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)!