I was an accounting assistant and knew absolutely nothing. I stayed there for about two and a half years. My revelation later down the line - I should have left sooner. That was probably one of the first mistakes I made. I think I was making about $17/hour. Far from the riches I thought I would be making after I graduated college. During summers I was making $12/hour serving at a country club and easily surpassing $17/hour at the end of the day with tips.
The money isn't why I should have left. I was doing the standard introductory accounting role - AR, AP, billing and collections. Scaling the collections and billing process was probably my only resume topper in that era of my career. The truth is, I didn't need to stay two years to figure that out. Rather than asking for a measly $3/hour raise and getting $2, I should have pressed for a heavier workload. Early in your career, exposure is everything! Learn as much as you can when you can. The problem was that I didn't know what I needed to know. I'm not too sure how you can expedite that part of the learning curve. If I knew then what I know after 6 years in accounting, I would have done things differently. Expressed interest in more high-level areas of accounting when I was in a job where the CFO herself was willing to sit next to me and draw a T chart. I also didn't know how specialized accounting was. I didn't know about Big 4 audit firms or a CPA exam. Had I directed my career towards accounting in the first place, I would have known the career path - major in accounting, get a job at an audit firm for a few years, and study for the CPA exam. Boom, you're an accounting manager out the door. I'm not an expert on too many careers outside of my own, hell I'm not even an expert at my own, however I do know that a plan would have been helpful.
If you don't have a plan, build your confidence and be able to articulate what it is you do. For God's sake, have a personality too. Being likable and having a good sense of humor has definitely helped me along the way. Especially when I moved into the SF tech space. They are much more likely to hire someone with personality and a smile that can grow into the role, than a rigid robot. Of course you have to have a brain in there, but your personality and the will to be successful will take you far here.
After two and a half years in Real Estate management, I never wanted to see a fax machine ever again. I wanted to work in Tech in San Francisco. I didn't know much about it, but that was my goal. I applied for several roles until I landed an AR Specialist position at a start-up in SF. Pre-IPOs were foreign to me, I had no clue what that meant at the time. Regardless, I was offered the role and I took it. All over again, I felt that I had made it.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Let's back up: college & snagging a first job
Let's set the groundwork of where I stand in the professional world. For starters, I went to college at Chico State. Don't let this fool you. While you may instantly sigh at the thought of another professional beer bong, beer pong, dive bar state college kid, I'm a pretty damn bright and driven lady today. Admittedly, I didn't put too much thought into where I wanted to go to college or even what I wanted to do. When I said Chico State, my parents were probably ecstatic at the cheaper tuition in comparison to the UC yuppies. Don't get me wrong, I wish I had a fancy UC listed on my resume. It doesn't hinder me too much, but it would certainly have added a little flare to my background. In a recent job interview, I was asked by the former CFO of Tesla what college I attended. The great guy he was, he smiled, chuckled and we moved on. It was a mutual laugh, maybe I should have responded with a little more enthusiasm. "Chicoooooo!"
I originally wanted to be a journalist. That was my major when I started college. After the first year I switched it and became a business major. It was okay, I didn't love it but it was general. I thought I could take it anywhere. After a couple years, I started thinking about a minor. It was only a handful more classes to minor in project management, so I did. I graduated in four and a half years with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and a Minor in Project Management, but honestly I didn't know what I wanted to do.
I was fortunately enough that my parents paid for my entire tuition. I left Chico with a degree and no debt. I am forever grateful for that as I see my friends and even boyfriend still paying off their student loans. So there I was. I had a degree and moved back in with my parent's until I could find a job.
I applied to everything! Sales, account management, marketing, legal, and accounting. You name it, I applied! I did cold call interviews for sales roles and I was terrible. I've always had a young voice, so maybe attempting to sell life insurance was a bad idea. I'll never forget when the hiring manager asked me, "you sound very young on the phone, how will you convince someone that you know enough about the value of life insurance to convince them to but it?" I laid some fluffy BS answer on her when really, I didn't know two shits about life insurance other than the one page script they sent me. I was going to job interviews almost everyday.
Finally, I got a call about an accounting role available at a Real Estate management company. Mind you, the only classes I ever had to retake in college were accounting courses. I once said, "I hope I never have to see a debit and credit ever again!" I came in for that interview slightly discouraged from my previous experiences. I had bought all new clothes and was decked out in black slacks, a button down and blazer. Probably looking entirely out of my comfort zone. I sat down with the CFO and we began chatting. Soon into the interview, she asked about my experience working at a local country club that was listed on my resume. It turns out, she and her family were members and upon seeing my resume she asked her two young daughters if they knew me. They had told her they did and how kind I always was to them. I got the job. I believe my title was 'accounting assistant'. I had graduated in December and found a job two weeks later. I felt on top of the world.
I originally wanted to be a journalist. That was my major when I started college. After the first year I switched it and became a business major. It was okay, I didn't love it but it was general. I thought I could take it anywhere. After a couple years, I started thinking about a minor. It was only a handful more classes to minor in project management, so I did. I graduated in four and a half years with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and a Minor in Project Management, but honestly I didn't know what I wanted to do.
I was fortunately enough that my parents paid for my entire tuition. I left Chico with a degree and no debt. I am forever grateful for that as I see my friends and even boyfriend still paying off their student loans. So there I was. I had a degree and moved back in with my parent's until I could find a job.
I applied to everything! Sales, account management, marketing, legal, and accounting. You name it, I applied! I did cold call interviews for sales roles and I was terrible. I've always had a young voice, so maybe attempting to sell life insurance was a bad idea. I'll never forget when the hiring manager asked me, "you sound very young on the phone, how will you convince someone that you know enough about the value of life insurance to convince them to but it?" I laid some fluffy BS answer on her when really, I didn't know two shits about life insurance other than the one page script they sent me. I was going to job interviews almost everyday.
Finally, I got a call about an accounting role available at a Real Estate management company. Mind you, the only classes I ever had to retake in college were accounting courses. I once said, "I hope I never have to see a debit and credit ever again!" I came in for that interview slightly discouraged from my previous experiences. I had bought all new clothes and was decked out in black slacks, a button down and blazer. Probably looking entirely out of my comfort zone. I sat down with the CFO and we began chatting. Soon into the interview, she asked about my experience working at a local country club that was listed on my resume. It turns out, she and her family were members and upon seeing my resume she asked her two young daughters if they knew me. They had told her they did and how kind I always was to them. I got the job. I believe my title was 'accounting assistant'. I had graduated in December and found a job two weeks later. I felt on top of the world.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
A little about me
I'm Mimi.
I recently wrote my first blog about my boyfriend's first year in the California Highway Patrol and found that writing about the details of his experience and my developing thoughts about his career ultimately enriched my mindset and understanding of law enforcement. I decided to wrap up the blog after his first year in a conscious effort to respect the privacy of the matters and people he encounters everyday, and of course to not potentially cost him his job. I refocused my attention and my thoughts back to myself. I thought, if I could have that same enrichment and understanding elsewhere, where would it be? My career.
I'm 28 years old and have been working in Tech in San Francisco, California for about four years. For most of us in our late 20s and 30s, figuring out how to climb the 'corporate ladder' is a constant challenge to learn and develop your own professional skills, pivot on skill development opportunities, overcome the obstacle of age, and to continuously redefine your definition of success. My goals are always shifting forward as one success no longer satiates my professional desires and my ego certainly has highs and lows along with it. My hopes are that in writing this blog I can channel my professional focus, talk through challenges and gain a better understanding of my definition of success. The end goal? To feel successful, proud and simultaneously live a balanced, happy life.
Outside of the office. In a nutshell: I love the outdoors, fishing, hiking, traveling, the beach, the mountains, you name it. I'm spontaneous and risky. That's probably what I like about myself most. I am renting a home across the Bay with my boyfriend, it's on a little hilltop just walking distance from downtown. This is by far the best relationship I have every had. Thankfully, that redefining happened a couple years ago when last dirt-ball was kicked to the curb. I'm happy, healthy, and overall making enough money to feel 'comfortable'. My parents moved out of the country about a year ago, but we talk all the time and visit whenever we can. I'm an only child and have a small family, so they mean the world to me. My dad had a triple bi-bass in his early 40s and that was certainly one of the most impactful life events for me. Likely, more so than he knows. I'm slightly afraid to die, not afraid of death itself but dying without ______ in life. That blank is so many things - having a great relationship with my parents while they are here, seeing them often, getting married, being a great wife, having children, being a great mother, being 'successful' professionally, making life-long friends, making great memories, traveling, salmon fishing in Alaska with dad, so many things fill in that blank for me. Professional success is very important to me, but I constantly remind myself that success is not only professional - success is filling that gap with everything that makes my life worth living. No matter how hard you strive for success, always remember where the true value of your life lies.
Follow me on my journey to try and get ahead in this competitive world! I hope some of my stories and findings resonate with you, make you laugh and perhaps even challenge your thinking. In that case, enlighten me, share your similar story, and tell me what you learned from it!
I recently wrote my first blog about my boyfriend's first year in the California Highway Patrol and found that writing about the details of his experience and my developing thoughts about his career ultimately enriched my mindset and understanding of law enforcement. I decided to wrap up the blog after his first year in a conscious effort to respect the privacy of the matters and people he encounters everyday, and of course to not potentially cost him his job. I refocused my attention and my thoughts back to myself. I thought, if I could have that same enrichment and understanding elsewhere, where would it be? My career.
I'm 28 years old and have been working in Tech in San Francisco, California for about four years. For most of us in our late 20s and 30s, figuring out how to climb the 'corporate ladder' is a constant challenge to learn and develop your own professional skills, pivot on skill development opportunities, overcome the obstacle of age, and to continuously redefine your definition of success. My goals are always shifting forward as one success no longer satiates my professional desires and my ego certainly has highs and lows along with it. My hopes are that in writing this blog I can channel my professional focus, talk through challenges and gain a better understanding of my definition of success. The end goal? To feel successful, proud and simultaneously live a balanced, happy life.
Outside of the office. In a nutshell: I love the outdoors, fishing, hiking, traveling, the beach, the mountains, you name it. I'm spontaneous and risky. That's probably what I like about myself most. I am renting a home across the Bay with my boyfriend, it's on a little hilltop just walking distance from downtown. This is by far the best relationship I have every had. Thankfully, that redefining happened a couple years ago when last dirt-ball was kicked to the curb. I'm happy, healthy, and overall making enough money to feel 'comfortable'. My parents moved out of the country about a year ago, but we talk all the time and visit whenever we can. I'm an only child and have a small family, so they mean the world to me. My dad had a triple bi-bass in his early 40s and that was certainly one of the most impactful life events for me. Likely, more so than he knows. I'm slightly afraid to die, not afraid of death itself but dying without ______ in life. That blank is so many things - having a great relationship with my parents while they are here, seeing them often, getting married, being a great wife, having children, being a great mother, being 'successful' professionally, making life-long friends, making great memories, traveling, salmon fishing in Alaska with dad, so many things fill in that blank for me. Professional success is very important to me, but I constantly remind myself that success is not only professional - success is filling that gap with everything that makes my life worth living. No matter how hard you strive for success, always remember where the true value of your life lies.
Follow me on my journey to try and get ahead in this competitive world! I hope some of my stories and findings resonate with you, make you laugh and perhaps even challenge your thinking. In that case, enlighten me, share your similar story, and tell me what you learned from it!
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