What career path did you take to achieve your job?

I am currently working in forensic services at PwC - we help our clients prevent, confront and remediate challenges as a result of unplanned events and critical business situations.

My path to my job was pretty straightforward. I majored in accounting in college. While I was in college however, I noticed that I wanted to solve problems and have a job that's broader than just accounting. Enter Forensic Services. I met an employee in the group during a career fair in college. Afterwards, I started researching the field and realized that it was a field I was interested in as I can use both the business skills I learned in business school but experience all types of issues, clients and work. I started going to more events hosted by PwC at my school as they recruit there quite a bit. I got to know the company and speak with more people from the Forensics group. Then, I applied for an internship position that was posted on my school website. I interviewed and I was offered the internship. After the internship, I accepted a full time offer and I've been working here ever since.

My advice for you when looking at any career path is to find what your interests are in and research the potential jobs that match your interest. Your college should also have a career center that can support you in answering questions such as what type of jobs and what companies typically recruits at your school. Finally, do not hesitate to ask people about their jobs (people love talking about themselves after all!) to find out more about what they do. This website is a great resource for that!

Hi,

Ever since high school, I was always interested I'm mechanical things and how things worked. After high school I went to a two year technical school and got an Associates Degree in Engineering. Upon graduation I got a job in the power generation industry (heavy equipment installation), which I really liked, but was drafted into the US Army after only 2 months. While serving in the Army and taking a couple of engineering correspondence courses while in the military, I decided to go back to school on the GE Bill and get a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduating with my BSME, I was able to get a job back with the company I worked for prior to entering the service and worked for them for over 30 years in various positions in the power generation industry. As I look back, I really liked working with machinery, and still do.

Hope this helps.

I think every has taken different paths to get to where they are today or where they are trying to go. This is a great question!

Over the course of my seven years in the workforce, I have built my career around my drive to succeed and positively affect those around me. I started my career working for a financial institution, but I quickly decided my passion was not just for the intricacies of the financial services sector but also for the people driving the business. I wanted a career which was challenging and always changing. This realization drove me to PwC’s advisory practice where I combined my financial services background with a client services expertise. Every day is different

This is an excellent question to ask when you are trying to find your way. I certainly didn't set out to do risk management. I started college as a design major and wanted to be an interior decorator. I had to support myself through school, so when the money ran out, I went to work. My employer offered tuition reimbursement if I wanted a business degree, so that's the direction I went. I worked my way through all but my first of year of school and kept looking for opportunities that interested me. I've mostly worked for big companies, so there were plenty of opportunities around. I've been in management most of my career, but I've also been in information technology. Along the way I found my passion for quality and process improvement. I was able to funnel that passion in almost any job I had, and I'm able to do that now in risk management more than ever.

Many people start with a plan and stick with one career path in general. My path has been anything but straight. I gather from your question you may not have decided the path of the rest of your life yet, and that's a wonderful place to be! As my colleagues have already shared, even those who start with a more straight path move around along the way.

I never did become an interior designer, but I still love art and design and have a lot of creative pursuits outside the workplace, and what I learned about design helps me design business presentations. Everything I learned along the way has been useful in my career, and I've enjoyed learning along the way.

Dear Meria,

My apologies for the delay in responding to your question. I hope my comments can still be useful to you.

I started out as a physics major in college since I liked physics on high school. However in my first course the instructor was using calculus, which I had never heard of, and most of the lectures went completely over my head. I got a D in the course and felt lucky to do that well. The next semester I took an introductory psychology course at the suggestion of a friend and loved it. I decided right then that I wanted to be a clinical psychologist and stuck with this goal through undergraduate school and a Ph.D. program. Many people who make career choices so early in school become disenchanted with them later on, but in my case I have loved the work. I have spent 40 plus years working with clients, the last 35 of them in private practice.

Despite my own experience I would suggest that you take a variety of courses and not be in a hurry to pick a major. I did not know psychology existed until I got to college and there may be some field you know little about that turns out to be your passion.

The best of luck in your career pursuits.

Ray Finn, Ph.D.