First Day of Work!

Quick update on Int. #4? It went great! Still waiting for a callback for a second interview, but it really doesn't matter at this point. I started my first day of work yesterday and I believe I have found my niche.

It felt pretty surreal yesterday. I was able to attend the monthly video conference meeting full of seniors and partners (I was the only young intern there too). It was like in the movies, where important people would sit at a long table and at the end was a big video screen split into blocks, with different offices in different cities, and the partner would be on the main screen. I was thinking "wow, I feel so important." Better yet, I understood every single thing that was discussed. However, unlike the movies, the few women in the office weren't beautiful and in classic tweed suits and Manolos. Rather they were the total opposite- no makeup, dressed in plain black with cheap looking one inch heels. . . Nonetheless, they were intelligent and obviously belonged to this think tank of men.

Later on the day, the senior associate had me sit in on another phone call to discuss his client issue with the partner. What do you know- I had read a case regarding the exact similar issue. Hard work and paying attention in class really does pay off. . .  

Starting this week I will be juggling part time work with full time school, but it will all be worth it. My goals starting now?

Drink as much coffee as it takes to
  (1) Own every project I'm assigned and prove that I can move up the ladders quickly
  (2) Wake up at 6:30 am each morning and still dress fab for work
  (3) Keep up with the international news so I can talk to all the senior people about FTCs, CFCs, FBARs, FATCs, and all those acronyms-  like it's no big deal.

We were given a personal laptop and. . . a bulky black BACKPACK to carry it with. . . wow- total drab. In search for a cute laptop bag!

I'm sure my laptop would fit snugly in a Birken. . .
Olivia Palermo

Interview #4

I would like to thank God . . .
Yijia Cheng

So honored! One of the Big 4 this time! Wish me luck next Wednesday!

. . .

It's that time of the month again. . . I feel extremely emotional and weighed down. I have tons of things on my to do list, but I would much rather just sit here and stare into space. Cant. Move.

check mate

Over the last couple weeks I started playing Chess (on my iphone) and I have become rather addicted to it. I am naturally a competitive person so I hate losing, and chess has been proven to be a major challenge for me. It's interesting in that, unlike other games, every move has certain consequences. You have to be able to predict your opponents next couple moves and you have to strategize on, not only how to protect your King but, how to attack the opponent's King. In a lot of ways, I can relate this back to economics and international tax. . . Hmmm, I'll save that for a rainy, idle day (doubtful).

I have become invincible when it comes to Scrabble. Now my new challenge to take on.

Happy Monday! Good day so far, although Mondays are my long days.

Love,

Nat

Offer Accepted

10:10 a.m. Throwing on my heels to rush out the door to head to a wedding

10:13 a.m. Phone rings from a 949 area code. . . I know what that means. . . I let it go straight to voicemail

10:24 a.m. Rushing to the check into the cruise ship as I return the call.

10:27 a.m. I got an offer!

As the day went on, I enjoyed glasses after glasses of champagne. . .celebrating this new matrimonial relationship I will be having with this new career.

In a couple of weeks I start as a part time intern. . . out to prove that I'm ready to squeeze the corporate world into any crevices left of my school schedule. It's going to be hell, but when has coffee and energy drinks not been enough to pull me through anything? Come December- my future will unfold before me as I'm sure an offer will be waiting for me. Of course in the interim, I will make sure that I have more opportunities to fall on in case things fall apart.

I never planned this and never imagined something this great can fall on my lap. The stars really are lining up for me this time and I am so grateful.

Love,

Nat

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way. . ."

I met with the tax partner today and he was surprisingly nice! I didn't realize it until today, but instead of me trying to sell myself to the firm, I really felt as though they were trying to sell their firm to me! It was not at all an interview like I thought, where the executives try to make you sweat and see if you crack under pressure. . . It was more like a Q&A and I was asking all the questions. It does help that I have a JD and LLM under my belt at the end of the year ;)

I am actually confident that they will send me an offer! The offer however will be for the internship position and if they like my work I will inevitably be extended a full time offer as a - get this. . . a SENIOR TAX ASSOCIATE! "Senior!" I know! I have never felt so sure about my career and where I belong. I'm sure the work will be hard and challenging but I know I have so much to contribute and so much potential! Assuming I get this position, I will still nonetheless keep my options open with the Big 4. So that's the great news. The light at the end of the tunnel has never felt so much closer.

I celebrated the end of the day with a Friends marathon. Yes, I have the entire 10 seasons and have watched it all during rough patches in my life- it just happened to be on tv tonight. . . Nonetheless, it's the one series that still makes me laugh. What's ironic is that Friends started out as a group of friends in their 20s, trying to figure out who they are and struggling to figure out their career paths. As the seasons progress, and they reach their 30s or 40s, they have their careers set but they face different struggles. . . It's not to say that I've figured out my career, but I feel as though I'm on season 2. . . slowly coming into fruition of myself and having a good idea of direction.

I remember my post college years while I worked at Bloomingdale's, I was soo depressed and lost. I was watching Friends for hours and hours just to get away from the dreadful reality of how a graduate with two degrees can end up wrapping hundreds of Christmas gifts for big clients in a small little room on the upper floor of Bloomingdale's. Of course fast forward a year, I ended up at another company stuck in front of a computer all day doing the same repetitive task. . . and then I started this blog and tried to take life by the horns and create a game plan to steer me in the direction I wanted to be.

Then as my blog progressed and I'm still set on this path- I am right where I want to be. . .

Trust me, no matter how much I complain, I am truly soaking up all these struggles that will eventually make me become the person I want to become. I know, I know, it's about the journey and not the destination. I definitely don't want to know that my twenties flew out the door before I even had a chance to embrace it.

If I don't proceed this entry with a celebratory "I got the offer!" entry. . . then something is definitely wrong. . . because pigs will be flying outside my window if that's the case. That confident.

Anyways, I have a wedding to attend tomorrow- it's on a cruise ship, so it should be fun. Then I have a long weekend of school work.

Love,

Nat

"Under Pressure"

Preparing for judgment day tomorrow evening...

I really thought that winning the hearts and minds of the director and senior associate in the first round of interviews was the hardest part, but based on my research. . . the final round with the Tax Partner may possibly be a lot harder and more intimidating than expected. Commercial awareness and the ability to cope under pressure seem to be the prevailing themes in the final round. . .

Commercial awareness? Um... I hope scratching the service of any relevant news article will help me get through this. Perhaps my daily commute with CNN will stick a couple buzz words in my head. Nonetheless, I am printing out tons of news articles about international tax to skim through and highlight tonight after class. Highlighting and making side notes help me retain information a lot easier than merely reading it online.

Coping under pressure? Hmm that was my theme song throughout UCLA, but little did I know how much harder things would get as life progresses ("It's the terror of knowing what the world is about"). Note to self: stay positive and don't let them see you sweat.

So in between all my school work, preparing for my interviews take up the rest of my life. . . I really hope and pray that this one is it. . . and after landing this job, it'll be smooth sailing into the horizon. At least in terms of finding a post grad job.

Yes! Made it to the next round of interviews! So close, yet so far!

My interview yesterday went so much better than I anticipated! This position was also so much better than I expected! It's a permanent position which would allow me to be a part time intern and, once I pass the bar, I can transition into becoming a full time INTERNATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATE! The best part is the firm is trying to grow its International Tax department and if I get the job, there would be so much room for growth! Better yet- I would be able to take on my own projects early on! I realized that if I worked at the Big 4, I would be merely another number in the system, at my own little corner, doing compliance work; however, this firm (being #5) will give me the hands on experience and responsibility I've been wanting. I left the interview with a really good feeling that both lawyers really liked me. . . but nothing is set in stone yet. . .

Just think. . . wouldn't it be awesome to know that I've secured a job already when graduation isn't for another 8-9 months? Fingers crossed.

interview #3

In a couple hours I'm off to my interview for an international tax position that I want oh-so-desperately! So bad that I reread all my essays that I wrote for my international tax classes and tried to catch up as much as I possibly can in the intricate world of FBARs, FATCAs, and of course transfer pricing. The fact that I get excited reading about arm's length parental guarantees to their subsidiaries and the intentional ambiguity of transfer pricing regulations not set forth by the IRS means it's definitely my calling. Although this is an internship position, it's the foot in the door that can land me that post grad job! But of course, I also need to look at this interviewing process as a two way street. It may not be all that I hype it up to be because, after all, I have yet to meet an interesting and glamorous tax lawyer. . .