get satisfaction from seeing what they have done rather than from what they have not done. One of the dilemmas I see is that there is always too much to do and the natural problem with accountants behavioral style is the see the glass half empty. So they see what has not been done and what is wrong rather than what they have accomplished. 
 
This will not only help the company but will help your sanity. 
 
Accelerate Business Growth
Posted @ Tuesday, December 21, 2010 4:06 PM by Howard Shore
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