As all of you know, I have been in school since May 2010. I have been working my little tooshy off, but it's been a really slow process. Once we moved here to Texas, I decided I would plow through it as fast as I could. So, that's what I've been doing. There have been a few bumps and snafus along the way, but for the most part I have done really well. All of this studying is in planning to try to enter the accounting world with a career that I love, Bachelor's, Master's, and CPA in hand. Well, part of that process is to get an internship for some real-world experience.
The whole process started back in February. I went to the school's Firm Night. This is where all the accounting firms in the area (including some from the "Big Four") come to meet potential candidates. I had signed up for speed networking--essentially a speed dating process, I assume, although I have never done one of those. Anyway, I had to sit down at a table with recruiters and discuss in four minutes or less why I would be a good candidate for their company. Needless to say, I was terrified. By the end of the night, however, I had become an old pro at explaining my resume in a nutshell. After it was all done, I went back to life as normal.
Three days later I received an email from a small firm in Dallas saying they had been really impressed with me and wanted to pursue an internship for me at their company. I was excited, but still wanted to explore other options. So, I logged onto the school's career site and started submitting my resume to various companies--or at least, that's what I wanted to do. Being that my GPA was an abysmal 2.9 (long story--definitely one for another post), I couldn't apply with anyone from the Big Four. I was sad about that, but at the same time, I don't know if I would want to work for one of them. I had heard horror stories about working 100-hour workweeks and being a number in a herd of minions. Being that I am a mom to four very active children, I wanted a mid-sized firm. So, I applied to two more.
At this point, I had three potential internships. Both of the ones I applied for chose me to do a campus interview. If that went well, I would then have an office visit with other interviews during that time which would be the final step before receiving an offer. To make a long story short, my campus interviews went well and I was asked for an office visit to all three firms. I went to the first one that had pursued me, and to make another long story short, they offered me an internship, withdrew it saying they weren't sure if I could give them the time they would need and they didn't think I could handle the commute. Then they called me back a few weeks later saying they would actually like to offer me an internship after all. Of course, I had already washed my hands of them, so I very politely told them no, thank you.
One of the companies invited me to a social event at this place called Top Golf. It was a driving range of sorts with three levels facing out to goals. The point was to try to hit the golf ball as far as one could and make it into the various targets. Here is what the building looked like:
You can't see the goals, but they are on the left. The building is just open platforms facing the green. It's way cool. It was a lot of fun to be there and the people were all really nice. I had decided right then that this was the firm that I wanted to go to.
A few weeks later, I went to their office for an office visit. Again, a lot of fun. Everyone was very friendly and the office was really pretty. I had enjoyable interviews and a nice lunch. I had a great feeling when I left that I would get an offer, but obviously I wasn't sure.
A few days later I went to the office visit of the other firm I had applied to, LGT. It was a really great day as well. The firm was smack dab in uptown Dallas, so it was very fancy. Maybe even a little TOO fancy for me. As much as I would like to think that I could fit in to the hardcore business world, I need some place where I can be me and not worry about keeping up appearances.
Long story short again, I did not receive an offer from the third company (LGT), but I did receive one from MCG which I was ecstatic about since this was the one I wanted anyway! My internship will start in February of 2015 (super long way away, but that gives me a chance to take my tax accounting class to get me familiar with what I will be doing) and go until May. I. Can't. Wait! Here is a picture of the building:
