Entry Level Accounting Jobs Plentiful in New Orleans

Accounting graduates are certainly well qualified to count dozens of dimes, but they definitely cannot be regarded as being worth a dime a dozen. The recent Sarbanes-Oxley securities laws have contributed to an imbalance in the supply and demand of new accounting graduates. There simply are far more entry level accounting jobs than their are entry level accountants. But if you think that the situation is tight in your hometown, take it easy and be thankful that you’re not in The Big Easy.

New Orleans is still devastated from the one-two punch of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005. Full recovery is years away, if ever. “Nobody wants to come here,” said James LaPorte, managing partner of Ericksen, Krental and LaPorte LLP, one of the largest accounting firms in New Orleans. “But yet there is so much opportunity here.” According to New Orleans City Business, most of the accountants in New Orleans are working 50, 60, or even more hours a week while at the same time struggling to get their personal lives back in order. Making a difficult employment situation worse, many of the graduating accounting students are leaving New Orleans to start their professional lives elsewhere, according to Barbara Apostolou, chair of the accounting department at Louisiana State University. “If you’re coming out of college and you have offers in Houston, Atlanta, and New Orleans, where are you going to go? It’s a question of how long the industry can hold on. There’s no housing here.”

Source: Campus Career Counselor