Young Professionals Corner: Stress Management

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of guest posts from young VSCPA members dealing with topics of interest to young professionals. If you'd like to write or have a topic you'd like a future blogger to cover, please email VSCPA Academic & Career Development Coordinator Tracey Zink.

By Jasmine Gao, CPA
Mangham Associates

We never live in a stress-free world. The stress to meet a deadline, to pass an exam, to get long with people, or to become the person we want to be has long existed in our life and grown up with us. Stress management is never something new and it can be very personal. I grew up in a highly competitive and demanding academic environment, where I was ranked in everything I did as a child. Even worse, I’m a natural perfectionist. You would expect the stress level to be off the charts for somebody like me. Luckily, my stress levels are never out of control.

Realizing that stress is an integral part of life is my very first step to cope with it. Thinking that stress comes from me moving closer to my goals will actually make me feel stronger. However, I have to admit that sometimes just having a positive attitude is not enough. I also have some stress relievers that I find useful and I’m highlighting a top few:

1. It’s ok to cry
2. Talk to family and friends
3. Learn to say no
4. Take a walk outside
5. Spend time doing a hobby
6. Listen to music

Stress is a fact of life. While it’s not something that we all happily embrace, it can be reduced to a healthy level that motivates us to become the better selves. Have faith in yourself and you can achieve more with stress being your friend.
Jasmine graduated with distinction from University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce with double concentrations in Finance and Accounting and a double major in Financial Mathematics in 2011. She is working as an investment analyst with an endowment management firm in Charlottesville. She is responsible for sourcing and evaluating investment ideas and performing market and asset class research. She passed all three levels of the CFA exam and will be eligible for the CFA Charter upon completion of the required work experience.

Guest Blogger: Make a Difference at CPA Assembly Day

By Gary Thomson, CPA
Dixon Hughes Goodman

How you can make a difference for the CPA profession in Virginia’s legislative process…..VSCPA’s CPA Assembly Day.

As CPAs we may often be hesitant to take an active role in Virginia’s annual General Assembly session.  You may be wondering, how can I take time away from the office during Busy Season to attend the VSCPA CPA Assembly day?  How can I make a difference anyway? 

The VSCPA’s CPA Assembly Day, held this year on January 21, 2014, provides you with an excellent opportunity to engage in Virginia’s legislative process, become informed on key issues affecting businesses in our Commonwealth and also increase legislators’ awareness of our profession through advocacy at the General Assembly. 

Become an active part of Virginia’s legislative process — Engage

This coming year in 2014, the General Assembly will convene for a 60 day period and enact the two-year state budget into law.  Legislators rely on citizen and professional insight as they work to develop the state’s spending priorities and vote on legislation.   To learn more about the legislative process, take a minute to go to the interactive General Assembly website.  Get to know your legislator on this site, learn more about the state budget and find answers to common questions about the GA session.  At CPA Assembly Day, you will also learn more about how to interact with legislators and take a trip to the Capitol and General Assembly Building to see all the action. 

Become informed on key business issues affecting Virginia  and the CPA profession —  Learn

At VSCPA’s CPA Assembly Day, you will hear more about hot topics affecting the CPA profession and business community. The VSCPA government affairs team will also review its 2014 legislative priorities including bills the VSCPA is watching at the GA session.  As trusted business advisors to our clients, CPA Assembly Day is an excellent way to stay informed about the latest legislation being considered in Virginia.

Become the voice of the CPA profession and increase our advocacy at the General Assembly —  Advocate

As a member of the VSCPA, your outreach and advocacy of the CPA profession before the General Assembly is crucial.  Our profession is well respected at the General Assembly and CPA Assembly Day is your opportunity to increase legislators’ awareness of financial and business related issues that affect our profession and clients.  Your strong support of the VSCPA and participation does matter! 

To learn more and RSVP for the January 21st CPA Assembly Day, click here.   I look forward to seeing you there. 

Young Professionals Corner: Top 5 Things You Should Be Able to Discuss With Clients

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of guest posts from young VSCPA members dealing with topics of interest to young professionals. If you'd like to write or have a topic you'd like a future blogger to cover, please email VSCPA Academic & Career Development Coordinator Tracey Zink.

By Deana Sentman, CPA
Cherry Bekaert LLP

In today’s competitive professional world it is no longer enough to be just a great technical accountant. To connect with clients we need to have a much broader understanding of the world and the environment the client operates in. To achieve this I’ve whittled it down to five key areas.

• The first layer, world events is probably the easiest to keep up with. Spend a few minutes setting up RSS feeds and news applications which can deliver relevant information to you in summary format and keep the information overload to a minimum.
• The second layer is the business environment, understanding global and local environments changes are important.
• The third layer is industry. Individual industries have a rich variety of sources. Most industries have associations representing companies in the industry. These associations are a great resource for news, many of them allow you to set up and customize RSS feeds to tailor information.
• The fourth layer is the company and their competitors. Specifics about the client’s company and their competitors’ can be found in sources such as LinkedIn or industry blogs which allow you to keep up on the opinions of industry trends, events, and companies.
• The fifth layer is technical developments. While clients can expect a level of proficiency in accounting they will also expect that you have familiarity with new technical developments to help guide them through so we can never stop learning our craft.

We must also remember to be ourselves, discuss our hobbies, and life outside the workplace. The easiest way to learn about others is to share your life and listen to theirs. You’ll build trusting relationships if you approach them as a whole person.

Deana Sentman is a senior tax associate at Cherry Bekaert LLP in Roanoke.

The Student's Perspective: An Unlikely Turn of Events

By Paul Fitzsimmons
President, Beta Alpha Psi, James Madison University

Editor's note: This is part of a series of guest posts from members of the James Madison University (JMU) chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honors fraternity for accounting students. These posts will cover topics of interest to accounting students. If you have a question you'd like a Beta Alpha Psi member to cover, please email VSCPA Communications Specialist Chip Knighton.

Growing up, I always struggled with the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I could never quite picture myself as a businessman, let alone an accountant. Actually, the only thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to be an accountant. As far as I was concerned, anything else was a possibility. My dad is a CPA, and when I was younger I’d go into work with him occasionally. I remember thinking how boring it looked to have to sit in a desk all day and crunch numbers. This stereotype of the accounting profession is one that I think is shared by a lot of people and can deter otherwise potential CPAs from pursuing the career.

I entered JMU as a Justice Studies major; I thought being in the FBI would be pretty cool. It was only until I took my first Justice class that I quickly realized the major was not the path for me. In fact, the teacher emphasized the fact that the program at JMU was designed to be completely different from traditional criminal justice tracks. I began to peruse other majors but continued running into the same tough question- what did I want to be when I grew up?

I eventually made the decision to become a business major- marketing actually. My rationalization was that if by the end of my freshman year at JMU I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, I couldn’t go wrong with getting a business degree and figuring it out later. After all, everyone I knew who was a business major had been able to find pretty good jobs. As I embarked on the string of required pre-requisite classes for the College of Business, I had my first interaction with accounting. I was kind of dreading the class to be honest, with the stereotype of the work still fresh in my head.

I performed well in both of the introductory accounting classes and realized that there was way more to the profession than I thought. I remember doing some research and learning that accountants could become fraud examiners, do forensic investigations, and even help solve crimes. I was intrigued, and saw this as an opportunity to incorporate my interest in criminal justice with the accounting skillset I’d developed. I changed my major to accounting that spring. I would have never guessed I’d wind up as an accounting major, but what I’ve slowly learned over time is that the skillset you develop through the courses we take equips you with a marketable set of analytical skills that are transferrable to nearly any profession.

I had the opportunity to intern with Baker Tilly’s Consulting practice last summer in Mclean, VA, where I worked with the Government Contract Advisory Services team. I participated closely on a project that involved litigation support for a compliance infraction facing one of our client’s. I recently received an offer to join Ernst and Young’s Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services team in Washington, DC next summer. Among the services offered by the team are fraud investigations, litigation support, and data analytics. I have been able to take the skills I’ve learned in the classroom and pair them with career opportunities that I find fulfilling and challenging. My advice to any student in a similar position is to never let a stereotype cloud your judgment and prevent you from trying something new. I would have never guessed that I would wind up in accounting; however, the skills I’ve developed as a result have allowed me to find success in incorporating my personal interests into meaningful career opportunities.

Paul Fitzsimmons is a senior accounting major at James Madison University and Co-President of the Eta Delta chapter of Beta Alpha Psi. He will return to JMU next fall to embark on his Masters of Science in Accounting before starting full time work in the fall of 2015.

The Global Internship: Sightseeing in England

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of blog posts from VSCPA student member Shannon Case (below), a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Look for more posts in the coming weeks detailing Shannon's experience as an intern in KPMG's London office.

By Shannon Case
KPMG

This past weekend was busy with plenty of sight-seeing in and around London.  On Saturday I decided to take a day trip to Bath and Stonehenge. I woke up early and headed to Bath. After a 2 hour bus trip, I was surrounded by the beautiful city of Bath. The bus ride did not seem as long because I was busy snapping pictures of the English countryside. The city of Bath is so beautiful because all of the buildings are made of bath stone, which is pretty similar to limestone. In Bath I explored the Roman baths which were pretty amazing. After seeing the Roman baths, I walked around the city and had lunch. I explored the city a little more after lunch, took some great pictures, and then met back up with our tour group.

On the way back to London my tour stopped at Stonehenge. Stonehenge is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it was amazing to see. It was difficult to comprehend how these huge stones were moved back in ancient times. They explained to us that it was believed that it took approximately six hundred men to move a single large stone. After taking photos, we headed back to London. Once I arrived back in London I had dinner and went home and began to prepare for my next day of sightseeing.

On Sunday I headed to Kensington Palace. On the way to the palace I came across a car show being held in Kensington Gardens. The show showcased 100 years of Aston Martins. It was really neat seeing a car for each year. They also had a special James Bond section! After seeing all of the cars, I explored Kensington Palace. I particularly enjoyed the Fashion Rules exhibit which had dresses on display from Princess Diana, Princess Margaret, and the Queen.

After seeing Kensington I boarded a train and headed toward Windsor Castle. As soon as I stepped off the train I could see the castle. I initially explored the outside of the castle and the state rooms. It was quite impressive! After leaving Windsor, I went home to rest my aching feet...I did a lot of walking this weekend!

Young Professionals Corner: Acing the Interview

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of guest posts from young VSCPA members dealing with topics of interest to young professionals. If you'd like to write or have a topic you'd like a future blogger to cover, please email VSCPA Academic & Career Development Coordinator Tracey Zink.

By Alice Yeh
KPMG

With the plethora of interview workshops and seminars, it’s difficult to pinpoint the key

factors in a successful interview with a 300 word limit. Everyone is fully aware of the general expectations of an interview- conservative and professional appearance, knowledge of the company and position, and a solid handshake. However, I have condensed my multitude of advice into one mindset: professional comfortability.

There are three steps in achieving this mindset. The first is appropriate preparation. It is possible to over prepare. Research is necessary but avoid memorizing a script. Your interviewer is not seeking an actor but a proficient accountant. The second is the golden silence. Don’t be afraid of taking time to think. It shows that you aren’t simply reciting what you prepared the night before that will be recycled for that next interview scheduled that afternoon. The third, last and most important is to smile. Contrary to common belief, accountants are not caged in a cubicle all day. So flaunt your personable and eager smile.

Once you have achieved professional comfortability, you will be able to stop constantly flustering about what to say next and instead focus on learning more about the company and position. A good interview is a conversation and a conversation is two sided. Interview your interviewer and get the most from your interview while leaving an impression of authenticity.

Alice Yeh is an accounting graduate student at the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce. She is an associate at KPMG.

The Global Internship: Living and Working in London

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of blog posts from VSCPA student member Shannon Case (below), a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Look for more posts in the coming weeks detailing Shannon's experience as an intern in KPMG's London office.

By Shannon Case
KPMG

I absolutely loved living and working in London. My flat was located in Canary Wharf which was a really convenient location for walking to work and also exploring London. Canary Wharf is located on the Jubilee line which provides great access to Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and other tourist attractions. My flat was located within walking distance to our office. Every day I took a foot bridge over the Thames which was quite nice. Canary Wharf is on a peninsula so it’s surrounded by water and our balcony provides nice views all the way around Canary Wharf.

This was my first time working and living in a major city and I really enjoyed the experience. It was nice to be able to walk to work and have so many shops so close to home. Underneath our building was an underground mall which was connected to the tube. I also really liked the KPMG building which is very new and modern with a lot of open space. The building had a nice large cafeteria on the fifth floor which was also very convenient.