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While you are working on your accounting degree, you should consider ways you can integrate new skills for different career paths. Whether you want to avoid a brick-and-mortar job or you want to be prepared for changes in the job market, adding skills conducive to freelance opportunities is a good investment of your efforts.

Business Statistics

A solid background in business statistics can increase your chances of landing contracts with larger companies. You should focus your efforts on taking courses or independently gaining skills related to various statistical analysis software used by businesses. Common analyses, such as cost-benefit analysis, correlations, and linear and multiple regressions, are important in helping businesses manage their current finances and make projections when determining how they want to spend money in the future.

In addition to learning different statistical analyses and being familiar with software, you want to make sure you can display statistical information in a clear and accurate way. Most statistical software packages have options to display output in graphical form, but you need to be familiar with common productivity software programs to produce charts and graphs. Combining your statistical knowledge with good technical writing skills will also come in handy to write business and technical reports.

Marketing

Marketing is a lucrative skill for future accountants, especially when you consider the impact of internet marketing on businesses. Many businesses will look for contractors who are able to assist them in developing marketing plans and determining how effective these plans are at increasing sales. Some excellent areas of focus for boosting your marketing skills are consumer behavior and market research.

Experience in consumer behavior will allow you to help businesses determine product trends, which can be effective when a company is in the product development stage or determining the best time to launch a new product. Courses in the business department are helpful to understand consumer behavior, but you might want to look at your psychology and sociology departments for help. Learning about social dynamics, sensation and perception, and even cognitive psychology can help you increase your knowledge regarding consumer behavior.

A good understanding of the front-end and back-end of market research is important. Companies often use surveys and focus groups to gain consumer perspectives on current or upcoming products. You should have a thorough understanding of how to conduct research and be a competent interviewer for telephone and in-person interviews. On the back-end of market research is the development of surveys and the recruitment of participants.

If your current degree program does not have courses specifically designed to address this information, consider looking in other departments, such as psychology, sociology or education. These fields typically have courses, such as experimental or non-experimental methodology, which are applicable to market research.

Small Business Accounting

Small businesses have unique accounting issues that are unlike larger businesses. In many cases, smaller businesses may not have the funds to hire employees for accounting needs, but may rely on contractors. Understanding the needs of small businesses can give you the opportunity to work as a contractor. Since you would be working as a contractor, you have the opportunity to manage multiple small businesses in different locations.

This is the ideal opportunity if you only have part-time work and need to supplement your income. Some small businesses rely on virtual accounting services due to cost. If you want to promote yourself to small businesses, emphasize the advantage of hiring a contractor because one-on-one interaction may be limited or missing from virtual services. Also, market your skills to local small businesses. Local businesses may be interested in contracting your services since you are easily available for face-to-face meetings.

Being prepared for the workforce after graduation is not only about having the necessary skills to land a full-time job, but also having skills to make yourself marketable, no matter what the job market throws at you. Before you graduate, consider taking extra courses at a school like Interactive College of Technology or learning additional skills to make it easier to find related contract or freelance positions.