There’s no question that kids get asked more than “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Most kids would say something like a doctor, or a policeman. However, as we grow up, so does our view on our future job. For example, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a vet. I had no interest in the actual job, I just though that animals were cute. The same is true for many kids, and even teenagers. That’s why, in our latest project “Mentor for a Day, Lessons for Life,” we took a deep dive into what those professions we might be interested in really look like beneath the surface. Come with me as I explore a career that I’m interested in: Accounting.
First of all, what is accounting? Well, accounting is a job requires adapting to changing financial regulations, managing complicated financial systems, and analyzing data to make decisions acrosss various industries. Basically, they work with numbers, and money, to help keep companies afloat. Everyone has a different purpose for finding a job. For me, I’m motivated by money. I love the idea of being able to have a flexible job, while making enough money to live comfortably.
The main component of this project was that we found an adult who currently works in a profession that we are interested in, and shadow them for a day. This ended up being a little bit difficult for some of the student in my class that were interested in more specific careers, but there happen to be a fair number of of accountants in Vancouver. I ended up deciding that I would shadow Wendy Kennedy, who has decades of experience in the field.
Before our job shadow day, we were tasked with creating a smart brevity note with details about the career we were shadowing. This included income, some good ways to get into that field, and general background information. For those who don’t know, smart brevity is a form of writing that aims to shorten the content, and make it quick and easy to read. This process was very helpful for me, as I’m currently trying to perfect smart brevity. I still find it difficult to fit an entire paragraph into about ten words total, but being forced to practice is one of the best ways to succeed in something. Click here if you want to check out what the document looks like.
The final portion of this project was an audio reflection. In it, we were to interview the person we were shadowing, provide insight on what we learned about the profession we were interested in, and have some kind of cool background music. All of these were things that we had done before, but I definitely faced certain challenges in this part of the process. First, I had been very sick for much of the time that we were supposed to spend recording for our reflection. This made it hard for me to get any recording done, as my voice was barely recognizable. Secondly, I’ll admit that I’m not too great at using garage band. Still, like I said, the best way to learn is through trial and error. After many technical issues, and a lot of editing and adjustments, I was finally finished my reflection. What a journey! Here’s my audio reflection:
To conclude, this project aimed to give us real world experience into what a day in the life of someone in the professional world looks like. Many people would find accounting boring, but hearing my mentor talk about her experiences actually made me even more interested in the job. I hope that you’ve been able to understand what accounting looks like through my eyes. Thank you for reading, and have a great day!