The New Job

Well, it has been a while since I added a post on here, sorry about that.



The new job at Virginia College Savings Plan is going pretty well. All of the people are extremely nice and very welcoming. My 1st day they had what I like to call a "cookie party" for me and the legal intern. For an hour we stood in the "library", ate cookies, and greeted all the fellow employees as they came in to get cookies and say hello. It was really a great icebreaker. Since then, I have been to several meetings and trainings, all of which were pretty interesting, surprisingly. Next week sometime I am going to a law firm downtown for a fraud seminar which should be a lot of fun. My boss is great and she seems to genuinely love her job which is refreshing. I hope to do well and impress her. :) My new schedule is 8-4:30 with a half an hour lunch, which I love. Once I get home I still have an hour to relax before class. And on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I don't have class at all so I get to go to the gym.

I have been trying to start eating a more balanced and healthy diet and do more with portion control. I am also trying to up my water intake to 64 ounces a day, especially since I am going to the gym 2-4 times a week now.

2 weeks ago my boyfriend and I went hiking at the Prince William Forest Park; it was wonderful. We ended up hiking for about 4 hours and by the time we were done, we felt more bonded, and WORN out. lol. We are supposed to be going to somewhere called "Old Rag Mountain" within the next few weeks; I am really looking forward to that.


We will see if I can keep it up with the diet and exercise. :) Today I've had fruit for breakfast and will have tilapia for lunch ... who knows what for dinner.

Isn't it ironic?

Last week I finally reached my goal; I received a job offer with the Virginia College Savings Plan.  I was so excited and am still slightly on cloud 9.  Wouldn't you know, that the day after I verbally accepted their job offer, I received an email from the SCC, State Corporation Commission asking me to come in and interview for the Public Utilities Accountant position?!   Now logic would say, no way, just turn it down.  However, I asked about the compensation and found out that the pay is actually slightly higher AND they are offering full benefits immedietly.  Therefore, I have decided to go ahead and interview with them the week after next once I have already left my current position, but have not yet started work at the VCSP.  I almost hope that I do not get this position, because I do not want to choose.  The good thing though, is that I have a very strong feeling that even if I am offered the job with the SCC I will still feel confident that the job with the VCSP is a better fit for me.  The job with the VCSP, they are going to let me do a lot of work with accounting fraud investigation.  My dream is to work with white-collar crime investigations with the accounting field, such as embezzlement and money laundering.  My initial dream job in the field was a forensic accountant with the FBI, but now that I have gotten older, I am thinking that I may be better off in public accounting than in the private sector.  However, this job may open the FBI door wide open since it is a government job itself in the same area.

We shall see.

Bachelor's Degree.... check!

Today, I officially finished all coursework needed to complete my bachelor's degree in accounting at VCU.  I can't believe that after all this time it is finally done.  I feel like I have been in college for 10 years, not 4.  It's an interesting feeling for me though, because while most people I know are celebrating the "end of their college careers", I am simply taking a week and a half vacation from school before I go right back in to begin my masters program.  I am very happy to at least have completed this milestone and have something to show for it though.  No longer is it the case that when I fill out a job application I have to say that my highest level of education completed is high school.  I can now select 'bachelor's degree'.  I am hoping that this change will open up more doors for me.

Speaking of job applications, not only am I graudating this month, but I am also starting a new job- more literally, a new career.  Thursday I accepted a job with the Virginia College Savings Plan as a compliance intern.  They are promising me permanent status employment by August or September.  Once this happens, I will actually be making more money than I am now, and will actually be in my field of study.  I am so happy to break into the accounting world.  One of my worst fears was always that I would end up staying at SunTrust in an unrelated position and waste my major.  Now that I have landed this job, I feel like the sky is the limit.  My position is with an independent government agency. 

Hopefully it will all work out, keep your fingers crossed for me.  :)

Sad faces

I just got an email saying that I was turned down for the senior auditor position which I applied for yesterday.  I applied for Accountant 3 about 5 weeks ago and still haven't heard anything.  Maybe this is a good thing, maybe it will actually all work out for the best this time like people keep telling me it will.  :)
Also still waiting to hear back from the VCSP. 

VCSP

I had my interview with the Virginia College Savings Plan today.  I think that it went pretty well.  The interview seemed to be far less formal than others that I have been too.  Although, this was the first interview I've been to for a state agency.  The 3 women in the room were very nice; 2 of them interviewed and one young lady observed as part of her HR training.  I was surprised to see how relaxed the atmosphere was and how quiet the office seemed.  They said that I should hear back within a week or two, so fingers crossed.

Meanwhile,  I am still waiting to hear back about the accounting position that opened up at SunTrust about 6 weeks ago.  Yesterday, I called and at least learned that the job is still open, so there's still a chance.  Also, last night they posted a job for "senior auditor".  The title sounds intimidating because you would think you have to be an auditor before you can become senior auditor.  However, according to the qualifications and requirements listed, I am qualified.  So I applied for that one too. 

Fingers and toes crossed.

Oh, anddd, I might be going to the beach next weekend to celebrate the end of my bachelors career!!!!

<3

Just another magic Monday...

Boy, today has been really hectic.  I got to sleep in until 10 which was great, but then as soon as I got to work at 11, the flood gates opened up.  We apparently had 3 people scheduled for vacation, on top of 2 people being already scheduled off, plus 2 people calling out sick.  Today has been one of the busiest days I've had in a while.  Tomorrow is my big Criminal Justice exam, Thursday is my HUGE advanced tax final exam and my strategic management final exam.  I cannot wait for this weekend.  Plus Sunday is Mother's Day.  :) 

Tomorrow I find out what I got on the advanced tax exam I took on Thursday; I am nervous, but I'm sure I did fine. 

WISH ME LUCK.

Departmental Meeting

Today has been fairly productive.  I got a 100% on my tax quiz @ 8am.  Then I met with my audit group to discuss our paper due next Thursday.  I am going to complete my portion and submit it to the other 2 members by the end of this weekend so we can get it finished early. 

Once I got to work today at noon I had a departmental meeting to attend.  Turns out that our one-hour meeting turned into two hours.  While in the meeting I actually missed a call from a young lady at the Virginia College Savings Plan offering me a phone-interview for a compliance internship over the summer.  I caller her back a few hours later but unfortunately it seems we are playing phone tag.

After returning her call I also checked the SunTrust internal postings page, to find that the position which I applied for about a month ago, was finally taken down.  Hopefully, that means that they are now reviewing all of the applications.  Ultimately, if I can get an accounting position within SunTrust, I would rather take that than abandon ship to go to an actual firm.  At least right now while I am completing my Master's.  I have been here for 4 years in June, and would just hate to throw that much tenure and experience down the tubes for something that is not guaranteed.  Right now it seems that the only accounting positions I can really apply for with actual CPA firms are internships which hold no gaurantee of full-time employment.  Once I finish my Master's however, I will then be eligible to apply for regular full-time positions with these companies. 

Part of me wants to just jump on the 1st opportunity that comes my way so that I can start getting some actual accounting experience, but I know deep down that hasty decisions are often mistakes.  I was offered the position of "accounting associate" with Elephant Insurance which is new to town.  That seemed to be a really great opportunity because I could have gotten on with them from the ground up.  When it came times to establish a more extensive management structure, I would have been there for basically as long as EVERYONE else.  Whereas, with a company like SunTrust which is already so established, I'm going against people with 20, 30+ years of tenure and have to go through a lengthy corporate ladder.  As good as the opportunity would have been for me, I had to turn it down because of the salary.  I would have had to take about a $5.00/hour pay cut which would have made it very hard on me to pay the mortgage, car insurance, etc.

So at this point, I am just steadily applying for positions and internships - waiting for the right opportunity to come along.

Crunch Time

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic.  It looks like the crazy schedule and work load will not be lifting until around May 10th, when I take my last final exam of my undergraduate career.  Tomorrow I have a rough draft due for auditing and a quiz in corporate taxation.  Monday I have a quiz in financial reporting and Thursday I have the final draft due of my audit paper. Meanwhile, I am still working 40 hours a week and also need to try and allot time for doing my CPA exam review.

I recently purchased the review material from CPA Excel.  I did a bit of research and found that, at least for the self-paced version, they were abut half as expensive and came with more resources than Becker. It also came with a USB Thumb-drive which contains the study material as well.  I plan to take the 1st two sections of the CPA exam in July and the 2nd two sections in September.  My hope is to completely finish the exam by the end of 2010, ABSOLUTELY  no later than May 2011, which is when I will graduate with my Master's degree.

VCU Mock Interview

Yesterday, I attended the VCU Career Center's Mock Interview.  It is a free resource provided by the university.  Each student is alloted one hour to be professionally interviewed by an employer.  The interview is treated as if it is for a legitimate job.  The student is interviewed by one or two individuals who then critique each of their answers.  Students are also evaluated on their dress, clearness of speech, preparedness, resume appearance, etc.

I am very thankful to not get nervous before or during an interview.  I have been through dozens of interviews in my short lifetime.  Thanks to so much experience being interrogated and analyzed, interviews now seem almost fun to me.  I like to take pride in my performance and I am very rarely disappointed. 

MY experience with the VCU Mock Interview was a very positive one.  I was expecting to receive that one enlightening piece of advice to help me land my next position.  However, all I heard was "that was a great response" and "we would hire you".  I suppose that these are very positive remarks and I should be pleased- which I am.  But I was hoping to hear something a little more constructive.  It is, however, always nice to receive a compliment.

All-in-all, I do not look at the Mock Interview as a waste of time because to me no interview is a waste.  It just gives you a little more practice for the next one.