If You Want a Shoulder to Cry On, Find an Accountant

Added: (Fri Oct 28 2005)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Could it be that accountants are the very people you should turn to when you're in trouble? That's the surprising finding from psychologists Dr George Sik and Alex Pearce at ERAS Ltd, the Norfolk-situated human resources consultancy, based on research which reaches its conclusion on Monday 31st October.

Investigating the personality profiles of those who work in finance and commerce and comparing these to the rest of the working population confirmed several old stereotypes but yielded one major surprise: people in the financial world may be really rather lovable.

Sure enough, upon completing the well-known The Quest Profiler™ personality instrument, the 361 people engaged in financial roles (as compared to 2231 who were not) emerged as less assertive, less outgoing and more ill at ease in social situations. They were more reliable, more precise and more analytical but less creative (this was something of a relief, as the term 'creative accountancy' has taken on rather unsavoury connotations).

However, the one shock finding was that they were significantly more supportive than the rest of the working population - tolerant of others and always there to lend a hand when people had problems.

'Accountants are often stereotyped as rather cold and inhuman,' says Dr Sik. 'However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, those who work in finance and accountancy are frequently very warm-hearted people...it is only their withdrawn, shy demeanour that prevents others from seeing this.'

The fact was further confirmed when it was revealed that those in finance and commerce preferred a secure, co-operative service culture in which their technical expertise was appreciated to the autonomous, entrepreneurial environment in which they are often forced to work.

For further information, please phone Dr George Sik on 07734 568463 before Monday 31st October 2005.