A record number of first year accounting students applied for the 190 prestigious paid work experience placements at Institute of Chartered Accountants accredited firms across Australia. 
 
A massive 1,140 students applied for the work experience placements, an increase of 42 per cent on last year.  
 
The 190 students secured places as part of Achiever Work Experience, the Institute’s annual initiative that recognises outstanding up and coming accounting talent across Australia. 
 
The first year students will gain valuable hands-on experience in the accounting profession that will help them learn skills that may help them later in their degree and more importantly provides the opportunity to make a lasting impression with a potential graduate employer. 
 
The students that passed the initial application were selected to attend a rigorous selection process involving group activities and one-on-one interviews with Institute personnel and recruiters from accounting firms. 
 
“The Achiever Work Experience program helps marry students and employers together where the former are chasing work experience opportunities, and the latter attempting to secure new accounting talent early on in their development and be less reliant on competitive graduate recruitment periods,” said Graham Meyer, CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. 
 
“It is very encouraging to see the number of students looking to get a head start in this industry and the high calibre of student the program attracted. For a number of years accounting has been on the ‘migration occupations in demand’ list reflecting the major skills shortage we have in this country so to have so many domestic accounting students wanting to gain work experience places is positive news for employers,” Meyer continued. 
 
The work experience placements are from two to 12 weeks with Institute accredited firms ranging from the Big 4, government, mid-tier public practice firms and commerce organisations. The placements will be taken during the 2006 summer break.