Starting Out

For my first post, I thought I should take a little time to write how I started my career. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do when I graduated, however, I did well in accounting classes so I thought I would start there. I really liked Deloitte & Touche as a company and I had heard that having your CPA helps later in your career, so I started there in September 2003. I didn't want to do a Master's of Accounting and Deloitte was really good at allowing me to take classes and sit for the exam while I worked. Thus, I took summer classes before I started, sat for the exam in November 2003 and then took classes at Wayne State for the next year to fulfill my 150 credit hours needed to become licensed in the State of Michigan.

After a while of working at Deloitte, I decided that I did not want to be an auditor anymore and I found that the hours did not allow me to have the personal life I needed. Public accounting is a great way to start a career, but the hours are long and there is a lot expected of you at such a young age. I decided that after 2.5 years, it was no longer a career path I wanted to take. I wanted a job that would allow me to do finance, but also be involved in the operations of the business. That's how I found Pulte.

I currently work for the Corporate Audit group at Pulte Homes. Yes, it's still auditing, but it's a rotational program that will allow me to transfer to an operational role at a later date. Basically, you come into the Corporate Audit group, and for a couple years travel around the country doing audits of the different divisions. Then, at the end of the rotation, you have the chance to become a controller/assistant controller at one of the divisions. This job allows me to travel the country, learn about an industry that is of interest to me and will allow me to take on that operational role that I wanted after I left public.