Hello, Hell Week. How are you?

For many people in my program, this week is Hell Week, which essentially translates to a maximum of 2 midterms, 2 papers, and 1 presentation or a minimum of 1 midterm this week depending on which classes you are signed up for this semester. The best part is that after a tough semester of studying, recruiting for jobs, group projects, and other tough obstacles, you see people coming together and supporting one another. Many of my classmates and I will head to the Accounting Library to study and often, you’ll see and find a familiar friendly face. For me personally, I enjoy having that friendly presence. People also start forming study groups or you’ll see group members covering for one another to help lighten that classmate’s load and allow them time to focus on that other class assignment or test.

For my MAccs and MBTs, just wanted to let you all know that we’re almost there! You got this! Only a little bit to go before you can relax and enjoy winter break!

Thank you for the MAccs!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Every year around Thanksgiving, many people start thinking about what they’re thankful for whether it be good friends or family, good food, shelter, or other amazing things. For me, this feeling of thanks started washing over me with a couple of memorable events.

MAcc House Thanksgiving Potluck

As a MAcc, ironically, I also live in a MAcc house with 5 other people in the MAcc program. (*Sidenote – I don’t think I’ve ever used MAcc so much in one sentence before. Feels interesting.) Every week, we do Sunday night dinner together and this past Sunday, we decided to do a Thanksgiving potluck dinner. Not too shabby, eh?

My house and I were definitely proud of ourselves for pulling it together and generating a success of a meal! As the one who cooked the turkey, I was proud to say that there was no overcooked or burnt turkey. Throughout our meal, the grace, and the joking, all I could think about was how awesome that our house had developed a sense of camaraderie and how much our Sunday dinners have come to mean to me.

Communications & Impromptu Presentations

My communications professor, Professor Owens likes to have us list a couple of random topics and then gives us 5 minutes to prepare a presentation on one of those topics. Most of us feel a sense of anxiety at the thought of giving a presentation. However, listening to each of my classmates speak has definitely been a pleasure. As each individual gives their presentation and shares their experiences or opinions related to that random topic, subtle jokes are exchanged between the speaker and the professor or the speaker and the class. By the end of class, everyone is laughing or has laughed at some point in class. At the end of each presentation, the speaker is given tips by his or her classmates on what they did well on or could improve on. Throughout this whole class experience, I’ve noticed that we’re not just George, Michael, Brooke, Carolyn, Terry, Yagna, Rebecca, or some other classmate. Instead, we’re one support team. Giving a presentation to the class is like telling a close friend a story instead of a terrifying experience. Granted, I don’t know about my classmates, but I definitely still have butterflies instead my stomach while I speak. However, with this support team in front of me, it becomes easier to speak in a controlled tone, easier to scan the room and make eye contact, easier to listen to the constructive criticism, and overall, easier to speak and become a better communicator. This past Monday, I couldn’t help but think and appreciate how much my class has come together as a team from being complete strangers to feeling united as a whole.

Don’t forget to say “no” gracefully! – How to decline a job offer

 

Congratulations! You just got a job offer. Even better yet, you didn’t just receive one offer, you received multiple offers and have options.

However, that also means that you can only choose ONE of those offers.

A wise person recently told me that the best way to handle your declines is to leave the door open and that just because you have said no to the firm DOES NOT mean that you’re saying no to the contacts you made. It is up to you to decide how to manage and continue those relationships.

What does this mean?

Tell all the personal contacts you’ve made at the firm your decision over the phone.

Throughout this process, you have probably made some meaningful connections. Be respectful to them and yourself by letting them know preferably over the phone (instead of email or worst, not contacting them at all) your decision. Tell them what you appreciated about them during this recruiting process. You do not need to tell them why you didn’t choose their firm. If they do ask why, the most appropriate response is  to to let them know the reasons why you chose the other firm.

The firm and the personal contacts at the firm you rejected may be disappointed initially, but in the end, they will most likely appreciate the fact that you made that phone call to let them know.

As I mentioned earlier, just because you have said no to the firm does not mean you have said no to these contacts and it is still very possible to continue that professional relationship with those contacts. Who knows? You may end up some day working with that contact.

Telling a firm no is not an easy process, but think of it as a way to maintain relationships in the business world, where networking and connections are critical to success.

Also, the business world is not as large as you may think. There is a strong likelihood that you will run into these contacts later in life, possibly when you are applying for another job especially in the small world of public accounting. The public accounting industry can really only hire experienced people from public accounting.

Good luck saying no gracefully!

 

Women & Ambition Panel with GWiB

This past week, I went to a Women & Ambition panel hosted by PwC and GWiB (Graduate Women in Business). At the panel, we met in small groups and discussed “What is success for women? What is ambition for women?”

These discussions reminded me of this Sociology and Gender class that I took at Cal. At Berkeley and at USC, despite the differences in opinions we shared about women, success, and ambition, we all worked to provide a supportive safe environment for our differing attitudes. And even though I may be slightly biased as a Sociology major from UC Berkeley, I still believe that these discussions about women and success are critical for BOTH men and women. Change will not happen in our society until both sides are aware of these challenges.

What I found really interesting about these discussions were the wide variety of attitudes that we all had about success and ambition. We defined success as wanting it all – a loving family with or without kids, a successful professional career, and being happy in our future endeavors. However, even though we’re all graduate students at the Marshall School of Business, with the topic of ambition, some conflicting questions rose up including is it ok to want to rise to management, but not want to be at the very top, how do we decide what to sacrifice, how do we get to the top and not have to give up our families. These questions went unanswered, but it was obvious that this discussion opened our minds to challenging questions that will definitely pop up repeatedly in our future.

Right now, I’m still puzzling over these questions and have realized that it has become more important to me to seek out work environments that are supportive of this awareness.

If you’re a woman or a man, what does success and ambition mean to you? What does it mean based upon gender?

The Fun Side of Business School with Marshall Eatz

This past week, I went with Marshall Eatz to Musso and Frank, one of the oldest steakhouses in Los Angeles. It was awesome! My ribeye was very flavorful, very moist, and most importantly, put a smile on my face.

One of the great things about a master of accounting program that’s part of a business school is the chance to join the MBA clubs. One of my passions is life is food. As one of my relatives put it, we’re always thinking about the next meal. With Marshall Eatz, I get the chance to indulge my love of food at a cheaper price than what I would pay if I just went to all of these restaurants.

Plus, the cooler part is that you get to meet a lot of awesome people, who are guaranteed to share that similar love of food exploration – adventures through your stomach!

(The above picture was taken at Sage Organic Vegan. I don’t think I could ever go vegan, but it was a cool eating experience to check out.)

So, if you’re in business school, figure out what is that interest of yours whether it’s learning more about a certain industry or profession, developing a new hobby, or maintaining a current interest of yours. Who knows, you might meet that future coworker, best friend, or even your significant other!

SF Giants win the World Series & I received a job offer!

Just thought that I’d share some exciting news about some current events and my current journey with the blogosphere out there.

1)  Recruiting season for San Francisco happened at the same time as the World Series, meaning that I received the opportunity to come back up to San Francisco and watch the games with other Giants fans. Watching the games became a must and a joyous nerve-wracking experience at the Hu family residence.

2) The Giants won the World Series. I know, I know. It’s just a bunch of games, but having been born and raised in SF, this is super exciting news. I can’t help smiling and thinking about Romo’s face once he realized he pulled clutch and threw the winning pitch.

3) I finally have received my first job offer with a Big 4 accounting firm. Recruiting is still not over for me, but I definitely feel less nervous interviewing knowing that I will be working somewhere in San Francisco next year.

Fight On!

It’s all about having a conversation.

For many people, recruiting and interviewing  are terrifying words. However, as a Master of Accounting grad student, they don’t have to be. Here are my 3 reasons why Master of Accounting grad students don’t have to be scared of the word recruiting and interviewing.

1) Congratulations, you have already been accepted into a graduate accounting program, further proof of your awesomeness in the world of accounting.

2) An interview is a sales pitch. It’s your one chance to brag about yourself and all your accomplishments while still being socially acceptable.

3) An interview is also a conversation. Think about this past day. How many people did you talk to? You have probably talked to at least 3+ different people today. You have probably had millions of conversations throughout your life. You can do this!

Good luck!

How bad do YOU want it?

As mid-October approaches, so does midterms. My boyfriend showed me a clip that brightened my day and provided that light at the end of the tunnel to why I need and want to study hard for this midterm season. I’m not just studying to do well in my classes, I’m studying, so that I can learn more and pass the CPA exam on the first try, so that I can succeed and do well in my first serious job, and so that I can achieve my own American dream.

Hope this video clip provides you with the same feeling of hope I’m now feeling.

Case Method? What’s that?

A common term you’ll hear about business schools is that classes use the case method. USC is no different and almost all of my classes utilize the case method.

In the case method, students are given a case where they try to make a decision or try to make causal links between the facts presented in the case and outcomes. The case method promotes more discussion and more active learning in the classroom. However, it can also be frustrating because the instructor doesn’t tell you what you need to know. When you use the case method, what you learn is what you’re taking away from the research you do and what you discuss in the classroom.

When I was first applying for graduate school, one of my important questions to grad school recruiters was “what type of teaching methods are utilized in the classroom?”

Most business schools like to use the case method, however, I wanted to make sure that the teaching method was more than just reading textbooks and hearing lectures in which ever school I ultimately ended up at.

How NOT to murder one of your classmates in grad school

In grad school, you meet a lot of people with different backgrounds, different learning styles, and different expectations. It’s tough not to feel frustrated when someone does not contribute their fair share to the group project. At USC MAcc program,  all of my classes require us to do group projects, where the group is usually randomly selected.

Here are my tips for setting your group up for success and lessening any potential frustration.

1) Sit everyone down and figure out what’s everyone’s expectations for the group project.

What end result does everyone want? How much of a priority is this project to everyone? Different people have different expectations for some group projects. If all of you have the same expectation for this group project, great! Proceed on. However, if people differ in their expectations, figure out what’s the group compromise.

2) What is each member’s time commitment?

What’s going to interfere with each group member’s time commitment to this project? This question helps determine the priority of this group project. If there are other more pressing concerns for one member, they’re more likely to devote less time than they would have to the project.

Both questions 1 & 2 are intended to help the group communicate better and provide you with another perspective about the members of your group.

3) Figure out what is each member’s strengths or areas they want to improve on.

Part of being a leader is figuring out how to get the best out of your team. If certain members are better at finding facts and arguments relating to the case, have them focus more on that area. However, if some members want to improve their writing skills, have them practice that skill and just make sure that someone edits their work and discusses any potential areas for improvement with that member. The best team has members, whose skills complement one another.

4) Have one editor and one coordinator/enforcer.

The coordinator/enforcer is the person, who figures out meeting times and makes sure to keep the group on task and checks up on each member to ensure that action items have been completed. The editor looks over everyone’s work and makes sure that there is one strong voice throughout the project especially if  it’s a group paper. For a group project, sometimes the most efficient way is to split up the work. However, this way doesn’t always ensure that there’s one strong voice echoed throughout the results of the project.

5) Be flexible.

There will always be something unexpected to happen and rather than getting wound up about it, learn how to let go and move on.

Hope these tips help and that your frustration with group projects decrease.

How do YOU make group projects work?