Why Choose Tax

Hope everyone had a great Canada Day long weekend! I spent mine camping (in the rain) on Vancouver Island – still a great trip though.

So, as the National Tax Blogger, it’s probably a good idea if I start off with a post on why I chose to go into Tax.

Since this story can tend to run on pretty long, in the interests of efficiency (and not being fired from being the “Tax Blogger” in my first week on the job), I’ll try to tell it in point form:

• After obtaining my BA, I applied and was accepted to law school (woo hoo!)
• I liked the idea of law for a few reasons:

                - I love learning, and wanted to work in a field where I would always be learning new things.

                - I wanted every day and every project to be a bit different from the one before. I think it may be                  a generational thing (I’ve heard it’s Sesame Street’s fault for giving us short attention spans)                  but I am most engaged when I have some variety in my work.

                - I like working with people – especially when I get to feel like I’m helping them.

                - I wanted to learn about a wide range of different industries and businesses, not just focus on                 one small part of the business, or a specific industry.

• Only problem? When I went through the course calendar, the only classes I really wanted to take were Tax and Business Law. Unfortunately, law schools in Canada won’t let you do that (apparently “the Constitution” is a big deal to lawyers...)
• After a family friend told me that his job provided him with all of the features I was looking for – and I never had to take a constitutional law course – I was excited. Guess what his job is...? He’s a CA (working in Tax)!  

So, I decided to pursue my CA and begin a career in Tax. My favourite things about the Tax CA program?

1. Learning & Development: From the time I first started at PwC, when I attended the National Tax Conference in Niagara, to the technical lunch and learn sessions that I attend on a monthly basis, the Tax CA program has provided a ton of great learning opportunities!
2. Tax: (Okay, so maybe this one should have been first.) The best thing about PwC’s Tax CA program is the rotations. In my first three years, I was able to rotate through several different Tax groups and gain experience not only in both Canadian and US Tax but also in lots of specialty areas, like SR&ED, Transfer Pricing, and Indirect Tax (bonus points if you know what any of those are!). Getting to try lots of different groups definitely made it easier to choose an area of specialty once I became a CA.   
3. Mentorship: Mentoring is a huge part of the culture at PwC. There is a major focus on supporting students through CASB and the UFE, and ensuring that our people feel supported in taking advantage of some of the thousands of opportunities that are available. Plus, my coach is the best. Seriously, the best – a fact which has definitely helped me to understand the importance of having (and being) a good mentor.
4. Secondments: Whether you are interested in working in India for three months, New York for six months, or Singapore for two years, there are countless opportunities to go on secondments. Or – you could be seconded to a client’s office and try working in industry for a little while. More on that later...

What are some of the opportunities that you’re looking to get out of a career as a CA?

 

Comments

[Missrachelha]

I must say, this post was really insightful. I always heard negative things about working in Tax, so I think that was what encouraged me to look at Auditing more favourably. But it's great to hear that someone from Tax actually loves what she does! :)

One question I have though is, what really entails working in Taxes? How is it different from Auditing?

[Ainslie]

Great question! Way too long to answer in the comments section, but thank you for inspiring my next post. I'll try to give you an overview of what it entails, but if you have specific questions, definitely let me know!