Visit the colleges you are interested in, and ask about their career placement services. Be sure to find out about their relationships with local firms and the percentage of their degree earners who receive a job after graduation.
Spend some time looking at local job boards to evaluate the demand for accounting degree holders in your area. Be sure to look specifically at those looking for an associate's degree, and visit those companies' career development offices to see if there is a particular college they are interested in.
Choose a school ,and make sure that it is using the most up-to-date accounting technology to ensure that you will be current on industry-wide systems when you complete your study there. Also, make sure that your school's credits are transferable to a four-year college or university in case you decide to go back and get the more complicated bachelor's degree later.
Focus on accounting and business courses but, if possible, try to take courses that will count towards the 36 credits of accounting and 20 credits of business that are required for the bachelor's degree. Keep in mind that a bachelor's degree requires 120-150 credit hours to achieve, depending on the program you pursue.
Consider studying for the Certified Public Accounting or CPA exam. You are not required to pass this exam for an associate's degree, but getting a jump start on the preparation should make passing easier, should you decide to go back to school later to complete the usually 150-credit hour course most states require before allowing people to take the exam to become a CPA.