Today I’ll be taking you along my day working for the Canada Revenue Agency showing what it’s like working part time for the government as a student.
MONDAY
7:30AM: I work two full days a week to be able to balance with school. Because of this, I tend to have a lot of emails build up from when I’m not at work so I check them right away. My team sends each other “end of work day updates”. From these I’m able to know what work is left to be done or any issues that have arisen while I was gone. I’m part of the Revenue Accounting Reporting and Analysis Division at work, more specifically, I work on Allowance for Doubtful Accounts (ADA). The goal of the work my team and I do, is to at the end of the year come up with an appropriate estimate for what the ADA is to put on our financial statements. Months and months of work goes into trying to come up with the most accurate estimate possible of these uncollectible accounts. Right now, I’m working on a specific project to help refine our ADA methodology and formula. I mainly use excel, IDEA (an accounting software) and CRA specific software to complete my work.
9:30AM-10:30AM: I have a meeting with a few colleagues and statisticians from another division to talk about data warehousing and ways to receive more accurate data.
10:30AM-11:30AM: I have a new team member and so I’ve been helping to train her whenever she gets new tasks. At this time I’m helping her understand the IDEA software and how to test for the accuracy of our ADA information within the GST stream.
12PM: Since I’m not in very often, a lot of work builds up so I tend to eat as I work. I make my own lunches the night before and with a kitchen readily accessible, I take advantage of the fridge and microwave.
1:30PM: My team takes a 10 minute health break. Every now and then, we walk down and up 11 flights of stairs as we’re on the 11th floor.
After that, I keep working till 3:30pm. I have a really amazing team and whenever I have a question, they’re always happy to help and teach me the accounting knowledge behind the work I do as opposed to just have me follow some robotic steps.
3:30PM: Once 3:30 hits, I’m normally able to leave if I’ve gotten all my work done! Woohoo!
I absolutely love my job and the people I work with. Every day is a crazy new challenge and I’ve gotten some great opportunities from it as well. I’m also a CRA ambassador representing the CRA on campus at networking events and career fairs. If you ever see me around, come say hi! I love answering questions about the agency.
About the author
Dina El Alami is this year’s VP Marketing. She’s a fourth year accounting student at the Telfer School of Management. When she’s not at work or school, you can find her at McDonald’s or taking a spin class.