Career fairs can be nerve-wracking affairs. We all want to make a great first impression on potential employers. So, how do we do that? We asked several accounting professionals attending a recent Meet the Firms — an accounting career fair hosted by the Rady School to introduce undergraduate accounting minors and MPAc students to dozens of employers — to share their best pieces of advice for students.
What employers want to see at a career fair:
“Someone that we can get along with in the workplace and that would have a professional demeanor when we place them in front of clients.” – Natalie Allen, UC San Diego alum and audit associate at KPMG
“Come out, be your true self. Definitely be prepared. Have some questions prepared for us to give feedback so we can get a dialogue. But then also ask us about who we are.” – Nick Winicki, UC San Diego alum and senior audit associate at Deloitte
“Communication skills. Definitely. We always say that you can always teach someone something, but it’s hard to teach soft skills to students.” -Rey Bada, staff accountant at Weworski & Associates
Next steps after a career fair:
“I think the students should think about what they’re most interested in and what they’re looking for in a career. If they’re in accounting, think about whether you’re interested in tax or audit so you can find the right path for you.” – Megan Chatman, tax manager at Gatto, Pope & Walwick, LLP
“Make sure you get business cards and then follow up with them afterwards. So every follow-up email I sent, I tried to include something we talked about so they’d remember me.” – Nick Winicki
Best advice for a job interview:
“Just be yourself, be punctual. Do some research about the firm and come up with really good questions to ask the interviewer and just try to make an impact.” – Michelle Koh, tax content analyst at Intuit
“It’s fine to be nervous. It’s fine. It happens to everyone. But the opportunities are out there and you have to be a go-getter. Go for that.” – Jose Palacios, UC San Diego alum and commercial credit underwriter at California Bank and Trust
“Be yourself. I think we all have a tendency to get nervous during a job interview but do what you can to keep your nerves calm and just really be who you are.” – Megan Chatman
“If you don’t know kind of the ins and outs of the bank and have really looked into why you’re excited to work here, it’s hard for us to see you in those positions.” – Nicole Wells, campus recruiter at California Bank & Trust
How to advance in your career:
“Participate some way in the community, whether it’s through volunteering time in the nonprofit, or being able to have a little bit of background of what it is to be in the workforce and become a little bit more knowledgeable.” – Cynthia Solomon, UC San Diego alum and relationship banker at California Bank & Trust
Accounting Professionals Share Their Best Career Advice for Students was last modified: March 4th, 2020 by Camille Cannon
This September, the first ever cohort of Master of
Professional Accountancy (MPAc) students will make history as they begin
classes on campus at Rady School of Management at the University of California
San Diego.
It’s an exciting time to be around the buzzing Rady campus,
not just for the students but for the faculty and staff too. James Deiotte,
Executive Director of Rady’s MPAc program, is particularly excited to kick off
the 2019-2020 academic year with a refreshed take on the traditional masters of
accountancy program.
James Deiotte, Executive Director, Master of Professional Accountancy
“Our students will be taught
by professionals in the field they’re entering. They will gain great insights
as to what goes on and what’s expected to become successful in the profession,”
says Deiotte. “Being taught by research
faculty and industry professionals, including retired accounting firm partners,
will accelerate the career development of our students.”
What makes the Rady MPAc different is that we’re leveraging
on the strengths of being a young business school that is entrepreneurial at
its core. Rady is a school that has a collaborative and innovative culture and
the MPAc program is no exception. The collaborative approach is reflected in
the program’s crossover with other disciplines offered at the school, including
business, analytics, and finance.
“We have approached embedding
data and business analytics into most of our classes to accelerate the
understanding of these changes and putting more context around it,” says
Deiotte. “For example, we want our
students to understand the legal nuances and the accounting implications of what
is a digital asset and how you might want to account for the acquisition of
those assets. We are especially
interested in the accounting and reporting related to the new and restrictive
regimes arising around the world like the EU’s General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) or California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).”
Our program embraces students that want
to change and make a meaningful impact in their careers and the profession. With
the changes taking place in technology and data, students that have majored in
data science, economics or international studies are finding that the accounting
profession is interested in them, provided they can understand and use the
language of business – accounting.
Getting into the profession is Job #1! “We’ve
built a curriculum that accomplishes the most important tasks with respect to
the professional development of our students,” says Deiotte. “We want to make sure that students are ready
for certifications within the profession, including the CPA and CMA exams,
which are both recognized globally.”
Growing in the profession and future proofing the student’s
investment in their career is enhanced by Rady electives focused on leadership,
communication and decision making courses and experiences from Capstones. “We have heard from firms, both large and
small, that soft skills development is even more important today because of the
rapid technology enabled changes taking place and the use of BOTS, AI and ML
platforms,” says Deiotte.
