Abstract
The career orientation of professional accountants during the early career stage. The purpose with this study was to conduct research into the career orientations of aspiring and qualified persons in the accounting profession. Schein's Career Orientation Inventory was administered to 221 respondents in the early career stage and in different phases of Involvement in the profession. Managerial skill featured as the most prominent career orientation. It was also evident that respondents who had had occupational experience measured highest on the same orientation, i.e. managerial skill, irrespective of their phase within the early career stage. Furthermore, there were indications that career orientation differentiation increased in accordance with occupational experience.