Let the BUSYNESS BEGIN

Daniel Verastegui
Tax Intern
Schaumburg, IL

It has been intense here at McGladrey, but not unbearable. We are in mid-season and everyone is focused and determined to get their returns completed. Even the interns are getting really busy. It is not like the first few weeks where we would come in and send out emails letting people know that we were available. Now people gladly give us tasks to do to keep us busy. The other interns and I all come in excited to learn new things and get our work done every day. We all feel that having people trust us with some large tasks will really help us grow, not only in our professional lives but in our personal lives as well. The days go by so much faster when I am busy. I’m not going to lie, working on new things that I am not familiar with can be frustrating, but I can always count on someone here at the firm to help me out. I am learning new things everyday and things that I have done in the past, now seem pretty easy.

Now that we are in the middle of busy season, my projects are larger and more complex than when I first started. The projects I receive now that are similar to the projects I received when I first started take less than half the time to complete. So there is a learning curve, but the job is not impossible. There have been times that I have gotten stuck and frustrated that I just wanted to slam my head against the table, that’s when I knew to go ask for help.

Now, do not get intimidated! That’s just the way it is during busy season. Luckily, we have a Fun Committee! The Fun Committee is awesome. We have Tuesday Trivia, Themed Saturday’s and other miscellaneous competitions. Believe it or not, the Fun Committee helps relieve people’s stress in the office. Even with the Fun Committee around, things can get tough not only for an intern, but for everyone in the office; all the way from the support staff to the partners. I deal with the stress by staying positive. As long as a person stays positive when coming to work every morning the day will go by much smoother. I stay positive even when I mess up, because that allows me to learn from my mistakes. If I don’t I’ll just make more mistakes, which is not good. 

The best tips I could give someone who will enter busy season for the first time are: get here early, communicate, and ASK for HELP. I know we are only mid way through busy season, but I, as well as the other interns in the Schaumburg office, want to thank everyone in our office for making us feel welcomed and for helping us A LOT during these few weeks. Special thanks to our navigators. Also special thanks to the associates, managers, and partners whom have taken time off from their own tasks to come and personally help us complete ours. (I know we probably have annoyed you by now!) Last but not least I would personally like to thank the fellow interns and new hires here in Schaumburg: Natalie, Tom, Nicole, Nick and Ryan.