[vanadium3]

someone just said that it’s really hard for people to do client service roles if they are shy and quiet and timid. I know this is especially true for audit.

Which is really odd because you’d think people who majoring in accounting are introverts…

thoughts? It seems to me it’s much harder to excel in any career if you happen to lack skills on the social side.

CPA

[StephAV]

I'm shy. Not horribly shy one on one, but speaking in front of a group and building relationships with superiors makes me uncomfortable. I did fine as a staff. I worked at a large regional firm. I am very soft spoken, like even in college when I answered the phone I'd sometimes get the “is your mom home?” I decided that as an auditor that made me seem less intimidating and more approachable. People seem to feel at ease with me. I think that it didn't play well into getting promoted… But my time in public accounting was fine.

Do you open up as you get to know those around you? Because in public accounting you work closely with teams of people and that helped me open up as compared to now, I don't work “closely” with anyone really it has taken me longer to establish myself and feel at ease. I did 3 years in public accounting (felt like 10) and 5 years at my current job as a senior accountant at an NPO (felt like 3).

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[StephAV]

I'm shy. Not horribly shy one on one, but speaking in front of a group and building relationships with superiors makes me uncomfortable. I did fine as a staff. I worked at a large regional firm. I am very soft spoken, like even in college when I answered the phone I'd sometimes get the “is your mom home?” I decided that as an auditor that made me seem less intimidating and more approachable. People seem to feel at ease with me. I think that it didn't play well into getting promoted… But my time in public accounting was fine.

Do you open up as you get to know those around you? Because in public accounting you work closely with teams of people and that helped me open up as compared to now, I don't work “closely” with anyone really it has taken me longer to establish myself and feel at ease. I did 3 years in public accounting (felt like 10) and 5 years at my current job as a senior accountant at an NPO (felt like 3).

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[henryv]

I'm usually silent in group talks except when it is relevant to the job or when I have something to contribute. I only talk to the person when necessary. If they open up something that I'm interested in, I could interact with them. If he is an a**hole, I usually give them a shrug. I only open up my personal life when asked and I ask them the same question in return.

FAR - 92 02/2013
AUD - 90 05/2013
REG - 85 10/2013
BEC - 80 12/2013

I'M DONE. THANK YOU LORD!

[henryv]

I'm usually silent in group talks except when it is relevant to the job or when I have something to contribute. I only talk to the person when necessary. If they open up something that I'm interested in, I could interact with them. If he is an a**hole, I usually give them a shrug. I only open up my personal life when asked and I ask them the same question in return.

FAR - 92 02/2013
AUD - 90 05/2013
REG - 85 10/2013
BEC - 80 12/2013

I'M DONE. THANK YOU LORD!

[Anonymous]

It breaks you of of your shell. Maybe you won't be the rainmaker but you'll eventually get more confident and comfortable talking to people. After a while you realize, most people are just talking for the sake of talking. It's a game, you'll get the hang of it.

[Anonymous]

It breaks you of of your shell. Maybe you won't be the rainmaker but you'll eventually get more confident and comfortable talking to people. After a while you realize, most people are just talking for the sake of talking. It's a game, you'll get the hang of it.

[Keely]

There are some very shy people I work with (I'm in Tax, so I'm only speaking about how it is within the team, since we don't go out to clients very often), and yes, I do think it can be more difficult to advance if you are pegged as anti-social. I was actually very shy when I first started working here, but I opened up, and that's made MY life at work much more enjoyable, and probably theirs too. Our firm is big on pretty-much-mandatory happy hours, team lunches, going to training and not just going to class, but going out together outside of training, etc. I term this ‘forced socializing,' haha. But, almost four months into my job, I'm glad I ended up going to those events because it's much easier for me to ask questions and not feel like they're judging the hell out of me (even though they might be!), because at least we get along, personality-wise. It is good for the team, and good for you. You might find you're like me, the “drag 'em in, drag 'em out” type. I complain about the event, then I go and end up having a great time and don't want to leave. That being said, there are definitley some people on my team that skip the events and don't talk much unless it's about work. They aren't disliked or have their jobs on the line or anything. I just think it makes work more enjoyable for everyone if you open up a little bit. However, that doesn't mean you have to go spilling your guts to your coworkers about every aspect of your personal life. I keep it to light conversation about hobbies and current events.

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[Keely]

There are some very shy people I work with (I'm in Tax, so I'm only speaking about how it is within the team, since we don't go out to clients very often), and yes, I do think it can be more difficult to advance if you are pegged as anti-social. I was actually very shy when I first started working here, but I opened up, and that's made MY life at work much more enjoyable, and probably theirs too. Our firm is big on pretty-much-mandatory happy hours, team lunches, going to training and not just going to class, but going out together outside of training, etc. I term this ‘forced socializing,' haha. But, almost four months into my job, I'm glad I ended up going to those events because it's much easier for me to ask questions and not feel like they're judging the hell out of me (even though they might be!), because at least we get along, personality-wise. It is good for the team, and good for you. You might find you're like me, the “drag 'em in, drag 'em out” type. I complain about the event, then I go and end up having a great time and don't want to leave. That being said, there are definitley some people on my team that skip the events and don't talk much unless it's about work. They aren't disliked or have their jobs on the line or anything. I just think it makes work more enjoyable for everyone if you open up a little bit. However, that doesn't mean you have to go spilling your guts to your coworkers about every aspect of your personal life. I keep it to light conversation about hobbies and current events.

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[nbad311]

my thoughts/ experience: I live in the south and started my career in a larger “medium” public firm but knew many people and had friends in big 4 firms. My personal opinion is that accounting draws a lot of bros and whatever the female equivalent of a bro is, probably because firms seem to recruit a lot at the big SEC schools. Starting salary is great for a 22 year old's first job. I've always found accountants (auditors more than tax) to be very social. sometimes too social!

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[nbad311]

my thoughts/ experience: I live in the south and started my career in a larger “medium” public firm but knew many people and had friends in big 4 firms. My personal opinion is that accounting draws a lot of bros and whatever the female equivalent of a bro is, probably because firms seem to recruit a lot at the big SEC schools. Starting salary is great for a 22 year old's first job. I've always found accountants (auditors more than tax) to be very social. sometimes too social!

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[Anonymous]

I'm an ISTJ, for those familiar with the widely used Myers Briggs personality types. Which means yes, I'm an introvert. A common type for an Accountant. But I agree you need social skills to succeed in the corporate world to some degree. So, for a lot of us, it probably feels like we're putting on an act (it does for me), but you do what you gotta do I guess.

[Anonymous]

I'm an ISTJ, for those familiar with the widely used Myers Briggs personality types. Which means yes, I'm an introvert. A common type for an Accountant. But I agree you need social skills to succeed in the corporate world to some degree. So, for a lot of us, it probably feels like we're putting on an act (it does for me), but you do what you gotta do I guess.

[Anonymous]

Would say that a person interviewing you can tell if you are shy?

[Anonymous]

Would say that a person interviewing you can tell if you are shy?

[Anonymous]

Another piece of advice is to find a common interest with people and go from there. Two popular topics in my firm are sports and food. I'm not really into sports but I do love food, so restaurants, recipes, cooking and the like are a font of conversation for me.

[Author]

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