“Wait for your ship to come in.” “Let your work do the talking for you.” Some of you may recall hearing these or similar adages early on in your careers. You might have even repeated them yourself. After all, for years, it was considered standard advice, the key to making it in just about any profession: Do a good job, and advancement will naturally come your way.
However, that message, while well intentioned, may no longer be adequate: Sitting back and waiting for good fortune to roll in and sweep you away—no matter how adept you are at your job—is a proposition I would not suggest anyone stake his or her career on. And for managers, passivity is not a quality you want in any of your staff. You want talent, smarts and an appetite for success on your team—in other words, someone who would swim out and meet his ship, not wait for it to come in.
The Society’s NextGen program is designed to help new and aspiring CPAs do just that—to identify and seize the abundant opportunities for success that our profession has in store for them. NextGen offers a diverse array of professional development services that emerging professionals want and need, and we’ve expanded the program’s offerings over the last year to include even more networking and CPE events. One pivotal component that gets right to the heart of our commitment to our newest CPAs is our NextGen Conference.
Held each summer, the conference is a chance for NextGen CPAs to gain insights from financial thought leaders that will help them to navigate their career paths—an opportunity that I’m certain many former NextGeners, like myself, wish we’d had. The conference also encourages emerging professionals to see themselves as part of a growing community and to build relationships that will be helpful in the months and years ahead.
This year, we have a great lineup of workshops that cover everything from getting noticed by managing partners and company executives, to best practices for interacting with supervisors, to the key drivers behind successful CPA firm and business operations. The conference takes place on July 31 at the NYSSCPA’s Wall Street headquarters. Sessions will also be streamed live at three video conference sites throughout the state. I strongly encourage you to register at nysscpa.org/nextgen15. If you’re a NextGen CPA, please give serious consideration to attending. If you’re not, please encourage a NextGener you know or work with to be there. I promise that it’ll be worth the investment.
president@nysscpa.org