Today was a monumental day in my young life. After working vigorously all summer at one of the top accounting firms in the world, my efforts were realized. At 4:30 this afternoon I was extended an offer to start full time with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) in San Jose, CA, starting next fall, after I finish my fifth and final year at BYU, completing my Masters degree in Tax Accounting. I will most likely be working in the Private Company Services/Personal Financial Services group (PCS/PFS).
PCS/PFS is the only group at the firm that does individual tax returns, as well as trusts, closely held companies, and various other work for high net worth individuals. Basically, this group does the work I hope to someday do in my own firm. These types of groups are rare in large accounting firms like PwC and often quite small and exclusive. Often employees are required to work at the firm for a number of years before being given the opportunity to transfer into PCS. It’s unusual for someone to be hired directly into the group, without interning or rotating (somewhat like an internship for a full-time employee- a probationary stage where the group sees if they like you and your work and if they want to let you into the group) in the group beforehand. I don’t plan on being in public accounting forever (I don’t plan on being in public accounting past five years, to be honest), meaning I don’t have time to wait for a rotation. PCS offers me the opportunity to learn the type of work I want to learn, and I want to start learning as soon as possible.
I’ve wanted to work in PCS for a while now, long before I started with the firm this summer. To my dismay, upon arriving for my internship, I learned I was not assigned to that group, but rather to the Venture Capital (VC) group. I have nothing against VC, it’s just that I knew I didn’t want to work there. Often interns are hired on in the group with which they intern, so I knew I needed to be proactive and take the direction of my internship into my own hands. One month into my internship (at exactly the halfway point) I walked down to the PCS floor and introduced myself. I reached far into the depths of my recruiting and networking and found some people in the group to have lunch with. At that lunch I expressed my desires to work with them and by the end of the day I had two projects assigned to me and two more lined up for the following week. Before I knew it I was the pseudo-intern for the PCS group.
That was one month ago. During that time I’ve made it a point to meet and form a relationship with as many people in the group as I possibly could, having them fill out evaluation forms for me along the way. I’ve talked with the directors and partners of the group and expressed my interest in being hired on with them. Last Friday one of the directors asked me to lunch with him, during which he told me the group liked me and assuming I still liked them and there were positions available, they would hire me into the group in the fall. I couldn’t believe my ears. It was all such a dream. I haven’t had the desire to pursue something so much in my academic or career life since applying for the Masters program two years ago and for it to be falling into place is such a blessing.
And then today. Rich Johnson is my relationship partner. Partners are the equivalent to CEOs or the President of the company, but for an accounting firm. He was assigned to mentor me this summer, providing me with opportunities to shadow him and ask him about the profession. He invited me to his office today, at which time he verbally offered me the position at the firm, congratulating me on my hard work as he did so. Going into the meeting I was unsure how to approach him with my desire to work in PCS, but with his next comment I quickly realized I wouldn’t have to. He said, “Now there’s just one thing I was instructed to follow up with you on, and that is which group you’re interested in working in. I hear you have interest in PCS, is that correct?” Again- a dream. Yes! Yes that’s the group I’m interested! I confirmed his assumption and upon his request outlined all of the reasons why I want to work for the group. He assured me he’d talk to the right people and help me make it happen, adding to the efforts I’ve already put forth.
I came to PCS in the first place for the work. I’ll stay in PCS for the people. For one thing, the group is simply managed so differently than the other groups I’ve worked in. Management cares about it’s people and actually do just that: manage (as opposed to other groups who are left more to themselves, often causing scheduling conflicts and chaos resulting in late nights, understaffed projects, and sprinting to deadlines)! Everyone is aware of everyone else’s schedules and availability. People in the group know how to work hard and play hard. They show up earlier in the morning than any other group and all leave in time for dinner to spend time with their families (which is also earlier than other groups). They stay at work for fewer hours than other employees, but are grossly more focused during that time they are in the office. I’ve found it so frustrating to walk through the halls of the office and see people on Facebook or chatting with their neighbor for hours on end, and then complain that they have to work all weekend (and then… get praised for all their “hard work” as measured by their long hours. Really?) That’s not how PCS is. If you work hard and get your work done, you go home and no one thinks twice about it. It’s not about how many hours you put in or how late the time stamp on your email is. It’s the quality of your work and the relationships you make along the way that count. In PCS people have more to live for than work. They work to live, not live to work. They have families and priorities that don’t revolved balance sheets and income statements. I find that generally speaking the values of the people in PCS more closely align to my personal beliefs and work ethic. Leading up to this summer I had a fantasy that this was what PCS was like. Now, after working in the group, I know it’s real. I would feel quite fortunate to receive an offer in this group.
P.S. When I told Blaine and Kristin the good news they asked if that meant I'd be moving to back to California next year and if I needed a place to stay again. What a compliment and generous offer! They said I could stay indefinitely! They even said my potential husband and child were welcome as well! Or was it that we'd have to reevaluate the situation once I had a husband and child... ?? I guess we'll have to work that out sometime ;)
