Wrapping Up The Year (The Recruiting Process Part II)
Hello again! Since my last post, the semester is starting to wrap up and winter is in the air. Over the past couple of weeks I have been finishing up team projects which involve both class presentations and written reports. These are a good way to gain experience working on a team with people who have different personalities and strengths, and will also help you brush up on your presentation skills. First, we’ll be presenting our recommendations for a local construction company for our ACC 540 (IT Risks and Controls) practicum. I’m also working with a group to prepare a convincing presentation with market research and data to “shareholders” (aka our class) who will be choosing a side in a potential merger or acquisition in ACC 519 (Applied Finance). Most groups will meet in the MAC Lab to build and practice their presentations. It’s a busy place this time of year!
Office Visits
To continue where we last left off in my job search, I’m excited to describe the final step of the MAC recruiting process, the interviews. After the Meet the Firms evenings, I chose several firms that I was interested in and requested on-campus interviews through the university’s ePack Career Portal. Because these interviews usually only last 30-45 minutes and take place in a building right next to the business school, I applied several interviews with firms of all sizes in hopes of getting a better feel for what each firm’s culture was like.
After the interview request windows closed, firms chose whether to invite you to an interview with them on campus. I felt fortunate to be invited to several interviews, which meant the next couple of weeks were a whirlwind balancing class and meetings with employers. Many of the firms also invited candidates to pre-interview socials the night before the interview as another opportunity to get to know each other better. The events I attended included bowling in North Raleigh, a couple of taco nights at nearby restaurants, and even a fun evening at an arcade/bar in downtown Raleigh. Going to these events allowed me to meet many of the people I would be interviewing with the next day in a more casual setting, and I think it eased my nerves because we had already broken the ice earlier.
The final step after the on-campus interviews ended involved waiting for calls from firms with invitations for office visits. The office visits I went on were more formal and usually involved an office tour, 3-4 interviews with partners and managers, and lunch with recent graduates. I met many associates who had recently graduated from the NC State MAC Program and was given plenty of good advice for taking the CPA Exam and finishing out the year. Being at each firm’s office and meeting so many of their team members helped me with my difficult decision process at the very end. There are pros and cons to working at firms of each size, and I felt like I was able to get a much better picture of what life is like at each after going on these visits. Each firm had different approaches to training, advancement, hours worked, and travel, so it’s up to you to determine which one is the best fit for your personality.
With that said, I’m happy to say that I accepted an offer with a local CPA firm in the Raleigh, NC market! I’ll be starting with the firm full-time in late Summer of next year.
What’s Next
After group presentations and final exams wrap up in late November, MAC students will be shifting their focus to taking part of the CPA Exam. Becker CPA Review will be on campus for live review classes in mid-December, and I’ll be replacing the time spent in class with studying for the BEC (Business Environment & Concepts) section of the Exam. We’ll blog about the CPA Exam process in more detail soon. For now, good luck with finals and happy holidays!
