Chase Career Center Hosts Day-long Event: Careers in Public Accounting
October 1, 2009
"Public accounting is as much about personal relationships as technical proficiency. That was a key message during our day-long event, Careers in Public Accounting," emphasizes Kim Figueroa, Director of Internships at the Chase Career Center. "With that in mind, students need to work on building professional networks and relationships with recruiters." Holding the accounting event during the 3rd week of the fall semester conveyed a second message to the students: Begin career planning and networking as soon as possible in the academic year and early in your academic career!
The event, attended by 100 students in the Isenberg School's atrium, began with two morning presentations. The first, which surveyed the public accounting profession, featured remarks from leaders in the public accounting profession-most of them partners and all of them Isenberg School alumni. In the second presentation, "Life after Public Accounting," Isenberg School alumni demonstrated some of the diverse career options that await graduates with an Isenberg degree and public accounting experience. In the afternoon, alumni participants in smaller panel discussions examined careers in auditing and tax. A third panel focused on internships and recruiting.
"The fantastic turnout among our alumni-many of them partners from the Big 4 public accounting firms-underscored their commitment to our students and the Isenberg School," Figueroa continues. "Alumni want our students to become as competitive in the job and internship markets as possible. Our alumni made it clear: by building professional networks and establishing relationships with recruiters early on, students practice some of the relationship-based skills that will prove indispensible to them as practicing accountants."
With the same goal of fostering student proactivity, the Chase Career Center hosted a mini-career fair earlier in the week devoted to opportunities at regional accounting firms. The event attracted scores of students and recruiters from 15 firms.
