PHILADELPHIA — The stereotypes about accountants don't bother Drexel University sophomore Chris Betz at all.

He's heard the one about accountants as dull numbers-crunchers, and no one could have missed the news about the failure of accounting practices at companies like Enron and WorldCom.

Betz doesn't buy it.

"I choose accounting because I like it," said Betz, 18, an accounting major who was looking for internships at Drexel University's massive job fair in early October.

"Without accounting," he said, "the world would not work."

But Chris Betz surely will.

Qualified accountants are in demand. Most graduates will find jobs, and those with internships and professional affiliations are even more likely to land the coveted positions in major accounting firms such as Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers, experts say.

At the job fair, there were long lines at the booths run by the top public accounting firms. Recruiters from smaller firms saw less traffic, but were eagerly accepting resumes.

The competition is also pushing up wages.

Gary Henning, Philadelphia regional vice president of Robert Half Inc. and its subsidiary Accountemps, recounted a recent bidding war for a prospect with four years of top-notch public accounting experience.

The first firm offered him $5,000 more than he requested. The second firm added $5,000 — up to the high $60,000s. "He went with the job with more money," Henning said. "It's a candidate-short marketplace.

"We don't have a difficult time coming up with the job opportunities," Henning said. "We have a difficult time coming up with the right candidates."

The most-cited reason for the shortage is the increased demand for accountants created by the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The "SOX" law, passed in 2002 in the wake of corporate-accounting scandals, strengthens auditing standards for publicly traded companies.

But there are other factors.

Advances in technology and accounting software lessened the "demand for people to do some of the nitty-gritty stuff," said Beatrice Sanders, who has followed the trends for years as director of academic and career development for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The powerful "get-rich" lure of dot-com enterprises in the late 1990s attracted students toward high-tech businesses and away from other business majors, she said.In the aftermath of the 2001 recession and its layoffs, many companies were scared to hire. "They were running so thin," Henning said.Then Enron, WorldCom and other corporate scandals tarnished the profession's reputation, particularly when Arthur Andersen, one of the most prestigious big-five accounting firms, was forced to dissolve.With that, the number of bachelor's and master's accounting graduates dropped from 61,220 in 1995 to a low of 44,695 in 2002 — just in time for the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Companies were already behind just when they needed more help.In response, internal auditing is a growth area in accounting, relying on people like Chris Betz. "I know my morals and my values and what I stand for," he said. That should translate into more ethical accounting.And, ironically, it also may help counter the dull-accountant stereotype."What people are saying to us is that they don't want to 'tick and tie' all day long," said Henning, the slang name for the process of checking off the proper numbers and adding rows and columns to make sure everything matches."People want to have some interaction with the customers," he said.Recruiters say Sarbanes-Oxley compliance has changed the nature of accounting work. Beyond bookkeeping, accountants now help create company audit policies, teach compliance seminars and work with software developers.Even so, overcoming the numbers-cruncher image is not easy."I find accounting to be monotonous," Drexel freshman business major Raj Kumar said at the job fair. "Some people want to stick to their chairs. I want to talk to people."Kumar, from Kuwait, wants to be an entrepreneur. "I need to know every area of business, and accounting is one of the most important," he said, "but I don't want to be stagnant."Despite the image, the number of accounting graduates is up in the last two years, according to a survey conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.Having experienced layoffs, some parents are steering their children toward accounting. In a soft economy, Sanders said, accounting's security is a selling point, and its versatility as a business basic draws young people who want to keep options open.Drexel senior Laura Ellenberger agrees. Even though she is worried about the potential tedium of the job, she thinks accounting will give her experience and pay enough to finance graduate training.And, she said, "I'm almost assured of finding a job."