Jessica Womack

Staff Auditor
Ernst & Young

I started my career in accounting in Ernst & Young’s assurance department as a staff auditor. As a staff auditor, I participate in various audit engagements with clients from a variety of sectors and industries to review and analyze their accounting documents and annual reports to ensure the numbers and controls in place are reasonable. Because of the nature of the work, auditing allows you to learn all aspects of a business, which is important in any job down the road whether it be a Controller, CFO or even a CEO. Additionally, as auditing requires you to be in close contact with clients, it also allows you opportunities to network with various C-suite executives, which is an opportunity that many jobs do not provide.

In general, majoring in accounting does not mean that you have to become a bookkeeper or that you’ll be in the same job for the rest of your life. One great benefit of having a career in accounting is the fact that the transferable skills that you gain along the way make it easy for you to transition into other if you ever wanted a change. With the many opportunities that will open over time in your career, having an accounting background allows you to experience many relevant fields with ease.

Without my BSA/MSA in accounting from East Carolina University, the endless job opportunities that come with an accounting background would not have been presented to me. As accounting is the financial backbone of any business, majoring in accounting can offer stability in a constant changing world as there will always be a demand for the skill set.