Empirical evidence on factors significant for employment in government accounting

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of government agencies regarding the importance of selected job characteristics in entry-level accountants. We collected our data with a survey instrument which contained detailed questions on appearance, education, extracurricular activities, performance, and personality. Our sample consisted of federal agencies with a known proclivity to hire accounting graduates. In addition, for comparative purposes we also sampled the 11 largest U.S. public accounting firms. We mailed the instrument to both the treatment and the control group of firms. Our results indicated that a number of achievement, personality, and social factors were particularly important to each employer group. Interoccupational comparisons revealed minimal overlap in the factors of particular significance to both federal agency and public accounting firm recruiters. These findings suggest that different knowledge, skills, and personality traits might be crucial to students seeking employment with federal agencies as opposed to large public accounting firms.