Ed. note: If you have a question for the career advice brain trust, please don’t be put off by any snarky comments made in response to questions from others. There is no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid people. We love you.
Dear GC,
Recently I signed an offer to start with a large, multi-national firm in the Summer of ’12 as soon as I finish my MSA. The pay is top of the market for my location (I know, thanks to your website). The business line is very specialized tax–expatriate and foreign national work. I did an internship with the firm, and enjoy the work immensely; however I am concerned that I am “boxing myself in” at such an early place in my career. Opportunities for advancement are available within the firm, but I am worried that there may not be a life for me outside of public accounting with such a specialized skill set. Question: go with the flow or keep looking? I like the work, but am I being short-sighted?
Regards,
MaybeMaybeNot
MaybeMaybeNot,
So sorry to see you don’t have the same problem as Jimmy Dean, but it sounds like your one offer is with a business line that you very much enjoy. So I ask – what the hell is wrong with that?
I understand that you feel concerned about “boxing” yourself in, but you made the biggest point yourself – this is early in your career. What is the worst that can happen to you? You fumble around in a Big4 tax group for a few years, get struck with the two year itch, and suddenly want out. So you do just that. You try out another Big4, or you do two seconds of research on Al Gore’s greatest invention and find a job elsewhere.
Do not second-guess your interest in the work you’ve been exposed to thus far. Those of you in the peanut gallery – what kind of options have you seen in recent years for someone in the same sitch as MMN? Share in the comments below.
