By Nathaniel Luce
Every spring, students in the Vanderbilt MAcc program intern at the accounting firms known as the “Big Four” (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC). The opportunity is truly unique – students hone their craft at an industry leader during accounting’s busiest season, leveraging a paid, hands-on experience to build the technical and soft skills they’ll need to succeed in the profession.
MAcc students returned to school last month for their final mod. As graduation approaches, a few students described their internship experiences and the impact on their professional development.
For Eddie Franklin, who interned at Ernst & Young in Nashville, the experience had a profound impact, both professionally and personally. “This internship honestly made me a different person,” he says. “I became more outgoing, I learned a lot of technical skills, I made some great friends, and really expanded my network to many more professionals.”
Working with multiple clients in several capacities, Franklin credits the MAcc curriculum with teaching him the auditing fundamentals and accounting principles behind much of his work at Ernst & Young.
Megan Koontz also found the MAcc coursework very relevant for her internship at PwC in Chicago. “The concentrated exposure to various aspects of the accounting field within (two mods) was indispensable to preparing me for the internship,” she says. “Also, all of our networking opportunities with various firms during the recruiting process prepared me to interact with my engagement team.”
Her favorite aspect of the internship was applying her accounting knowledge to the audit field knowing that “there will truly be something new to learn every day.”
“I feel that I have an understanding of what I will be doing when I return to work for PwC in the fall,” she says, “and I feel confident about my abilities to fit in with the culture of the firm and accomplish the work I am tasked with.”
Chad Moss returned from his internship at PwC in Nashville with similar feelings. “I feel like I know what’s expected of me when I start full-time and how to adapt to changing expectations.”
That confidence in his adaptability partly stems from the emphasis on real-time development and “in-the moment feedback” he received from associates and seniors at PwC. “(They) really cared about my understanding of the task at hand almost as much as making sure that I did the work correctly and efficiently,” he says.
Working on three different projects with responsibilities that ranged from testing to analytics, Moss flexed multi-tasking muscles he developed at school. “The Vandy MAcc program helped me with juggling many different responsibilities at once, work-related and personal,” he says.
That personal component proved to be integral to the internship experience. “Accounting is a social profession, and working on a team is (so) ingrained in the Vandy MAcc program that it made it easy for me to transition that way of thinking into a professional office environment.”
Molly Barbour enjoyed the blend of inter-personal and professional at her internship with Deloitte in Boston. “I loved seeing a wide variety of areas of audit,” she says. “On the more fun side of things, I greatly enjoyed getting to know my team members and developing relationships with them.”
The relevance of her assignments surpassed Barbour’s expectations. “I was surprised by the many thought-provoking and meaningful assignments I had the opportunity to complete. I was able to see my work have an actual effect on the audit,” she says.
Like many others in her class, Barbour believes her internship set her up for success after graduation. “I felt I received a well-rounded experience that will help me perform better as a first-year. I also know better how a team operates and how I can fit in it,” she says. “I expect to be on one of the teams I interned with, so I am excited to already have a great relationship with them.”
For John Brackett, working with teams at PwC in Stamford, Ct. opened his eyes to the capability of his future co-workers. “The most surprising aspect (of the internship) was seeing the responsibility levels and productivity levels of Senior Associates at my firm,” he says. “The expectations I had reserved for the Manager level were more aligned with the Senior Associates that I worked with.”
As his responsibilities shifted from client-to-client, Brackett’s perspective on his budding career matured. “My favorite aspect of the internship was being able to distinguish what it’s really like to work in audit in the real world…there are many questions that can’t be answered without firsthand experience.”
The Vanderbilt MAcc program helped Brackett develop inquisitive tendencies that provided him the answers he needed. “I was trained extensively to ask good questions. I was not vocal (with) questions prior to the program, nor (with) asking quality, insightful questions. The conditioning from the program led me to automatically ask more questions.”
In the end, Brackett headed back to Vanderbilt with “a greater understanding of the industry and my role within it” and a strong appreciation for the profession and the MAcc program’s partner firms. “I fully understand why the Big Four represent an incredible place to launch your career,” he says.
Contact Person: Nate Luce Director of Business News and Communications
Contact Phone: 615.322.3469
Contact Email: nate.luce@owen.vanderbilt.edu
