Posts Tagged ‘planning’

Carving out a path

February 20, 2009 in accounting,education,goals,internship,work | Comments (5)

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One of the main reasons that I decided to intern at a Big 4 company is because they have more international connections and opportunities than a smaller firm would. Being at such a big firm means that there is a lot of opportunity for all kinds of specialization. Generally, people just naturally end up with expertise in specific areas.
Photo by bbsc30 @ Flickr

Photo by bbsc30 @ flickr

However, I have definitely talked to some employees who found themselves becoming an “Expert” on a topic they didn’t really care much about, but had just ended up working on a lot. I decided I should start early, and think about what kinds of jobs and training I should try to get involved in to make sure that I end up with an expertise in an area that fits with my goals.

My ideal job, while I am still yong without my own family, would involved living in a foreign country for a year to two years, and then moving on to another one. I am not picky about wanting to be in western Europe, or English-speaking countries. I would be quite happy in Latin America or eastern Europe.

So I tried inquiring about what kinds of skills or clients I should work on to make me a better candidate for international options. So far, everyone’s answer has been that you only get a chance to travel internationally once you reach the manager level, and that there’s nothing you can do to change this.

I’ve decided to stay optimistic, and be skeptical of this advice. There must be some sort of area I can gain expertise in that would make me especially useful for working in international offices. I just have to figure out what that might be. Any ideas?