Certain career choices are more stable than others during business downturns. Accounting jobs are one of these careers. In fact, 32% of CFOs that were recently surveyed by Robert Half's New York Office reported that they were challenged in finding talent, especially in audit and finance.

Despite lower business sales numbers, day-to-day transactions still have to be accounted for, taxes have to be paid and payroll has to be done, regardless of whether sales are up or down. While the job growth in accounting jobs is flat this year, there has only been one other year, 2006, where the job growth was flat.

This steady demand for accounting jobs and annual net hiring numbers that typically increase each year indicates that accounting is a career choice that is secure in good economic times and bad ones. Those that have the skills and experience are most valued for the top notch positions, although there is a growing trend of companies that are looking for accounting people who also have good interaction skills as a team player.

Because accounting careers often require advanced education, those who also have minor degrees in people skills such as human resources or sales and marketing, will be able to command top dollar accounting jobs. Tax accountants are also expected to be in high demand and Controllers that are skilled in financial strategy forecasting and budgeting are expected to see an increase in hiring in the upcoming months.

In a competitive job market landscape, where there are more candidates for fewer jobs, accounting is an occupational field where that is not the case. Hiring and firing levels are at an even number, which means those that are laid off should be able to find another job that is hiring, theoretically. That is not true of most of the job markets during this most recent economic downturn.

Because of the new trends toward ''people-friendly'' and ''team player'' accountants, it is important that you highlight any accomplishments or education that you have along those lines, in addition to any accounting education and experience. This could give you the upper hand over other job candidates that don’t display or have this experience.

Some of the accounting job seekers are reporting difficulty finding a job, while others are reporting that employers are offering $30-$40,000 less in some cases for top notch positions that require an MBA, CPA and management experience. It could be that while the accounting job market is holding steady with equal lay-offs to hirings, they are not necessarily equal caliber jobs in both cases.

While many of the accounting jobs in tax accounting and daily accounting are holding steady, it could be that forward accounting jobs like budgeting and forecasting have yet to catch up and may be positions that will be in bigger demand once the economy improves.

One thing is certain-there will always be demand for those in the accounting careers because it is a functional requirement for any business. This is something to keep in mind when trying to land one of the top notch accounting jobs.

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