The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

I had quite a long week at work... so here I am at home getting the rest my body needs. I wanna go out heh, but resting is probably the wiser choice today. Work has been extra busy because we're in the 'peak' period already. This is the time when most companies need to have their accounts for the previous business year checked and have their annual financial reports prepared.

The Good
Auditing is regarded as a profession, just like practising medicine and law. Its well-regarded, and the knowledge I'm gaining on the job has very good practical value. This is one of the main reasons why adequately-trained auditors rarely have trouble finding jobs if they decide to leave the profession, especially if they switch to being accountants. Training takes time though, and I hear that the most highly sought-after auditors are those with at least 3 years of experience. The starting pay is very low, but the increments are adove-average and come quite fast. Another thing I like is that we aren't so desk-bound. We get to audit different clients at different locations, and understand how different businesses operate.

The Bad
The work is seasonal, so we have 'peak' periods (Dec-May/Jun) and 'off-peak' periods. The hours can be quite long during 'peak', when its common to leave past 9pm. I left past 9pm everyday for the past week. I set my new 'personal record', haha... 2am. We can arrive at work later the next day though, depending on how late we worked till. We can claim $10 for dinner, a taxi ride home, and OT hours (not 1 to 1) too usually. Its probably one of the few jobs that allows you to be away from work for 3 weeks or more during 'off-peak' depending on the number of OT hours accumulated. The hours also become more normal (7pm, latest 8 maybe) and aren't so long when one becomes a manager.

The Ugly
You might have thought that the hours worked would be the worst, but it actually isn't because of some compensation at least. The worst part of the job is meeting 'mean' clients. We have to work with numbers, but we have to spent a fair bit of time interacting and writing too. We have to query the accounting staff and document responses. As such, how fast we work can be rather dependent on how helpful and cooperate the client is. Its been a long time since someone really made me upset because it takes quite alot to do so, and that's what a really mean and unhelpful accountant I encountered did on Thursday. She happens to be an ex-auditor and my colleague who has worked with her more was in agreement and thinks she hates auditors. I haven't met someone who comes across as being 'mean' for a long time, and it was a sad reminder that there're such people around. Its certainly not a client that I want to return to, and I'm glad we can request for other clients if need be.

To end off on a more positive note, here's something amusing I saw in my department's pantry last night ha =) They've stocked up some snacks for us, and someone wrote the words of encouragement on the biscuit tins: