All posts by hannahfranklin

Academics, Career, Hannah

Accounting…and Chemistry? A Match Made in Heaven

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The diversity of the tMPA program is impressive. Radio, Television, and Film, Mathematics, Russian Language and Literature majors are sprinkled amidst the Accounting, Finance, and Economics degrees. However, my Chemistry degree was an immediate object of curiosity. Four months ago, the question of why I made the switch from science to accounting was difficult to answer.

Today I’m relieved to say that I’ve almost figured it out, and for those who haven’t heard my reasoning, I’ll explain now. Here’s how chemistry and accounting are more alike that you might think:

1) Chemistry is all about research. Data collection and analysis, not to mention designing experiments, drives the daily life of any scientist. Modern accounting is strikingly similar. The intuition that I developed over the four and a half years I spent as a chemistry major transfers very neatly to accounting, especially auditing.

2) Scientists understand that numbers aren’t just numbers; every digit you see printed on a page relates back to something actually happening in the physical world. So when I look at an account on the balance sheet or income statement, I can see what transactions and business processes went into making that number. This helps take the abstraction out of accounting and make it more relatable.

This is all very well and good, but it only answers the question of how chemistry related skills relate to accounting. But why did I choose accounting? Chemistry was lacking a couple of things that I discovered were very important to me in a job.

1) Chemistry is not an inherently social profession. But accounting is. Especially as an auditor, you have to build strong relationships in order to do your job well. This includes the team you work with, your clients, your pool of potential clients, non-accounting experts, and regulators. The challenges and opportunities that this presents fascinate and energize me.

2) The questions you tackle in research can take longer than several researchers’s lifetimes to answer. For me, this was stifling. In contrast, accounting is extremely dynamic and operates on a much shorter cycle. You will see a wide variety of industries, sizes of clients, and business models and will have to find personalized solutions for each one. This is another incredibly exciting piece for me.

It makes a lot more sense than you might think at first. Next time I’ll talk about what it was like to go through recruiting with a non-business background and my observations on success.

Academics, Hannah

Surviving and Thriving as a tMPA

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surviving and thriving in TMPAThe decision to come back for a master’s (or a PhD) isn’t an easy one. If you’re anything like me, the prospect of at least another year of lectures, homework, and all-nighters seems daunting, especially if you’ve been away from school for long. Now that I’ve gotten a full semester under my belt, I thought I would share how my tMPA classmates and I have made the transition easier.

1. Relearn – or learn – decent study habits.

Now is the time to really figure out what works for you, rather than just showing up to class. Get analytical about it, and don’t be afraid to try something new. Sometimes the key to understanding difficult material is as simple as doing the reading after class instead of before, or hand writing notes rather than typing them.

2. Don’t forget downtime.

The type of schedule that school demands is grueling compared to a 9-5 job. Not only is it irregular, but you take a lot of your work home. If you don’t make some sort of relaxation a priority, it’s easy to wear yourself out within the first month. I make a point of getting a massage once a month and keeping up with my recreational reading to get my mind off of class work.

3. Respect the difficulty of graduate coursework.

It bears repeating, over and over, that graduate level coursework is totally different than the vast majority of undergraduate coursework, and is taught differently. Your finely honed memorization and recitation skills aren’t going to be nearly as helpful as they used to be, since topics quickly become very conceptual.

4. Don’t obsess about your grades.

Everyone is here for slightly different reasons and has different goals. Some people are going to need a perfect 4.0 for their dream career, but others won’t, so don’t waste energy comparing yourself needlessly.

5. Bring all of your life experiences to the table.

You have a unique advantage as a graduate student – you’ve already been an undergraduate student. Make sure you take full advantage of the variety of unique opportunities to shine that this gives you. Expertise that you developed during your bachelor’s degree, during your jobs, or just in general can be applied if you are diligent about looking for opportunities to do so.