Today's Interview

Today, I interviewed with Deloitte at 10:30AM. I arrived at their receptionist lobby 15 minutes early. As soon as I found out that the person who was interviewing me is someone I know and met while at the career fair, I was delighted. I think she was the one who referred me to the recruiter because she was impressed by my resume. Anyway, the overall interview was great. I enjoyed talking to her and she did not ask hard questions. As far as I know she mostly asked about resume questions. But also asked some teamwork question and work that exceeds expectations. My only concern is my visa status. She asked me at the beginning if I need sponsorship. And at the end I asked her if my status would be a problem. I think since she is not a recruiter, she is not sure about it but she thinks that Deloitte still sponsors intl students.

I hope that I will get the 2nd round. I am really hoping.

Preparing for the Interview

This weekend, I have dedicated my time to prepare and rehearse some possible interview questions. I want to give all my best to my Wed's interview. I really hope that I can go to the 2nd round interview.

But I know, whatever the result is, God knows me best. Yes, if I don't get it, I will be disappointed. But I will choose to trust and obey my Father in heaven :)

Matthew 6:34-35
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

DOTA

Hahaha... surprised that as a woman I play Dota?? I played warcraft after my O level back in 2003. So, I used to play warcraft and I loveee it. And now I have a company to play warcraft ever since my bro is here, I start playing again.. yipeee... Also, because nowadays DOTA is more common and popular than warcraft, I begin learning to master my skill in controlling my chosen hero. Well, I am not that good though.. My hero is always under-level compared to the rest :( I always use Razor as my hero. We'll see how long does it take for me to be expert hehehe

Waiting and Waiting

Tuesday, Sept 22, 2009 at 9:50PM

I called my school friend about something. I asked her if she heard any news from any of the firms yet. Well, good news for her, she has just been emailed that she got an interview with Deloitte. Well, she applied for audit though. But I am getting anxious and anxious. Don't know if I got an interview with Deloitte or not. But the rest of the big 4 have not notified us yet. Cross my fingers...

Wednesday, Sept 23, 2009 at 1:03PM

Yes. waiting is very tough... I am still waiting the response from the recruiters. So far.. I heard none.. My heartbeat is pumping so nervously. Probably Deloitte is out.. But the rest..? Leave it in God's hand.

Wednesday, Sept 23, 2009 at 3.25PM

When I came for mock interview, two people got the interview invitation for audit at Deloitte and one of them just received email invitation for interview at KPMG. So jealous of them. I was very much discouraged. Again, it's almost the end of the week, but how come I still have no answer?
Later that evening in class, I just found out that one of my friend who applied for audit, was already denied the interview invitation from Deloitte since Monday. So I don't know. I mean some of them have received the notification whether or not they got the interview. I don't know if it's good news or bad news for me.


Thursday, Sept 24, 2009 at 4.48PM

As expected, PwC did not give an invitation to interview for international student anymore. So when I saw the email from PwC, I wasn't surprised at all. But, most importantly, I am still waiting for the rest of the Big 4's response. Goshh!! This is killing me..

Friday, Sept 25, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Still no response! I thought today will be the last day to notify.

Friday, Sept 25, 2009 at 3:56 PM

Got rejected by KPMG

Friday, Sept 25, 2009 at 5:31 PM

Got rejected by EY
As soon as I received this email, I was highly discouraged. Deloitte has not gotten to me yet so I thought it will be another rejection email. Basically, I was 100% sure that I wont get any interview with the Big 4. I felt that why are they not giving me a chance to interview. I feel that I have a great credential and it's up to luck to be selected or not. After I interview, it will be 80% of my performance and 20% luck. Well, I am sad :(

Friday, Sept 25, 2009 at 6:25 PM

I told Richard that I did not get any interview with the Big 4. He calmed me down. Then, as soon as I opened up my email, I saw a new message in my inbox titling "Deloitte Interview -- Congratulations!" omg.. when I see this... It is beyond my expression. Thank you God for giving me the chance to interview with one of the Big 4. I know whatever the result is, I know that God still has the best for me yet to come. But of course, I would like the job, God! :)

Fall Semester Starts

The title speaks for itself. So it means that starting today, I will be taking 3 classes per week for 10 weeks. Compared to the previous sessions, I think this semester will be tougher and requires more work because the topic is more complex. I am taking C Corporation tax, International tax and Accounting for Income tax - Monday to Wednesday. Surely, this semester will be more stressful for me because besides taking harder classes, I am looking for a job, having a huge responsibility as a National Secretary for BAP, taking pre-marital counseling classes and lastly, preparing for my wedding. I am hoping that this semester will end soon.. Hehehe... Can't wait.. :)

Accounting & Finance Fair

Today is the beginning of my long, stressful search for a job. Fall semester is where all the accounting firms both big and small recruit the students to work full time next year. To be honest, I don't like all the process of recruiting and interviews. It is so nerve-racking and frustrating especially if you don't get the interview, get the interview and do not pass for the 2nd round, get the 2nd round and think that we did well but unfortunately do not get a job offer. And more than that, impressing the firm professionals, polishing my resume and cover letter, practicing for interview questions, answering hard and never-thought-about-it questions are all the things that makes me nervous, anxious.

For today's fair, I had the chance to talk with EY, KPMG, Deloitte, BPM, Mohler Nixon and the smaller firms. I managed to get their business cards and emailed a thank you note to them. Some of them replied, while others don't. I did not come to PwC's booth because they are not sponsoring international students anymore. I once got an offer from them 3 years ago but unluckily, I did not get the H1B visa so they rescinded the offer. But anyway, I just hope that the firms that I talked to, will give me a chance to interview with them. I am still polishing the Big 4's essays and will submit by this week. The deadline is this Sunday midnight.

I am writing about this work journey because the future is still unclear to me. And I just hope one day I can look back to this blog and thank God for His guidance and blessings for whatever I have been through.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Macarons from Japan

My sister and bro in-laws just came back from their vacation trip to Japan. Before they left for Japan, I told them to bring my favorite Macaron as oleh2 hehe.. Roderick, my bro in-laws and sister's friend had once brought this macaron as a gift from Japan for them and I sneakily tried it.. It was so good!! Since then, everytime I look at macaron, I feel that I want to eat that and every time I taste a macaron, nothing compared with what I eat from Japan.

So, this is it.. The Best Macarons I ever had!! From Dalloyao Bakery, Tokyo

Playing playfully with the macarons

Wedding Invite

Yesterday, we sent the informal wedding invitation through facebook and released our wedding website. I thank technology/facebook to allow us to be able to know which guests are confirmed coming v. not v. maybe. And also be able to send invitation easier, faster, more convenient and get the reply faster.

Our wedding website is www.richardkathy.com
Feel free to browse around and know more about us.

Keep in mind that this is informal invitation and you will get the hard copy, real wedding invitation weeks before the big day. We are still in progress in creating our invitation. :)

My 22th Birthday

This is my first birthday celebrating with my fiance. :) Thank you darling for the un"surprised" birthday party. I know I am naughty and cheeky to ruin your plan HAHAHA

I am double two!

Thank you koden for making the sandwichAnd thank you all for coming and celebrate my bday :P

New Discovery

I just found out an interesting difference between us. Yesterday, when I helped my membership director at BAP to input information of new pledges/members into excel, Richard helped out too. Inputting data such as name, address, phone, email etc etc is kind of tedious and boring. As for me, when I work, I really want to concentrate and finish it asap. So, when working, I prefer not to be disturbed. On the other hand, Richard can't really concentrate when doing this kind of things because he's a problem solving guy. He prefers to have problem and think over the solution rather than type all the available info one by one. So when he helped me, he always made comments and talked and disturbed me. I felt irritated. Because, I am quiet and focused when I want to get things done quickly. But, if I am presented with problems and cases, after minutes of thinking, I become reckless and made comments and basically, I don't want to continue thinking. Hahaha...

This is one of the very opposite of us.

Mie goreng

I cooked this mie goreng for my sister, Vicky's bday surprise. I learnt the recipe from Ci Lily years ago and I think this is one of the earliest recipes that I can cook well. Thanks Ci!

Living in the same house, it is very hard to surprise her especially when I need to cook for a lot of people because she will be wondering for whom I cook that much for. Plus after cooking, the smell of food, oil, etc etc is basically overwhelming the house. Luckily that day, she was so busy at work so Denny and I could find time to cook at noon and hide them inside the oven. (The oven is not on btw, it's just to hide the food from vicinity). According to many people, this noodle is very delicious and yummy. Hehehehe....


Recipe courtesy of ci lily:

Ingredients:
Dry noodle, 6
Baso, 1 pack, sliced thin
shrimp, 10-20
1 pack of bean sprout
chives
4 eggs
shallot
sweet soy sauce
oyster sauce
fish sauce
oil

Method:
Boil the noodle for few seconds until the dry noodle soften a little bit. Don't over boil the noodle because we don't want a soft noodle at this point.
Rinse the noodle with cold water, set aside
Add oil into wok
Stir fry the shallot until brownish
Add eggs
Add baso and shrimps
Put in sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce. Just estimate the sauce up to your taste.
Add in noodle
Put in the chives and bean sprouts. The noodle will now have a balance texture from the water from the veggies,
Mix together well. If the noodle is still hard, add more water.

Eat with chili. Enjoy!

How We Met

Probably, some of you will wonder how we met. So I thought, I'll write something more personal and close about us. This is my perspective of how we met as told by me :)

It wasn't love at first sight. We met the first time at church or during one of the church activities some time ago in 2006. At that time, we barely talked to each other and I just treated him as a friend. But, God is good. I must say that getting a job at SanDisk was a blessing in disguise. I had a prestigious job offer before getting an offer at SanDisk, but somehow, God detour-ed my plan of working with that company. I was frustrated at first when I knew that I could not work with that company, but, I always have faith that God has the best plan for my life, no matter what. Jeremiah 29:11 from the Bible has been such an encouragement to me.

And my faith did come true! Not only the work load at SanDisk was a lot lesser that I could find time to study for CPA exams, but I also met someone to spend the rest of my life with. To be honest, even when we worked at the same company, I did not have a spark on him at first. Through his endless efforts of having lunch with me and visiting my cube everyday, he finally won my heart. Richard is patient, caring, creative, gentleman, hardworking, smart and many more. What could I ask for more? I have found the other half of me and I am looking forward to build our new chapter of life together.

Below is our first picture taken in our company during Halloween party in 2007. This is probably the picture why I came to realize that he is chasing after me and he is not bad after all and worth to give it a try :P

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.