Author: Michael Glowacki, Intern
I had no idea what to expect going into an internship. I had not always considered tax my strongest subject in accounting. My first day, I met with Valarie Lewis, who trained me on how to log in to the program to prepare returns. I would be focusing on 1040’s for the duration of tax season. After a week of getting familiar with the program, I discovered my ability at doing taxes. I should have had more faith in myself. The program makes inputting the data far easier than what I had learned in class. Doing things by hand and with great uncertainty had deterred me from wanting to practice tax accounting. It seemed like a foreign language to me in school. I decided I really liked being a tax accountant. I wanted to stick around and do more of this.
To my surprise and with the utmost gratitude, the firm extended my internship through summer. I would be getting a first glance at audit work, and learning a whole new program and a new set of skills. I even had the opportunity to delve into QuickBooks. My main duties in the summer included payroll and bookkeeping. This helped me continue to gain experience in the professional world, and build my resume as a valuable employee. What I learned over the course of that eight month period also gave me an advantage for my last semester of school in terms of the topics I would be studying.
I am now on a third internship with Brickley Delong this fall and I could not be happier. I went into this job only expecting to be around for tax season assistance, and it turned into something far better. I have had the privilege of learning about multiple aspects of the accounting profession. I enjoy my work and the coworkers. I think that is everyone’s career goal, and I have reached it through my internship.
When this semester is over, I will be a Ferris Graduate and have 150 credit hours (a great deal of them attributable to internship credits). This will allow me to get licensed as soon as I pass the CPA exam sometime within the next year. My long term plan is to stay on with Brickley Delong, the firm that took a chance on me, and has taken great care of me ever since. They have helped me kick-start the promising career in accounting that I have been chasing for the last four years. I can not express how grateful I am for the opportunities that they have given me. It is comforting as a student to have a plan after graduation. I feel confident and less stressed about transitioning into the professional business world. I recommend that any student who can get an internship take it and run with it. The possibilities are endless. As they say, an internship is a continuous job interview. It will only help you build your resume, skill set, and value in the long run.
For more information on internships at Brickley DeLong PC, please visit our career pages or contact Christine Dill, cdill@brickleydelong.com or (231) 726-5835.