The Intern Adventure 11: 8th Week

Now that I am now down on my second month at work, I would like to reflect on how things are going, how I improved and the things that I learned so far.

It's getting busier at work because tax season has almost started and we are already receiving high volumes of jobs at the office. I am finally done with the other two bookkeeping jobs that I have been working on since in the past few weeks. My experience with those two bookkeeping jobs helped me improve my communication skills because I have to contact my clients for some information that I need from them. Meeting clients in person was one of my concern before, and now that I met three clients this week, I would say that I am getting more comfortable at it. Since I have worked with the books of these two companies for the few weeks, I was feeling a high sense of responsibility towards them. I know that I should, but this feeling inspired me to do my job well and to serve the clients to the best way that I can.

There are also many things that I can already do alone comfortably. I can compute and file GST returns now and I can now fix errors in the QuickBooks software easily which I find complicated before. I am also getting more familiar with Canadian Income Tax (which is one of my objectives) because I learned a lot from our office's different types of clients.

As I always say, I am really happy at A1 Accounting. I love how my bosses are so supportive, encouraging, and fun to work with and I love how they treat us, coop students, as part of their family. With this kind of people around me, I learned that the best way to get your people to do their best at work is to not let them feel that they have to. You just have to be supportive of them and recognize them for their achievements, no matter how small they are. I know that it might not apply to every organization but it helps that I have an idea on how to manage people in the future.

The Intern Adventure 10: 7th Week

This week is not my favourite week. I have not accomplished my goal which was to finish the bookkeeping for two companies that I was working on since last week. As a result, I am stocked with those same jobs and I can't move forward to other jobs. I was feeling guilty because I feel like I can't help them with the other jobs that need to be done.

But to tell you frankly, I have learned a lot from this whole experience. I thought that I was already finished with those two jobs and when I showed it to my supervisor, there were still a lot of things that need to be corrected. While being busy trying to finish my work, I was also busy thinking what would people around me would think about me if I am being too slow with what I was doing. I guess that was the part where everything went wrong. I was creating a problem in my mind that would never exist - which was something that I usually do. I should have focused on trying to make things right rather than trying to make people believe that I am really good. I am embarrassed to admit that I was a bit proud of myself. There were times when I don't want to seek for any help because I believe that I can do everything by myself. I thought I have overcome that already but seemed like it can't be easily changed. I guess I have to put that as one of my personal objectives that I really hope I can develop.

I also learned a lot from my senior colleagues. It was always nice to work in the little office full of warm people. When I feel like it's getting stressful at work, I will look around me and no one seems to have a bad day. I have never seen my colleagues being in a bad mood. What I admire the most in the office right now is our supervisor, Loretta. She might not realize it but I am learning a lot from her when it comes to organizational management which I could all apply in the future. She is a kind of boss who will always have time for you no matter how busy she is and would always encourage you to do better. She will always make you feel that your mistakes do not define who you are, but will encourage you to learn from them. I would like to be her in the future.

The Intern Adventure 9: Valentine's at Work (6th Week)

There was a saying, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." That saying has been on my mind this week. Lots of good things happen in the office this week, and I can say that I am happy. For so many reasons, I am just happy!

I remember the night before our work started, I remember how I was feeling scared to start. I even remember how many times I stopped walking when I was heading to the office just to think how should I present myself to the people there, and how scared I was to fail. But now, every morning, I can't wait to get to the office to start working and to meet my colleagues. Then when I get home at around 5:00 pm, my sisters would tell me that I don't look tired at all and I seem to be happy. And then I realize this one thing - it is not the job itself that will make you happy in the workplace, it is actually the people you. I am always inspired to go to work when I remember how warm my colleagues are, and how they treat us, co-op students, as a part of their family. I laugh with them, I tell stories with them, I eat lunch with them (Brendan treated us a super delicious lunch earlier and it's my turn next Friday), and I learn with them. My objective, being more open to people, is becoming successful now and I can't wait to get that off of my objectives list. :)

It is getting busier now at work and I am starting to feel the pressure now, but I see it as a positive thing for me. I have three client books that I am currently working on and they are all needing to their employees' T4s by next week so I have to hurry. I am really thankful that I got in to this co-op program because I realize that I really like to be an accountant. I wasn't sure about this before, and I was worried that I won't like it once I started working after I get my university degree. This internship experience makes me feel excited about my future professional career and it inspires me to study hard when I go back to university this fall. At my work now, almost everyday is a surprise for myself - I learn many new things about myself everyday. My primary concern was my self-confidence but I can say now that I am improving, I am learning to trust myself more. 

Also, today is Valentine's Day. I made some giveaways for clients and we wore red in the office. Today was really fun. I had a good time with my colleagues and I am excited to go work on Monday. Yes, that's a holiday but I am coming to work because I just want to (and I also need to finish some bookkeeping!!). :)

The Intern Adventure 8: 5th Week

It was a truly productive week for me. I volunteered as the social media manager of the company and I am loving it! I also moved to a new desk where I can talk more to my colleagues and it's really a good decision. I can say that I am close to achieving one of my personal objectives - to be more open to people. It's really nice to have a good laugh with my colleagues, especially Verna and Loretta because they are really fun!

I am currently working on two bookkeeping jobs, one for a car dealer and one for a bedroom centre. The bookkeeping for the car dealer was a little complicated at first, but as I work on it, I was able to figure out what to do. The bedroom centre is a new client so for me it's a special project because I will be the first one in the office to work on it. I made all the spreadsheet templates and it's an easier job for me now. I only seek for a little help from my manager so that means I am starting to be more comfortable with my job.

It is really important for me to accomplish my personal objectives because I feel like they will change my life in the future. I have never thought that being more comfortable around people is really important, especially when those people are your clients. I was asked by our manager to call the owner of the bedroom centre and I easily did it. That might sound a little thing for others, but for me, that's a big achievement. I treated myself a strawberry ice cream after that day.

As I always say, I really love my colleagues! Loretta brought a cake that she baked to ask if her recipe would be good enough for her second cookbook that she will publish. I heard her saying to Ms. Joe (our Chinese accountant) that she's doing the cookbook to promote the "prairie cherries" in Saskatchewan. That was an inspiration for me because I realized that you can do wonderful things with your passion.

Next week, I will be finished with the bookkeeping jobs that I am working on. One of my objectives for next week is to file one income tax return and I really hope that I will be able to accomplish that! :)

The Intern Adventure 7: 4th Friday

It is starting to get busier at work, but at the same time, it is getting more fun and more exciting to come to work everyday! I cannot believe that I am actually on my fourth Friday journal entry already. Time flies so fast. But when I think of all the remaining months that I have with this company, I feel really excited.

This week, I had a blast - I could say that I really did something awesome and something important for one of our clients. One of my learning objectives is to feel more confident about myself, especially when the time comes that I have to talk to a client. One of our clients, a real estate broker, came to us to ask if we could double-check the GST that he paid last quarter. He was a picky customer, he really went through ALL of the details of the bookkeeping that our senior bookkeeper did for him (who already resigned). There were lots of errors that he noticed so he was a bit disappointed. Our office manager came to me and ask if I can deal with that problem and do the bookkeeping for him for the last quarter of the year. I went through everything and checked every single error that he was talking about, until I noticed that a GST that he paid for one of his expenses was not reported as part of the ITC (Input tax credit) that was used to calculate the GST that he had to pay for the third quarter. In short, he paid more for the previous quarter. He also asked if we can determine how our former senior bookkeeper broken down the amount of his office expenses. I was able to figure that out and made a break-down report of the said expenses. I was so happy because my office manager was impressed about what I did and I felt that she trusted me and let me file the client's GST online. When the client came back, I was so nervous because our office manager called me and asked if I want to explain to the client what I did with his GST and other bookkeeping concerns. Seriously, I was really really nervous when she called my name and asked me about that (although I tried my best not to show it). That was the first time that I talked to client about accounting matters and my reward was so priceless - the client told me: "You're the best!". (I am actually smiling while typing this. :))

I also met with my mentor from KPMG this week and told her about my work experience. Before I started working, I thought that when I meet her, I will have a lot of concerns to address during our meeting and I will need a lot of advice. But I just saw myself talking to her with a happy and excited face and I cannot remember any circumstance that I told something negative. She is so happy for me and I am now more excited to meet her again next week and tell her more happy stories!

All the intimidation that I thought at first I would feel, all of the fears that I had before, and all of the negative thoughts that I had for myself like low self-esteem and low self-confidence were gone only during my first month at work. I so love my colleagues! I feel so welcome and I feel so important. All of my contributions to the company were being appreciated by my supervisor and office manager. What more if I will stay there for the next seven months? Isn't amazing? Isn't exciting? :)