In First Person

Seth Morgan: Tips for the Transition From College to the Real World

Transitioning from college to the working world is exciting and daunting at the same time.  You have a chance to make something of yourself and show your true abilities in your profession.  When starting out you want to give yourself every advantage to show what an asset you are to your company.  Through this transition you should be aware of some of the smaller aspects of how to conduct yourself in this new professional environment.  The two areas I think are most important to be mindful of are (1) what you say and (2) the things you do.

It is very important to understand the professional environment you work in is very different from the college environment.  As a very talkative person, this was a very important lesson for me to learn.  Talking to co-workers, bosses and supervisors especially, about a crazy night/weekend out with friends, is definitely not a good idea.  As nice and down to earth as your bosses may be, it is still a place where labels can be placed very easily.  Especially when starting out, people establish a perception of who you are very quickly, and a perception of being a partier or an irresponsible new hire can be a long-lasting blemish.  It takes much more work to restore that perception than it does to mess it up.  Another aspect of how to watch what you say relates to talking about clients.  Confidentiality is a concept that we don’t have to worry about in college as much, but the reason for not talking about clients at all outside of work is often who is listening to your conversation that can hurt you.  You never know when an employee or relative of the owner of the client is standing nearby and listening to your conversation.  Even when at lunch with co-workers, it is important to not use client names or even distinguishing details about the company.  Confidentiality is part of our professional standards, and must be taken very seriously.  Be mindful of what you say, regardless of who you are speaking to.

Secondly, I know this may seem very obvious to be mindful of what you do at work, but there may be some aspects that you may not have thought about.  The concept behind why I bring this up is “perception is reality.”  Similar to being careful of what you say, often the small things you do can impact perception of you, especially to managers and partners who don’t work directly with you on a regular basis.  What I consider one of the more frequently made mistakes is texting on your phone at work.  You really shouldn’t text at work at all.  This may seem harsh, but let me explain.  Let me start by stating your bosses are always watching, whether you see them or not.  This is because they hired you and need to make assessments of how you can handle yourself.  All it takes is pulling out your phone to send one text as your manager or partner walks past your cube for them to consider you a “texter.”  Especially when out with clients or out to eat with coworkers, put your phone away.  It is very disrespectful to be texting while at a table with other people, because it makes them feel like whatever you are doing on your phone is more important than they are.  Our generation is so used to our friends and family being at our fingertips through technology, but in a professional environment, unless you are the boss, that doesn’t leave a good impression.

I only touched on a few of the major mistakes I can think of.  Being conscious of these areas will help not distract from a good work ethic and the value you can bring to your company.

Seth Morgan: Why I Chose Public Accounting

When I decided I wanted to get into public accounting, it was only based on my idea and expectation of what public accounting is.  Alternatively, right now the dust is settling on busy season, and I feel that I have a better concept of why I chose this career path.  Becoming a CPA has been my primary goal since I really got into accounting my sophomore year of college.  The prestige of this certification identifies experience and extensive knowledge in an array of accounting specialties.  I knew that while auditing companies I would not only see the in depth accounting mechanics, but also operations from the ground up and the complex business environment in which they compete.  By being both very specific and broad, public accounting is some of the best financial experience someone can get.  This experience through a CPA’s career has always been a huge factor in my choice.  Secondly, public accounting is a financially rewarding career that both pays well and, with the experience gained, gives a CPA the opportunity to apply this financial knowledge with his or her own money.  Let’s be honest, no one gets into accounting because they hate managing their own or other people’s money.  This definitely affected my decision to go into public accounting, and allows me to really enjoy working with our clients.  Lastly and most importantly, public accounting takes determination.  It is fast paced, intellectually tough, and requires quick adaptation to a changing environment.  This is what I, and most competitive people, call a challenge.  I see the same mentality in pretty much all of my coworkers, and that is the desire to fight through tough situation and work until you accomplish the task at hand.  To be completely honest, public accounting is probably more challenging than I had anticipated, but because of equally driven coworkers and a desire to continually improve, overcoming these immense challenges has solidified to me that I made the right choice.

Seth Morgan: Learning From Above

Before entering public accounting, I had a very different perception of what a supervisor’s roll in my (a Staff One’s) day-to-day responsibilities would be.  I was under the impression that supervisors just allocated work and chewed me out when something was wrong.  What I think is the best rebuttal to this idea is the fact that I would venture to say I have learned as much about accounting, professionalism, and business in my almost six months at BBD as I did in four years of college.  This primarily is because (at BBD) public accounting is about learning and teaching.  I work under three different supervisors, which can be a lot sometimes, but has given me the opportunity to learn from three different supervisors each with a myriad of experiences.  My supervisors will not hesitate to give me more responsibility and more difficult work as they think I am ready for it.  What is most important about this is that they will each not only sit me down to explain what work needs to be completed, but also the concepts and objectives behind the specific auditing process.  When I say I am challenged on a daily basis, I am referring to possibility being quizzed on what fraud risks we are trying to mitigate or asked to explain the entries involved in certain transactions.  Needless to say I don’t always have the right answer, so my supervisors often break down the answer so I can complete my assigned tasks with a better sense of understanding.  Asking questions (not too many obviously) enables me to better understand what I am doing, as well as showing my supervisors how well I understand the topic, allowing them to elaborate further if needed.  Even as I look up the chain of command, superiors on every level are teaching subordinates on a daily basis, and for my benefit that mentality has definitely flowed down through the ranks.

Seth Morgan: Living and Working In the City

While going to a Philadelphia city school, I realized working in the city was a priority of mine when looking where to start my career.  From the first time I toured the BBD office during my second round interview I knew this is where I wanted to work.  Today I ride the Market-Frankford line, or “L," into work whenever I am in the office.  Whether I am walking down Market Street feeling minuscule looking up at the massive buildings, or feeling empowered when I look down from our office on 19th and Market I always feel a part of something special.  Living in the city also somewhat completes the experience.  Besides being able to be at work in ten minutes, having all the history and activities the city has to offer at my fingertips is great.  Exploring the plethora of restaurants and unique stores occupies a majority of my days off.  I have two roommates, which can get a little testy sometimes, but really I have two friends to enjoy the city with all the time.  My roommates and I have a list of bars and restaurants we want to try and since October we have checked off a good number of them without trying the same place twice.  We discovered a few shady places, but out of it all we have also found some of the most unexpected great places.  Whether we are ice skating at Penn’s Landing, walking down South Street, checking out an art gallery in old city, or shopping in center city I still can always find something new to do.  Getting to know the city is an adventure and takes time, but finding all the things it has to offer is worth the effort.  Living and working in the city is an experience that I recommend we all have at least for a short while during our lives. 

Seth Morgan: My First Networking Event

Erin McClafferty, our marketing director, frequently e-mails the firm about upcoming networking events that we can participate in if we want to.  Mid November we got an e-mail about a networking event in Wayne, PA.  The event was sponsored by the Main Line Chamber of Commerce and was designed for young professions in the area.  This seemed like a great opportunity for me to meet other young professionals, and at the very least get some practice socializing professionally.  Another new hire, Frank, decided to go with me to the event so we could have some mutual support in case we were over our heads.  To be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect.  Would I have enough to talk about being so new to the firm?  Am I too young for anyone to take me seriously?  These are just some of the thoughts going through my mind as Frank and I drove to Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza in Wayne, PA. 

As we walked in, we were met with a loud crowd of already networking young professionals all holding a drink and mingling.  Frank and I grabbed a drink and went to work.  We walked up to two guys in their twenties and just introduced ourselves.  Each of us said who we were and what company we work for, and then each talked more specifically about what our companies do.  One guy was a real estate agent, the other an audio/video sales rep.  Frank was probably more experienced with networking events than I was, but together we held a lot of good conversations with lawyers, a mortgage analyst, a few human resource reps, and an owner of a painting company.  Conversations varied from as general as how business is going during these slow economic times, to just how transitioning from college to working has been with other recent graduates.  We got a good amount of business cards and met some really nice young professionals starting their careers just like we are.  Overall, it was a great experience that gave me confidence to talk with other professionals and realize that networking doesn’t have to be as intimidating as I may have thought.