Traveling Observations

So I have been in Dallas for over 2 weeks now and the project is well underway. Unfortunately, due to client confidentiality, I can’t give many details. However, I will say that it has been an interesting experience so far. Here are some things I have noticed so far:

• People in Texas are pretty friendly. Both in the office and in downtown, everyone I have met is cheery. Friends of friends are excited to meet you and show you around their town.
• I have figured out who the people are that I think I would have been friends with in my normal life as opposed to those I am only friends with because I work with them. You get sick of the work ones pretty quick.
• Working out is a must when you have to eat out every meal of the day (essentially).
  You have to get up 45 minutes earlier if you want to go to the Starbucks down the road before work.
• One person can spoil it for the bunch…if one person is doing a poor job, everyone suffers.

This weekend I am going to San Francisco for my first and last four day weekend. We originally decided to do four day weeks because of the long travel distance between DC and Dallas. However, we quickly realized this wasn’t feasible when we have yet to show any results from our work.

I am so excited to see my college and high school friends that will show me around the city and go out on the town. This will be my first time to California…I can’t wait!

CPA Progress

So I took the first section of the CPA exam on Monday, April 14th. I may or may not have passed (I hope I did, obviously). The thing is, even if I had studied more, I probably wouldn’t have studied the things that I wasn’t sure of. The questions were tough!

Here are some pointers for when you take your first (or 2nd, 3rd or 4th part of the exam)

• Study…a lot. You have to dedicate at least a few full weekends to studying. I know it sounds awful, but just suck it up and put in at least 8 productive hours on Saturday and Sunday for 2 weekends.
• Do the practice questions. Some of the questions from the practice exams are almost exactly the same as the real exam.
• Don’t get too worked up. If you are nervous in the exam, you won’t be able to focus. Just tell yourself you’re going to pass and everything will be fine.

I won’t lie to you – your social life is going to suffer while you’re studying for the CPA. Don’t take the exams in the summer - it is too tempting to go to happy hour. When the weather is dreary and cold, sit down with your books and get it done.

Dallas! Or shall I say Fort Worth...

So things really move quick around here. Friday morning I was sitting in my cube in the office thinking I would be there for at least another 2 or 3 weeks. I had only been there for 2 weeks already and it actually wasn't so bad. I was working on some interesting proposal work and helping out a counseling internal initiative. The next thing I know, I'm booking a flight to Dallas and will be traveling there for the next 3 months straight (at least). So, how did this all transpire you ask? I'll try to explain to you what I know, after all this is the business world in action, which is why you need to be flexible.

Apparently the leaders in my office had been down in Texas and there was already a project going on there. Some of the people on the project had to roll off in order to go work on other projects that were in their line of business (not financial services, which is what mine is). The partner from my office convinced them that we should have people from the McLean office travel to work on this client because we have a financial services background. So instead of using Dallas staff, they are going to use McLean staff. I just happen to be one of the lucky ones that gets to go. I don't know if I should really be considered lucky though. I don't think that the work will be exceptionally interesting, but it will give me a chance to get out of DC for awhile. I am sure I will stay in Dallas a few weekends rather than traveling back (although you are allowed to come back every weekend). After all, the flight is 3 1/2 hours and I am not absolutely in love with flying.

Other perks to traveling include airline miles, hotel points, alternative weekend travel (once a month you can go wherever you want and bring a guest!) and all meals paid for. So, even if the work isn't great, at least I'll accumulate some free vacations, get to see friends and family and probably gain 10 pounds...sweet.

The Office

No, not the tv show, unfortunately. This is the place they put you when you are unassigned. Ultimately, the goal is to have the least amount of people in the office, because that means they are out at clients a.k.a. bringing in revenue for the firm. However, with current market conditions, companies are definitely not spending any money on consultants. They are struggling to make it through the mortgage meltdown and remain a going concern.

For people like me, this means not much to do, or so I thought. When my six month long project wrapped up last Friday, I have to say I was excited to go to the office. I figured I'd get some nice downtime, do a little bit of work and get to study for the CPA exam during the day rather than having no life when I'm not at work. Boy was I wrong. I think I have been more busy in the office and working later than when I was at the client. Because of the interesting turn of events (Bear Stearns bail out, Bank of America/Countrywide merger, etc.) and the continued bottoming out of the market, there is a lot to do to prepare for when things turn around. Once the market recovers, a lot of companies are going to need help becoming operationally sound again.

Meanwhile, I have been busy working on internal initiatives and building relationships with my colleagues in the office. This is a perfect opportunity to work on proposals and learn how to sell work, after all, this is how you make the real money and that's what we all want, isn't it? Well, who knows...that could be for another post.

History Major, Consulting Profession - Does It Work?

Definitely. Believe it or not, many firms in the business world (investment banks, consulting firms, etc.) are looking to hire people that were NOT business majors. For them, it's a different perspective,; someone who doesn't necessarily know how the market is supposed to work, but can think logically and have done well in other disciplines. Honestly, most of what you learn in school doesn't apply in the real world, so anything you will need to do in your job can be taught to you. Thus, the things that are most important when you are trying to get into consulting is your ability to learn quickly, ambition, working hard and keeping up in a fast paced environment.

However, you will likely get the question, why consulting? If you are an English major, firms are going to want to know why you want to do consulting instead of going to grad school, being a writer, etc. Make sure you have a good answer (and don't say you're in it for the money). Although it is true that consultants probably make a pretty penny more than writers starting out. If you don't like to follow the market or have genuine interest in the business world, consulting probably isn't for you, but if you truly think that you will enjoy a career in this field, you should go for it.

The best ways to get your foot in the door are:

1. Apply for all jobs/internships - the more times you try, the better chance you have of getting an offer.
2. Read the Wall Street Journal.
3. Prepare to make your case about why you should get the job over a business major.

If you have any other specific question please comment, I would love to help you out!

The CPA exam is taking over my life...

For some awful reason, I decided to sign up for the CPA exam. Even though it is not mandatory because I do consulting, not accounting, it is encouraged when you work for one of the Big Four. Since I am in consulting and do not need to have a CPA license to sign off on financial statements, I decided to take the exam through Colorado, rather than VA, DC or MD. This way, I don't need 150 credit hours. I was an accounting major in college and have all of the necessary accounting courses and I definitely was not about to go back to school for 6 credits. That's tough while you're working!

What's also tough while your working is studying for the CPA exam. I knew it would be difficult, but my social life has virtually disappeared, especially since I decided to take FARE (the financial accounting section) first. The CPA exam has 4 parts and you can take them at different times. So, you study for one, sit for the exam, hope you pass, then start studying for the next one. Once you pass a section, you have 18 months to pass the other 3 sections. Believe it or not, some people pass 3 and then don't pass/take the 4th part and all 3 of the passing sections expire and you have to take them all again. I DO NOT want that to happen to me.

I decided to do the Becker Self Study program and it worked out great because I could order the materials through my firm and never had to pay a dime out of pocket. They pay for the exam too, but only the first time around. If I fail any sections I have to retake them and pay for them myself...so I'm hoping I don't fail.

Being a CPA looks great for consulting and finance because it means you know how a balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows works and how they interact. That knowledge is invaluable when evaluating companies for investments, or for any other reason. If you want more information on taking the CPA exam, go to nasba.org.

The Best and Worst of MS Excel

First of all, I'm sorry this post is a day late. I would have written last night if my Microsoft Excel hadn't crashed about 349127812 times while trying to finish the work that my boss needed before today. I mean, Excel is great at times, but when you start having a lot of calculations, lookups, pivot tables, etc. then the problems start.

I must admit, I am pretty excited that I am finally getting to do some data analysis at work. I know it sounds really nerdy, but I like numbers and after working on business requirements (word documents) for 6 months, this is a nice change. The first week I was completely lost, as I forgot how to do everything in Excel except for the basic calculations (=B5*C5). But with a little help from some coworkers and my boss, I am slowly turning into an Excel ninja (that's what we call people that are really good at Excel). There are a few important points that come out of my new found appreciation for Excel (minus when it quits on me).

• Where I went to school we only had a 1 credit course that met once a week for a semester that went over how to work with data in Excel. For any job in the business world, that is simply not enough. You MUST learn Excel. Take time on your own to play around with vlookups, pivot tables, sumif statements and the like. Trust me, it is worth it.


• If you were not fortunate enough to receive extensive Excel training, don't be afraid to ask for help. There are so many things that you can do so much faster in Excel if you just ask the right person. Usually it only takes them showing it to you once for you to pick up on it. Then you will be able to use the trick all the time in the future. Don't be embarrassed that you don't know how to do something, but don't ask the same question more than once.

Wedding Bells

You know you are officially getting old when your friends are getting married. This weekend I was in Florida for a wedding and it was amazing. Though I am certainly not getting married anytime soon, there are several reasons why going to a wedding is great.

• It's an excuse to take time off from work.
• It's an excuse to turn a destination wedding into a mini-vacation. Stay a few extra days, you might as well, especially if you're in a warm place like Florida.
• Open bar. Enough said there.
• You get to meet a lot of new people, especially if it's a big wedding.
• Most importantly, it's a reunion. I love being around all of my friends since I don't get to see some of them very often. The couple that got married live in Portland, Oregon...that is quite a hike from Washington, DC.

On another note, I'd love to respond to Jenna's comment about what you do when you don't really like your job. It's a tough situation and handling it correctly is imperative to your career. Fortunately, I think I was just having a bad week and things aren't so bad anymore. Then again, I just got back from Florida, so I am in a good mood.

But if you really don't like your job, there are many different approaches you can take.

1. First of all, you have to suck it up for a little bit because you can't just complain whenever you feel like it. It's not professional and you will seem inflexible.
2. Talk to your boss. Be completely honest and give them as much detail as possible about what the problem is and why you are unhappy.
3. Give the situation time to play out. You can't expect for something to happen the next day. Give the people in charge enough time to make something happen that will improve your situation.
4. Find something else to occupy your time. Sign up for the CPA (if you're eligible) or the CFA. It might help to take your mind off of the normal work day activities.
5. If all else fails, look for a new job. I would consider this a last resort unless you have been working somewhere for at least one year (and that's cutting it close).

People Advisory Forum

Since getting involved in several internal initiatives at the firm I work for, I am meeting more of my coworkers and building a reputation for myself. I am becoming busier and more interested in growing our consulting practice in addition to my everyday client work. One of the internal group I was selected for is called the People Advisory Forum. Basically, certain people within our practice were selected to represent their peers and meeting are held to discuss "people" issues. By "people" issues, I mean things that people are upset or concerned about.

I was excited, thinking this would be the perfect way for me to voice the concerns of myself and other coworkers at my level. At our first meeting on Friday, I actually learned that a lot of people throughout the company feel the same way that I do. But then I also heard about issues that had never even crossed my mind, like losing my job.

One of the most common themes was recognition. When working at any company, you will find that there are some people who are top performers and go above and beyond what is asked of them and consistently exceed expectations. On the other hand, there are some people that do their job and just get by, hoping for a free ride when it comes to review time. The thing that makes people angry, is when there isn't enough of a distinction made between these different types of people. Obviously you don't want to publish compensation increases to the entire company, but it is important to a professional to know if they are a top performer, and if so, they should be treated like one. When someone tells me I am a top performer, yet I am stuck on an awful project, it really doesn't make me feel like the firm is looking out for their top performers. Yeah, a good raise is nice, but being given priority in other aspects of your career is sometimes even better.

The second thing, which pretty much blindsided me, was the fact that people seem to be worried about losing their job. Considering the current state of the economy and market expectations over the next 12 months, there may not be a great deal of consulting work out there. People in our practice want to know how we are adjusting our skill sets and our overall strategy to adapt to these conditions. And if there is no work, are we all still going to have jobs? We see firms on Wall Street laying employees off every other week, I certainly hope that doesn't happen to me. But the truth is, it really hadn't even crossed my mind. I figured I would always have a job unless I decided to leave, maybe I should think again.

Getting involved in a forum like this that allows me to work with upper management and will hopefully give me an advantage over others at my level.

Everyone Likes a Little Competition

I don't know about you, but I am a relatively (and by that I mean extremely) competitive person. I was competitive in college and just as much now that I've started working. You must keep in mind though, that you can't show your competitive side quite as much in the real world, because that might be looked down upon. So, people like myself have to find other ways to channel our competitiveness. Suprisingly, it can still be done in a work setting. Hence, the "investment club" that I just started with 14 other coworkers.

So, here's how it works, and the first thing I freaked out about....$2500 minimum. I've only been working for 6 months, do you think I'm made of money? Not quite yet, but hopefully finding good investments will make me one! Each person pays $50 which goes toward investment research. Only the best of course, Valueline and a few Motley Fool newsletters. I've already made 2.5% and that's just in two days...I'm obviously really excited. A small portion of the pool of money will go toward whomever makes the most return by June 30th. To be quite honest with you, I don't even care about the winnings, I'd rather just make money in general.

We have a google group for people to "trash talk" other people's investments and to give tips to other people in the group on anything you may have heard from friends or other investors. I get excited pretty easily, so making money on my stock picks AND outperforming my coworkers is enough to make me giddy. It sure beats actually competing with coworkers to get better reviews and higher pay raises, which is just tacky and really is not politically correct in the workplace (or at least where I work).

In case you were wondering, the three stocks I've bought so far are WDC, RIO and MSFT. Check out some of their stats at smartmoney.com. Buy low, sell high.

Ok, Is It Time for Retirement Yet?

So I have decided that I am ready to stop working already. I have only been in the real world for 6 months and I am ready to quit. That is, I don't like my job right now AT ALL. Sometimes not liking your job is just a phase (which I am hoping is what this is) or it's permanent and then you find a new job or do something else with your life.

Now there are several reasons why one may not like their job and I'm pretty sure the combination I've got going covers all of them.

1. I am working by myself with a client. Usually consulting firms don't like to do this for several reasons (work in groups to make more money, teaming with coworkers produces better client work), but of course I am the one exception since there is not a lot of client work out there right now.

2. The project that was supposed to be ending on December 31, 2007 has miraculously been extended JUST FOR ME until April 8, 2008. Do you know how long that is? I know a few months isn't an eternity, but trust me, it feels like it when you are miserable.

3. I am still doing administrative work and not dealing with any numbers at all. I was a finance and accounting major, clearly that is why I took a job as a FINANCIAL consultant.

4. My boss is not listening to me. I have had a good attitude about being stuck on this project but since voicing my concerns that I have reached a plateau in terms of learning, there hasn't been a strong push to get me off this project.

5. I get frustrated when I don't know how to do things and my boss just makes me feel like an idiot. As if I am supposed to know how to do everything as a first year staff. I know I was an accounting major but considering that I haven't used numbers once since I started working, I need to brush up on my skills.

I am sure there are more reasons that are contributing to what is making my life so unpleasant right now, but I can't think of them. I just signed up to take the CPA exam, so that will help to get my mind off of real work and on to trying to pass the four parts of the exam. Also, getting involved in internal initiatives helps. It takes my mind off of the meaningless work I am doing at the client site and on to helping to sell our services in the marketplace, recruiting top candidates and ensuring our practice strategies are aligned.

I am not really sure how long you are supposed to put up with not liking your job, but I am pretty sure I have a short fuse.

'Tis the Season

We are now into December and I can't believe it. Time flies when you're having fun (a.k.a. working). It seems like just yesterday I was still in college. The best part about December is clearly the delicious food and the holiday parties. The month is quickly getting filled up with travel plans, holiday work happy hours and celebrations. However, work goes on.

The project I am on has been extended until the end of December. I am pretty sure our client just has money to spend by year end so unfortunately I have become somewhat of a loaned staff person. What I am working on right now really isn't rocket science, it's just the there are not enough full time resources at the client site for them to complete the work themselves. It seems quite preposterous to me that a client would pay so much money for consultants for work that isn't very difficult, but desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose.

Another notable observation is the absurd amount of meetings I have to go to every day. Some are actually productive but some are purely status meetings. It is important to have a project plan and track what people are doing, but enough is enough. I spend more time sitting around a conference room table than actually doing work. This leaves me feeling stressed that I won't have enough time to finish what I need to. Not fun.

With everyone taking off a lot of time for the holidays, December is likely to be a pretty unproductive month.

Holidays = Vacation Time

After working for 3 months straight (okay I guess that's not really that bad considering I am going to be working for the rest of my life) I am ready for a vacation. You'd think maybe I had a day off for Columbus Day or even Veteran's Day...nope. But finally Turkey Day is upon us and my firm was gracious enough to give us both Thursday AND Friday off. A lot of people took Wednesday off too so that will be a pretty boring day.

The work life is going well. Last week was spent working pretty normal hours (8:30 to 6:30). Thursday night our group that we have so fondly named "Team New Hire" met up for a happy hour on Thursday night in Dupont Circle. The bar we went to had a lot of good looking people just getting off of work. There were also some people there who looked like they were making a night of it (if you know what I mean - they were dancing on tables at 9pm). Friday wasn't too painful, though leaving at 6pm to start your weekend is a little bit miserable. Saturday morning started early attending a charity walk for the client I am on. Normally I would have snoozed my alarm but I had already committed to going and my partner was going to be there. It actually turned out to be a fun time even though the walk was 3 miles rather than the little loop around the National Mall that I thought it was going to be. The rest of Saturday was spent sleeping...work really wears you out (or maybe it was going out the night before and getting only 3 hours of sleep).

The best part about working and having money is going to visit friends. My friends and I went to Baltimore on Saturday night to visit two of our friends from Richmond who work in the city and have an apartment in Federal Hill. Their place was gorgeous and I was quite surprised at how classy they have become since college. I guess people actual do grow up and become responsible once they have real jobs. But then again, thinking about the events of the night, we are definitely still young and not quite that grow up yet.

I am excited for the three day week this week and am excited for my mom to come down and visit me for Thanksgiving. She has called about 15 times reminding me of things to get at the grocery store because she clearly has no faith in my cooking ability. Both of my roommates will be out of town so we'll have some quality time being lazy and if she's lucky, I'll show her around DC a little bit. Happy Thanksgiving!

First One In, Last One Out

Let's face it. As a first year staff at any company, you're going to be working your butt off. But, if you go into the real world knowing that, it makes it far less painful when the long hours actually hit you. I have always had the attitude that you need to put your time in and establish yourself in order to create a reputation within your business unit. However, you will find that not everyone feels that way and only want to work 9 to 5. Honestly, this is just not realistic.

I can probably count on one hand (okay, maybe two) the amount of times that I only worked 8 hours in a day. As a first year you really should be the first one in and the last one out. If your manager is at the office or client later than you are and there is something you can be doing to help out, you should still be working as well.

In addition, do what you do well. Don't rush through your work because you think that you have to. Ask the person giving you the work how long they think it should take you. If you do a poor job on it they are not going to trust you to do work for them in the future. Quality is one of the most important things in the professional services world and if it's not there, you might be out of a job sooner than you think. Always give 110%, even when it comes to making things look "pretty". I know Microsoft Word is a pain to format, but it really does make a difference when you are presenting something to the client, or even a co-worker or manager.

Lastly, accept your weaknesses. If you are not particularly savvy in a particular application (i.e. Microsoft Excel, Visio, Powerpoint), let those who are take that portion of a project. It is important to play off of each other's strength in order to be efficient and provide the most value to the client. Don't take offense if someone tells you that your co-worker is better at something than you because they will also recognize your strengths and commend you for them at another time.

New York New York

This week has been a change of pace since I am in New York City for training. The best part was that I got to come up to visit friends for the whole weekend and my company paid for it. That's a nice little perk. However, the boringness that is training barely makes the free trip exciting.

Weekends in NYC are crazy, hands down. I was able to meet up with friends from school that I hadn't seen in awhile on Friday night, then met some new friends on Saturday night. It's great when everyone invites friends from home, work, etc. because your socially network grows exponentially. Although you aren't going to be using it for business purposes on a Saturday night, these are good contacts for the future. Also, shopping is also amazing. If you are here, go to SoHo. Yes girls, I am talking to you. You can get lots of cute stuff without breaking the bank, it's a steal.

So that brings me to Monday, the dreaded first day of training. I'm pretty sure that all training is pretty boring so I can't really complain. I was expecting it. While it's nice to learn all about the program that I am in and where we fall within the entire firm, I have heard it all before. The days go by so slow and though I am sure I will take away some valuable information, sitting and listening for 8 straight hours is difficult. The best things I have learned this week have been about business etiquette and business writing, which I think will be applicable when I return to work next week. You'd think that people know all about etiquette, but you'd be surprised. Many of my co-workers went out for Halloween last night and about twelve of them showed up late for training this morning. That is absolutely unacceptable. Other talk during the presentations to their neighbor. It is really very rude. Every time I see things like this I make a mental note to myself to NEVER do anything like that. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that before the week is over.

Craziness

I must apologize for not writing, but work has been crazy. What I've decided to do from now on is just give you a day to day perspective of what the working world is like. Let's start last week.

I was back in the office waiting for my project to start. The funding hadn't been approved yet so I pretty much had nothing to do. However, this is usually when you get snatched up by higher level people to work on internal initiatives and basically work on things that no one else has time to. This could be really boring, awful work, or it could be really interesting. I had the opportunity to work on a few process flows that our company is trying to develop in order to serve a broad range of clients. By gathering "best practices" in the industry, you can bring those to your clients and help them to become an industry leader.

Just as I was getting involved and really starting to get work done on these internal projects, I find out that the next day I am going back out to the client. But, it's not for the project I thought. The project either fell through or we decided to stop waiting, I'm not really sure which, but I was placed on a new project. Now I am working with a manager and another staff person my age in order to write business requirements. You probably ask, what are those? Basically it's documenting the process by which something gets done, where the information comes from, essentially what the business needs to do to get from one point to another. It's a lot of talking to different people, figuring out what they do, how they can do it better and what functionalities they need in order to complete their tasks.

So, just as I was getting involved in this project this week, I have to leave to go to New York City for 2 weeks. Though I am excited about seeing old friends (I am obviously going up the weekend before on the firm) I am scared to leave my project because I may not know what is going on when I return. Maybe they'll even replace me. We'll have to see.

All in all I am still loving my job but I feel like I am always behind schedule and have no time to catch up. I wonder if this is how it will be from now on!

Corporate Social Responsibility

When going on interviews you will surely hear all about the firm's vision and mission and yada yada yada. Most likely the firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy will come up and it will go in one ear and out the other. But, if you don't know what CSR is, let me give you an idea. This is a firm's way of taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on shareholders, consumers, employees and the community. This is going beyond the regulatory compliance issues and can differ among firms. For those of you that are green (a.k.a. you love the environment) then CSR is something you should pay attention to and even try to get involved with at the company you end up joining.

What with global warming, pollution, recycling and the like, the environment is something we should all care about. Getting involved at work is a great way to look good in front of your boss while doing something productive. It is also a great way to meet people within the firm who have similar interests. Though the environment is important, it may not be your passion, which is fine, because there are other ways to get involved in corporate social responsibility.

Here are some things you can do to be actively involved:

• Plan a community event (Habitat for Humanity, volunteer at local schools, etc.)
• Organize a fundraiser
• Pick a cause and get others involved

Being Domestic

Though I had my own apartment with friends in college, it wasn't exactly like the real world. For one, I still shared a bedroom. I also had a meal plan for one of the semesters and had lots of free time to make meals or even better, go out for meals with friends. Now, I find myself looking up recipes online to make for dinner parties or just to bring for lunch at work. Wow, I have become classy in my old age. A great place to look for fun recipes are websites like Better Recipes or even on the back of pasta boxes or other basic food packages.

Sundays are great for preparing food for the week, or having dinner with your roommates since everyone is usually around. During the week, after getting home from work (especially if you're working long hours) it's difficult to coordinate apartment dinners and the last thing you want to do is have to spend an hour making something for yourself. So, not only am I learning how to cook (which my mom tells me is important) becoming domestic also includes the dreadful cleaning.

Cleaning is obviously my least favorite thing, considering I am a pretty messy person myself. But, it has to be done, especially when you are having visitors. I never thought I would enjoy dusting, cleaning the bathroom (well, I don't really ENJOY that) but having a spic and span place makes you feel pretty good about yourself.

Starting out a new job will be overwhelming but make time to learn new things around the house too. It will definitely be worth it in the future when you have your own home and aren't just living in a high rise apartment (like me).

Officially Assigned

One day I was sitting in the office thinking I'd be there for another few weeks with nothing to do and the next day I was placed on a project at the client site. Within the consulting industry, firms can win projects overnight and must staff them immediately. So, you never really know what you will be doing each day or really how long the project will be since many times they get extended. That is what makes this field exciting.

Upon arriving at the client site, I entered a room with about 20 people sitting at conference tables with two computers set up each. Everyone appears to be working but there are occasional shouts across the room and lots of movement. My first day is filled with meetings, learning about what my new project will be, who will be working on it and what exactly the client wants as an end result. I'm already starting to see the different personality types of who I will be working with, which is important. This way I will know how to interact with them to get the most work done. Developing a reputation of being productive and good at what you do is the best way to get interesting stuff to work on.

Monday morning should be interesting since it's when we actually start our real work. I am hoping to catch on quickly and get to work, since it is going to be a busy week.

Late Nights and No Overtime

Last night was my first very late night in the office. If I had not had an internship last summer where I experienced the 8pm, 9pm or even 10pm late work nights, I would have been in for quite a shock yester-evening. Leaving the office at 10:45pm was not exactly what I had expected my third week on the job when I wasn't even assigned to a specific project yet. Nonetheless, I was asked to help out wrapping up a project that will be presenting to a client's management this week. I was eager to get to work regardless to the potential late nights.

I was able to learn about the project even though I didn't actually work on it and I was working directly with a partner, which is great visibility for me. The only bad thing about leaving at 10:45pm is the fact that you don't get paid any more than if you had left at 5:45pm. Most professional services employees (accounting, consulting, finance, etc.) are on salary, which means there likely isn't any overtime pay. Though some firms give out end of the year bonuses, sometimes you have to do something exceptional to actually receive one.

Despite this minor setback, you should always have a positive attitude even if you do have to stay late some nights. Most firms are fairly flexible so when you need the time off or have to leave early for an appointment, they are understanding. The relationship between yourself and your employer is a give/give one. If you give a little extra some days, so will your engagement team. What my mom says is really true if you think about it..."It all comes out in the wash."

The Real World Is Officially Amazing

I have only been in the "real world" for approximately two weeks but I am already loving it. The job is going well so far, though I have yet to receive a project. However, let's keep in mind that I have only been working for six business days. Being at work each day keeps me busy and has allowed me to get into a routine, which is very helpful.

There are several reasons why the real world may be even better than college. First of all, I have already gotten my first paycheck. Wow, that was nice. Although I have expenses, I have money left over to spend on whatever I want. I can travel to other cities to visit my friends from college or go shopping. Second, no homework. When I get home from work, that's it. I have nothing that I absolutely have to do before the next morning. This may change as I get more involved in different projects and may have to work on tasks from home, but as of right now, after 5:30pm, I'm home free. This is where the routine comes in. Everyday when I get home from work I get to go running on a beautiful path (well, it's on the side of the highway) near my building. By forcing myself to do this everyday ensures my work out, which I can get very lazy about. Third, you meet so many new people being in a city populated with young professionals. Being friendly goes a long way and you never know when you will meet someone new.

The weekends are very fun here and I have been fortunate enough to have friends from college in town my first two weekends here. They have already started putting their paychecks to good use, coming up from Richmond or down from New York to the DC area. Although you have to find which crowds you fit in with in a city, there are lots of options to choose from and I am looking forward to a variety of social activities over the next few months!

Workin' Girl

Well, the day finally arrived. Monday officially began my career in the world of consulting. I'm sure your wondering, was it all I expected? Am I on the track to becoming a partner? Not quite yet. But I can give you insight into what it has been like so far as an official full-time employee in the consulting arm of a big four accounting firm.

Day One: I was a little bit nervous, but knowing that another girl I knew from college, as well as someone I interned with last summer, were starting the same day eased my fears. However, don't worry if you don't know anyone in your starting class, it is the perfect opportunity to meet new people. You will bond over the awkwardness of not knowing anyone and having to sit through endless firm training. And that is exactly what you will get for at least the first week of your new job. Training, training, training. Any firm you work for wants to make sure that you know all of the resources that are at your fingertips to help you succeed. Our first day was filled with information about the firm's vision, strategic mission and its people. We also received our beautiful brand new laptops which will be ours until we decide to leave the firm. With that comes all of the necessary training of how to connect to the internet, connect remotely from a client, and how to use the online resources available. All in all, it was a good day. I met the new hires in my group, who were extremely friendly and also excited to be starting their careers.

Day Two: I was not so nervous anymore. I knew day two of training would be more of the same technology learning, like how to enter your time and expenses. Although I knew most of the information we went over in the first two days because of my internship at the firm last summer, it was good to have a little refresher. There is not much to say about this as I am getting settled into my routine.

Speaking of getting settled, I moved into my new apartment in Ballston, which is in Arlington, VA. So far, it is absolutely amazing. Though we have had several housekeeping items to take care of, it has worked out perfectly since one of my two other roommates does not start work until next week. She took care of setting up our wireless router (so we can all connect to the internet at once) and settling our issues with the phone and cable channels. Though parking is expensive, I am so glad to have my car here because I can drive to the cheap grocery store up the street rather than going to the expensive one across the street. It may not seem like a big deal, but you notice these things once you have to pay for groceries yourself!

So, all is going well here in the Nation's Capital (well, close to the Capitol at least)!

Bring a lunch or go out on the town?

One of the big questions you face when starting a job is deciding whether or not you are going to pack a lunch and bring it to work or go out with co-workers each day. Deciding this beforehand will help you to plan grocery shopping and of course, that ever important spending account. There are some people you will find that eat out everyday, some just a few days a week or others, not at all, but it is a personal preference. Hopefully in your office you can find people who do both so that you always have someone to take a break with and eat your lunch. Some offices even have little parks or terraces right outside that can be utilized on a nice day.

Personally, I prefer to bring my lunch for a few reasons. Number one, going out for lunch costs between $6-$12. To do that every day would mean an extra $30-60 per week which doesn't really make sense considering that I can do all of my grocery shopping for all meals during the week for about $50. Also, though Chipotle, Panera, Subway and the like are a treat, eating out is not always the healthiest option. I find that I pack more sensible meals, like fruit, vegetables and generally smaller portions when I do it myself. This way, I know what I'm eating.

On the other hand, staying around the office for lunch also means that you miss out on the socializing the goes on if most other people go out. I know at my job last summer only myself and one of my co-workers brought our lunches, so we would eat together or at our desks while everyone else went out or brought something back. Since they were from out of town, but working on our project, they didn't have the luxury of a kitchen, but would always wonder why we never came out to lunch. So, believe it or not, lunchtime can be a win/lose situation. I eventually compromised and would bring my lunch Monday through Thursday and then go out to lunch on Friday as a treat to myself for a good week. But, it's up to you!

Where did all my single friends go?

I remember when we all started college and everyone was single, just looking to have a good time. After all, we were too young to be in serious relationships when we still had four years of college ahead of us. Well, times are a changin'. As I look around at most of my friends, even the ones you NEVER expected to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, are in serious relationships. I guess we are getting to that age when people are starting to think about (gasp) the M-word (marriage). Moving to a new city where there are a lot of young people, this makes me a little nervous.

I want to be able to go out with my other single friends and you know, meet people. However, what if most other people are also in relationships like my friends are. This is not good. As I check out my Facebook account, I swear that in the last week, at least five of my friends went from being "single" to "in a relationship". And of course, if it's on Facebook, then it's legit. However, most of them graduated at least a year ago and they are in relationships with people I've never seen before, which makes me think that they met them in the new city they live in. This gives me hope. I could probably analyze silly situations like this all day long but it really will do me no good. Luckily one of my apartment mates is also single (like me).

New Chapter

I'm about to start a new chapter in my life, but why am I so sad? I know once I get to D.C. I will be so excited to see all of my friends that have also moved there to start their careers. And I will be excited to see my roommates, who are two of my best friends. And I will be excited to start my new job and be making money. So why am I trying to push off leaving Massachusetts as long as possible even though I really don't have anything to do here?

I have come to the conclusion that there are several reasons why I am sad. One, I am leaving my home indefinitely. My family is here and as much as a I fight with them at times, I am going to miss them. Two, my last summer ever, or at least as far into the future as I can imagine, is over. This was my last summer of freedom and it was amazing. I got to do something I have always wanted to do and reconnected with old friends. But as soon as that happened, it's time to pack up and leave again. Three, I am scared of what the future holds. It sounds pretty silly that you can be scared at age 22 but I am. Who knows if I will like D.C. or my new job. Like all things, I guess we will just have to see.

Measurements

I'll tell you this much, a tape measure is essential when moving in to a new apartment. My roommates and I have already changed our furniture plans for the simple fact that some things won't fit or will just fit very awkwardly. The last thing that we want is for our first apartment to be an ugly one. If at all possible, you should try to see the apartment before even signing the lease. Much to our surprise, we have an ugly blue/gray carpet instead of the beige one that we thought we were getting. But, there isn't much we can do about that now.

Make sure you take the dimensions yourself because usually the floor plans make the place look a lot bigger than it actually is. I'm not really sure how they get away with that, but they do. For example, my bedroom can probably fit a bed...and that's all. Problems arise when you have furniture already moved from one city to another and then have no place to put it! So, plan accordingly so you don't end up wasting money.

Seattle

Upon accepting my job offer last fall, I wanted to have a bit of a say in what project I get put on when I start in September. The clients my firm works on are all over the country and the globe for that matter, so there is a lot to choose from. I figure that traveling when I'm young could be a really great experience so I have made it my goal to show interest in projects that can utilize my skills and would also involve seeing new places.

Considering that I interned at the firm last summer, I already know many people who work there that were on my project. Getting in touch with them is going to be crucial in getting my foot in the door on a good project. I have also heard about a relatively new project that is in Seattle. Wow, that's far away. I've never been there, so living out there for a few months could be a fun time. Either way, explore your options. Talk to whoever your boss will be and express your interests to them. It could mean the difference between an extremely boring assignment and an exotic vacation.

Eliminate Duplicates

Today I went with my mom to our townhouse that we usually rent out. It is currently vacant and my mom has put all of the stuff she has gotten for my apartment all set up there, it's pretty cute. However, upon arriving, I realized how many extra things my roommates are going to have. I am sure that all of their parents have gotten them the essentials, like kitchen supplies, shower curtains, etc. My mom is no different. I think I have about 4 sets of serving utensils and 8 frying pans.

In order to eliminate these situations, make sure you talk to your roommates! Being at a sleepover camp all summer hindered my ability to stay in contact with them as we planned our move and now we are paying for it. Literally. I am still going to bring all of the stuff my mom so graciously bought for me, but I hope we have someplace to put it! Each roommate should be in charge of bringing certain things, it makes life so much easier.

Still Crying Like a Baby at Age 22

So the summer camp I was working at ended yesterday. The goodbyes were emotional, as the students have become so close over the past six weeks and the proctors so attached to them. Of course, playing the saddest songs ever doesn't help either. I remember being a student at the camp seven years ago and how upset I was to have to leave. I cried. A lot.

However, this year was no different. I was no less emotional than I was then. Realizing that you are closing a chapter of your life and starting a new one is one of the saddest parts of moving on. After becoming so close with co-workers and kids, knowing that I will be sitting in an office in less than a month is depressing. On Monday morning I will wake up expecting the kids to be returning so we can continue on with Week 7, but there is no Week 7. It's over.

Maturity

Though I am in my twenties, 22 to be exact, I still feel immature. I am known for my lack of common sense (sometimes) and clueless antics. This makes me nervous to enter the office environment, even though I have had internships that have gone quite smoothly.

I think I'm going to concentrate on sounding more intelligent and well-read. Or something like that. If I can at least be knowledgeable about everyday occurences in the news, that will help. Being able to hold an intelligent conversation will save you some embarrassment.

Check out this website if you need some help sounding smart.