Discussion:Another Portlander checking in

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Discussion Forum Index --> User Introductions --> Another Portlander checking in

Scrivenerjones (talk|edits) said:

11 November 2009
Hi all. My name is James and I am studying to take the Oregon Tax Preparer's license exam coming up. I know what I'm supposed to do, as a student, is register and then immediately post a million questions and demand that you all answer them. But instead I thought I would announce my presence, make sure students like myself are welcome here, and then hang back and soak up wisdom from my elders. I hope that will work!

Gazoo (talk|edits) said:

11 November 2009
Welcome earthling.

Trillium (talk|edits) said:

11 November 2009
Hi, James: From your post I gather that you may already have read some of the prior discussions about students and homework/exam study questions… if not, you can find some by searching for "homework assignments" or something similar. But the main thing is that most* users won’t mind study questions if you:

(a) show your proposed solution/answer and describe the steps you took that led you to that answer, e.g., what you researched, why you think it applies, etc., including mentioning any of the discussions you found on the topic when you searched the TaxAlmanac discussion archives. Hints and Tips on How to Search on TaxAlmanac

(b) don’t try to make it look like a client situation (be upfront that you’re studying, because people will want to help you out but may not be so happy to find out later that they put off taking care of their own clients to help you with a hypothetical / non-client issue)

(c) try to be specific, as opposed to just asking open-ended or essay-type questions, for example, “when would you agree to extend the statute of limitations for X or Y” wouldn't go over nearly as well as this question did.

As someone here put it recently: if you want to be a tax professional (and why wouldn’t you!), you need to learn how to do research. And asking a question is not research - at least not for the person doing the asking.


* I used “most users” above since some users don’t care at all that study questions get asked here, and some users don’t ever want to see them, especially on the tax forum (the business growth forum is a lot more lenient in that respect), but in between those two extremes, most users seem to be happy enough if you consider the points listed in (a), (b), and (c), especially if you’re not coming back constantly with more questions!

Scrivenerjones (talk|edits) said:

11 November 2009
Hi, Trillium. Thanks for the tips re: exam questions. In the (quite likely) event that I do have such a question, and feel like posing it to the community here, I will be mindful of the guidelines you laid out.

CrowJD (talk|edits) said:

12 November 2009
With a name like Scrivener, I would think the appropriate response to Trillium would be ... "Thank you, but I'd prefer not to".

If I may be permitted to use that unforgettable line out of Melville's classic, Bartleby the Scrivener. <smile>

Now, this has even spawned a post on the Chat page.

Trillium (talk|edits) said:

12 November 2009
Crow, you're in fine form tonight <wink>. Although I think Gazoo wins the prize, for his concise post on the discussion about aliens (or was that last night?). That was laugh-out-loud funny.

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