Experience counts: the power of recruiting through interns.

• Author: Farrell, Ramona R.
• Position: Practicemanagement

A person's internship experience with a firm can often the determining factor in accepting a full-time job tiller from that firm. The internship experience of people also can be critical to their referral of other potential student interns.

According to Andre Watkins, an accounting major at California State University, Sacramento and director of professional relations for the school's Accounting Society, students often secure internship positions through the referral of existing interns whose internship has turned into an employment offer, or the end of the semester has arrived and the student is moving on from the existing internship position.

A direct referral is just one of several ways for students to secure internships. Other resources include:

College Career Center Postings: Career centers will coordinate campus interview days for potential employers. In some instances, accounting firms are able to screen internship candidates and select those students the firm wants to interview. This benefit is afforded potential employers through the CSE Sacramento College of Business Administration's Honors program.

Meet and Greet Events: The accounting societies and Beta Alpha Psi chapters of CSU Sacramento and other universities often coordinate Meet the Firms events for accounting students. Watkins, for example, recently interviewed with the Sacramento dice of a regional accounting firm as a result of his networking ell; irk at the fall Meet the Firms event held at CSU: Sacramento. There are many firms that recruit from local colleges or through various accounting societies.

CalCPA Website: CalCPA offers student memberships and its website, www.calcpa.org, is a perfect spot to post your firm's internships.

Many students seek accounting internships the work experience, and while being a paid intern might he ideal for a student, there is the opportunity for students who need additional credit units to enroll in an approved internship course that tillers college credit for qualified internships. A professor evaluates and approves the internship opportunity and learning experience.

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Students should be encouraged to seek internships with local and regional firms. The experiences and learning opportunities at an accounting firm other than one of the Big Four can be invaluable. For the sole practitioner or smaller accounting firm, interns have more of an opportunity to assist in all aspects of operating an accounting practice...