Whittling away the time in between classes
I've been really busy lately and probably not updating as much as I want to, but I suppose it's a good thing that I'm keeping busy. Finished off my last midterm (out of the ones that count for anything anyway) today and wow, it was definitely a toughie. A lot of people didn't seem to finish it (although I'm sure some did too) and en route to turning the test in at the end of class, I caught a glimpse of a few blank last questions. But, I'm glad that's done and over with now... only two big bad final tests to go and one whopper of a ten page (yes, that's SINGLE SPACED paper) to go. *whew* Now you see why I'm so busy, no?
On top of that, I've been trying to figure out what I really want to do after graduation. I have a general idea of where I want to be going and what I want to be doing, and there are somethings that I know will help me get there, but I'm not so sure about some of them anymore. Remember my last entry about the abbreviations: CPA, SQL, and MBA? Well, depending on what I REALLY want to do, I might not even need any of them. I was talking to one of my professors who's an IT consultant and he said you don't really need any of them for consulting. To tell the truth, I myself thought it a bit weird that I wanted a CPA even though I'm not a real big fan of accounting, with the exception of tax accounting. And even then, accounting is totally doable without the CPA, you just don't get paid as much. Although... if I wanted to combine everything and do tax consulting, a CPA would surely come in handy. Hmm, tax consulting... now there's an glamorous job! Exploiting tax loopholes while avoiding detection, finding sneaky -but still legal- ways to get out of paying taxes, sounds fun, tehehe.
It was mostly a certain phone call that got me thinking about working again instead of staying in school for my CPA. When I had been looking for a job, I contacted this lady at one of those headhunter/ recruiter organizations. Now, this was a pretty elite recruiting organization because they served high-end banks, investment firms and the like. I'm pretty sure getting a job there wouldn't be easy either, as you had to go through rounds of interviews with them first, then meet the client they'd try to set you up with and interview with them all over again. But I was really fortunate because a woman there not only really liked me, but was actually interested in helping me!
I originally told her that I'd be back in June and would give her a call then, but even before the end of May, she had called to ask when I'd come back. I told her what was going on and said I'd give her a call when I get back in August. (Which is the truth and I still intend on doing.) This all sounds really exciting, but I wonder if she can really help me. I mean, I'd love to work with a high-end bank or some swanky up-there investment firm, even if it's not one of the big ones. I guess we'll just have to wait and see on this one... although I have to admit if something really good pops up, I might just have to give up the CPA and go for that instead.
In the meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out something to do for summer. True, I'll have school and stuff, but since I'm going to take my classes Pass/ No Pass, I don't have too much to worry about. That, on top of the fact that class would only be twice a week, leaves me with a four-day weekend, which is way too much time for someone with no job. I originally tried looking for an internship or maybe even a job (a temp one would work out pretty well) but the time frame for it just would not work out. By this time, most internships are filled up already and what's left is either stuff I don't qualify for or that I really don't want to do (ie. cold calling = ewww). Plus, since I'm coming back right after school, I wouldn't work long enough at the job to justify them hiring me. So I asked my professor for suggestions and he said volunteer.
And that's when a light bulb in my head really clicked: One of the reasons why people are so hesitant to hire me is because I lack work experience. But volunteering is the perfect solution to that: it's work experience that shows heart, dedication, and caring. That's like killing four birds with one stone! Not to mention the fact that I've been meaning to do some volunteer work lately: I did so much of it in high school and then I got here to UCLA and I totally stopped. I really don't know what happened, especially since LA is a place that really needs people giving back to their community a lot moreso than SF, but I just shut down and crawled into my shell and focused mainly on myself and my grades lately. So I figured with summer rolling around and long, lazy days ahead, this is my chance to really redeem myself and give this city a last, good impression of me before I leave. Sounds great! Now if only I could find a local animal or battered women's shelter that'll let me do some accounting/ administrative work...
On top of that, I've been trying to figure out what I really want to do after graduation. I have a general idea of where I want to be going and what I want to be doing, and there are somethings that I know will help me get there, but I'm not so sure about some of them anymore. Remember my last entry about the abbreviations: CPA, SQL, and MBA? Well, depending on what I REALLY want to do, I might not even need any of them. I was talking to one of my professors who's an IT consultant and he said you don't really need any of them for consulting. To tell the truth, I myself thought it a bit weird that I wanted a CPA even though I'm not a real big fan of accounting, with the exception of tax accounting. And even then, accounting is totally doable without the CPA, you just don't get paid as much. Although... if I wanted to combine everything and do tax consulting, a CPA would surely come in handy. Hmm, tax consulting... now there's an glamorous job! Exploiting tax loopholes while avoiding detection, finding sneaky -but still legal- ways to get out of paying taxes, sounds fun, tehehe.
It was mostly a certain phone call that got me thinking about working again instead of staying in school for my CPA. When I had been looking for a job, I contacted this lady at one of those headhunter/ recruiter organizations. Now, this was a pretty elite recruiting organization because they served high-end banks, investment firms and the like. I'm pretty sure getting a job there wouldn't be easy either, as you had to go through rounds of interviews with them first, then meet the client they'd try to set you up with and interview with them all over again. But I was really fortunate because a woman there not only really liked me, but was actually interested in helping me!
I originally told her that I'd be back in June and would give her a call then, but even before the end of May, she had called to ask when I'd come back. I told her what was going on and said I'd give her a call when I get back in August. (Which is the truth and I still intend on doing.) This all sounds really exciting, but I wonder if she can really help me. I mean, I'd love to work with a high-end bank or some swanky up-there investment firm, even if it's not one of the big ones. I guess we'll just have to wait and see on this one... although I have to admit if something really good pops up, I might just have to give up the CPA and go for that instead.
In the meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out something to do for summer. True, I'll have school and stuff, but since I'm going to take my classes Pass/ No Pass, I don't have too much to worry about. That, on top of the fact that class would only be twice a week, leaves me with a four-day weekend, which is way too much time for someone with no job. I originally tried looking for an internship or maybe even a job (a temp one would work out pretty well) but the time frame for it just would not work out. By this time, most internships are filled up already and what's left is either stuff I don't qualify for or that I really don't want to do (ie. cold calling = ewww). Plus, since I'm coming back right after school, I wouldn't work long enough at the job to justify them hiring me. So I asked my professor for suggestions and he said volunteer.
And that's when a light bulb in my head really clicked: One of the reasons why people are so hesitant to hire me is because I lack work experience. But volunteering is the perfect solution to that: it's work experience that shows heart, dedication, and caring. That's like killing four birds with one stone! Not to mention the fact that I've been meaning to do some volunteer work lately: I did so much of it in high school and then I got here to UCLA and I totally stopped. I really don't know what happened, especially since LA is a place that really needs people giving back to their community a lot moreso than SF, but I just shut down and crawled into my shell and focused mainly on myself and my grades lately. So I figured with summer rolling around and long, lazy days ahead, this is my chance to really redeem myself and give this city a last, good impression of me before I leave. Sounds great! Now if only I could find a local animal or battered women's shelter that'll let me do some accounting/ administrative work...