Jim French
Partner
PwC LLP
San Jose, CA USA
“I learned to fail, but I also learned that it is important to fail quickly and learn from your mistakes.”
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
I couldn't afford the college of my choice.
My fall-back college choice, the state college, didn't accept me into their school of engineering.
In my first semesters of college, I took an intro to financial accounting course and did exceptionally well. The professor said I should really consider majoring in accounting.
I switched my major to accounting.
In order to try to graduate a year early to reduce my total college costs, I took as many summer classes as the college would allow.
During summer school, I met the president of the accounting honors fraternity, who introduced me to the recruiting partners from several of the big accounting firms.
One of the firms invited me to participate in a learning & education program to help train their recruiters and needed some students to participate in mock interviews.
I did so well in that firm's mock interviews, I was allowed to bypass the campus interviews and come in for an office visit where they presented me with a full-time job offer.
Education
High School
Career
Partner
I consult with client service teams on their client's application of GAAP to complex transactions.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Entrepreneurship
Technology
Problem Solving
Day to Day
No two days are alike. I meet with colleagues from client service teams whose clients have entered into novel, often-times complex transactions and they are trying to figure out what the appropriate accounting is for the transaction. This is where the fun begins: understanding the transaction, its economic substance, and then determining the appropriate accounting model, if one even exists, or finding an appropriate analogy. Sometimes a rule must be interpreted or requires judgement.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
If you don't already have an accounting degree, start pursuing it. Even if you already have an undergraduate degree in some other field, many colleges are offering a Masters in Public Accounting program which will provide you with all the requisite courses to be able to sit for the Certified Public Accounting certification exam.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Peers:
"Maybe you're not cut out for this profession, you're too much of a perfectionist."
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
