August 08, 2017
Our accounting majors are getting invaluable real-world experience this summer at the nation’s Big Four accounting firms—Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Senior Megan McFadden, of Glen Brook, N.J., worked as an auditing intern for PwC, a position she was offered after completing the company’s three-day leadership program last year. Both bring her closer to her dream of working at one of the Big Four accounting firms.
“This internship is absolutely going to prepare me for my future career as a certified public accountant,” McFadden said. “A lot of the work that I am doing for PwC is actually the level of difficulty an experienced associate would receive, which has given me a great opportunity to learn a lot.”
Senior Jeremy Witter, of Shippensburg, Pa., was accepted into KPMG’s Build Your Own Internship program, where he’s gaining experience in two accounting practices as opposed to one. Witter chose tax and audit.
“Having a rotation into a new area during the internship naturally brings with it a steeper learning curve and new challenges,” Witter said. “But I was prepared to navigate that.”
He worked alongside fellow senior Chris Stutzman, Gilbertsville, Pa., and said they were treated by their colleagues as first-year associates in both the type of work they completed and the way in which more senior employees communicated with them.
“The most pleasant surprise of my internship was just how much mentoring was involved,” Witter said. “I regularly had one-on-one discussions with different mentors and senior associates about topics ranging from underlying accounting concepts to my professional goals to best practices as I start my career.”
Senior Michael Dolan, of Egg Harbor City, N.J., is spending his summer as a tax intern for Deloitte, doing tax planning for hedge and mutual funds clients. He credits faculty member Barbara Martin with setting him up with the right classes early on so that he would be prepared to step in to a demanding internship.
“She pointed me in the right direction,” he said. “I’m doing the things right now that I want to do in my career. I could see myself here for a while.”
Additionally, juniors Ryan Seibert, of Harrisburg, Pa., and Megan Duck, of Madisonburg, Pa., both completed externships with KPMG and Ernst & Young this summer. They will both intern with KPMG next summer.
Juniors Seth Berger, of Lafayette Hill, Pa., and Noah Schairer, of Lititz, Pa., will intern with KPMG in the winter.