本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Time flied. Summer was gone and it was time to look for the second co-op again. SP thought at least she could go back to the small firm she did her first co-op. However, the firm did not call SP back. It was a shock! SP did not understand why. She wanted to call the manger in the small firm and asked directly – but the idea was finally dropped –what that could help? Begging for a job from someone who did not appreciate her hardwork?? Wiping off her tears, SP moved on.

Big four did not come back to recruit in Senior Class, big banks ignored SP… Experiencing more and more frustrations, Strong Potato upgraded to Steel Potato.

One day during the class break, SP rushed to the lab to print out and submit an application to a new opening –she ran into her professor, a Nice Lady (NL) over 70s.

“Still looking for the co-op?” seeing the resume held by SP, NL kindly asked.
“Yeah, but no luck….” SP lowered her head…
“Oh… if you need reference you can give them my name… and…I just want you to remember one thing: no matter how many times you failed, don’t lose your confidence in front of the interviewer – because they wouldn’t know how many interviews you’ve been to. Just treat every interview as it is your first one, you are excited and full of confidence.”

These words were planted into SP’s heart and applied in my respects of her life since then. No matter how many failed attempts she made, she always keep energetic and passionate about what she was pursuing.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Christmas was coming, SP’s good friend, a classmate called Chubby Potato got two job offers at the same time. One is from a big 5 bank, the other is from a small firm with 3 partners and over 30 employees. Chubby Potato took the bank offer and referred SP and another classmate Sweet Carrot (SC) to the small CA firm.

The hiring partner (Mr Turning Point) and the manager interviewed SP and SC on the same morning respectively and told them they would make their decision in the afternoon. SP and SC went back to the campus and exchanged the interview questions over the phone – obviously they were the same. SP and SC did not talk too long because the employer’s call might arrive anytime that afternoon.

SP nervously sat beside the phone, even daring not to go to the washroom. How she wished the partner would choose her! But SC had working experience in fortune 500, and she believed SC looked even prettier than her…

One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock, four…. SP could not wait anymore, if she did not grab this opportunity, she probably could not find a placement before the New Year…thinking at this, she picked up the phone and dialed the partner’s number, but no one answered. She dialed again and was transferred to the voice mail—SP took a deep breath and thrown all that she thought the partner might concern into the voice mail –“Mr Turning Point, I just want to let you know I really care about this opportunity. I’ve already done over 300 tax returns for last tax season, I don’t need too much training; I am willing to stay late and I won’t mind traveling for audit….” After SP hang up the phone, she felt it such a relief, even she did not got hired, she tried everything she could…

Half an hour later, SP’s phone rang – she got the offer! However, this exciting call was followed by SC’s call –
“they called you yet?”
“err.. yes…”
“so you got the offer?!.....”

SP heard SC cried …She suddenly felt so guilty as if she stole the opportunity from Sweet Carrot…she never told SC about the follow up phone call she made…What made SP felt better was early in the new year, SC located a job in a national CA firm.

Chubby Potato got SP’s news. “To be honest, I really don’t know whether I made the right choice…” SP could understand why he said this, going for the bank meant CP gave up the opportunity to be a CA. But looking at the starting salary, SP believed it was not a difficult decision for CP to make at the moment.

(Sidebar: both Sweet Carrot and Chubby Potato later got their CMAs and did very well in the major banks.)更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛After the co-op, Mr Turning Point did not only offer SP a full time job before she graduated but also sponsored her to stay in Canada a year later when her working visa was expired. SP converted her thankfulness to Mr TP into energy at work. She got an exposure too all areas of accounting/tax work public firms provided---

A. Notice to Reader
--usually SP needed to start from scratch – Posting the bank statements/investment statements and made routine adjusting entries such as accrual, amortization and specific entries according to manager’s “insider information” such as shareholder’s loan, dividend

--to add some sun, here’s an anecdote:

At the beginning, SP received a lot of posting job from a co-worker, Zoy 1, a Greek Girl who always claimed “I am an accountant, not a bookkeeper--no data entry!” Since SP was No Idea, it didn’t matter to her it was accounting or bookkeeping job. And she was happy to help Zoy 1, so that SP had something to be busy with. Several months later, Super CGA, SP’s greatest Mentor in the firm (who taught SP everything from Bank Reconciliation to Drafting Audit Plan and Designing the Audit Procedures) told SP “you know why I’d like to teach you? You are smart about not picking on the jobs – bookkeeping is the foundation of the accounting. Without a good understanding of those basic entries, you won’t think fast and won’t make a great accountant.”更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net