Update February 13, 2012: I wrote this article about seven months ago to tell everyone about my experiences at the 2011 Scholars Institute that was held at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. At the time, I thought that the fun and experiences of my time there would end when I left. However, because of the connections and friends I made, the benefits of attending continue to enhance my accounting and personal life each day. Because of the high caliber of professionals in attendance (most of whom were ranked in the "30 Under 30" in New Jersey by New Jersey CPA magazine), I ended up running into most of those professionals again at networking events or interviews. I still remain in touch with the friends I made at the Institute, and know if I have career questions I can go to them and discuss my options and hear their own plans. The friends I made will be the same people I will be communicating with in the business world when all of our careers start. The professionals I met and the lessons learned are critical to my networking and career paths. I now have many team leaders I refer to as mentors, to go to when I have any questions about the accounting field. I ended up changing my field of work in the internship offer I received from Deloitte from tax to audit because of my experiences at The Scholars Institute. Anyone with the chance to attend this event should take the opportunity to sign up now before it is too late. I know that if I had the ability to go for a second time I would not hesitate to attend.
For many college-aged students, the first thought that comes to mind when thinking about an accounting-related event is, "How long is this thing going to take?" I had a similar thought when showing up to this year's New Jersey Society of CPAs Scholars Institute at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. I envisioned sitting through session after session of accountants talking about debits and credits. To my surprise, however, by the end of day two, my friends and I were all wishing we could stay another night.
Day 1
Upon arrival, there were some familiar faces, though mostly new ones. After my roommates and I quickly settled into our room, we headed toward the main meeting room where we were greeted by our team leaders who were CPAs at various accounting firms. With the help of a quick ice breaker, the event attendees were able to meet each other. I became even more comfortable when the welcome address was given by my accounting professor, Professor Daniel Stubbs Jr. Following the ice breaker, the atmosphere at the event shifted from what most college students expected - an uptight and boring event - to a casual and comfortable learning and networking environment.
After the morning session, we relocated to the Neilson Dining Hall where Jonna Martin taught us proper dining etiquette, which will come in handy for interview events, business dinners and the like. This was a great chance for us to refuel while learning something that will stick with us throughout both our personal lives and our careers. After we finished coffee and dessert, it was back to the main hall to hear perspectives on the accounting profession.
Our next session was what we referred to as “10-minute speed dating – accounting style.” This was set up to give each group of students a chance to meet with professionals with different perspectives on the accounting profession. Most of the students found this to be the most beneficial part of the event as it put to rest the narrow thinking we have regarding the accounting profession: (1) Big 4 is the accounting profession, and (2) we must choose audit or tax. Michael Saccomanno, of Sacomanno Valuation Group LLC, had the biggest impact on my experience during the "speed dating" session. He introduced a new field of accounting to me that deals with forensics. He explained that it's a field in which your success depends on the effort you put in. In addition to learning about his daily job duties, we also got a glimpse of how he (and other CPAs) is an everyday person just like us by hearing about his personal interests as well.
Now that we had a better understanding of the different job functions in the accounting profession, we moved on to the networking reception. This gave us the opportunity to further open up our mind to the accounting profession by meeting with professionals from many different firms ranging from the Big 4 to smaller firms that we haven't heard of. We were able to build relationships with the professionals while learning about their jobs interests beyond accounting. This made it easier to have a real conversation with everyone and not only ask the boring question, “So what do you do at your job?” One thing we learned from the event is that the main difference between the firms is the the people that work there, so it’s important to find a firm that is a good fit.
Meeting with the professionals was great. We also realized, however, that building relationships with other students was equally important as we will be resources to each other in the future. The teamwork exercises really brought everyone together in a friendly competition to wrap up day one.
Day 2
After some quick shut eye, we all woke up ready to learn more on day two. This day was focused on how to land a job. For starters, all accountants need to begin thinking about their resume, getting involved on and off campus, and completing the CPA exam after college. This is the first step towards better positioning yourself in the job market. In addition, through activities such as resume workshops and mock interviews, we were taught how to better present ourselves to firms. Each student had the chance to work one on one with a professional to discuss their resume.
During the mock interviews, I had the privilege of role playing one of the interviewees. This was a chance for two other students and me to act out three different interview scenarios: (1) an ideal candidate, (2) an average candidate, and (3) an off-the-charts horrible candidate. We had fun while learning the do's and don'ts of interviewing.
At the end of the event, instead of being glad that it was over, everyone was upset the event had to come to an end. Prizes were given out and a slide show of pictures was displayed at our final gathering. This event left a lasting impression on me that gave me a more informed perspective on accounting. At the end, t-shirts were given out to leave us with a slogan representative of how accountants are viewed by the majority of the public (i.e., that we are all tax professionals): "CPAs do it on the 15th."
Applications for the 2012 program will be available on January 1. While I didn’t need to camp out overnight or stand in line for a bracelet, space is limited and I highly recommend you attend.
Video Highlights from the 2011 Scholars Institute