May is graduation season – a good time to reflect on the role of education in business. Although you can graduate, walk across the stage, get your degree and diploma, education is often ongoing throughout your career. Certain careers like CPAs, lawyers, and medical doctors have to do ongoing education in order to keep their certifications. But even in positions without the need for an updated certification, it is important to make sure that you are staying up-to-date with new technologies and innovations in your field. Education is a large part of that.

It is so important to companies that their employees are educated and up-to-date, that some companies will do tuition reimbursement. For example, a company may decide that they need employees with expertise with AI or the latest in cybersecurity. They have two options – they can either hire new employees with expertise in these areas, or they can support the training of trusted employees that they already have. With the second option they know there will be someone on their team who already knows the company, has good relationships with the other employees, is good at their job, and now is an expert in the new tasks.

Some new accountants will also be graduating this May, which is good because we need more! There is currently a shortage of accountants and accounting students. This shortage has a few different causes. Firstly, a lot of young people do not want to enter the accounting profession because they find it boring, and there are many new and up-and-coming industries to enter instead. But there are also more jobs for accountants in general! Once the Affordable Care Act made healthcare available to everyone, more people were now free to become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses, and all those new businesses need accountants!

Finally, a bit of advice for high school seniors graduating this year: your choice of college now does not have to set the next four years of your life in stone. If the school is not right for you, you can transfer. I did! If you don’t like your major, you can also change it. I went from pre-med to accounting (can you believe that!), and you can too! College does not also have to be four years – you can graduate with an Associate’s Degree, take extra time if you need, or you can graduate early. You can also go on and get a Master’s or a PhD!

Best wishes to the class of 2024!