September 16, 2022
Another Meet the Firms is, well, in the accounting books
The annual Meet the Firms event, designed to introduce regional and state accounting firms to soon-to-be College of Business (COB) accounting graduates, returned to ECU’s Murphy Hall September 13, 2022.
Twenty-eight accounting firms met, networked and connected with 180 accounting students with varying career aspirations. One of those students was Sarah Stewart, a senior from Emerald Isle, North Carolina. This year’s Meet the Firms was her first, and she participated in it for targeted, pragmatic reasons.
“I’m expecting to talk to a lot of people, hopefully, get a lot of contact information and have a chance for an internship next summer,” said Stewart.
Been There
Zana Tate is an assurance senior manager with EY. She was in the same situation as Stewart when she attended a Meet the Firms event as a COB senior. Why did she come back to attend as a recruiter?
“I’m here to recruit top talent from the best university,” said Tate with a smile. However, when recruiting future talent to EY, she knows what she and the Big Four company are looking for in a candidate.
“I’m expecting to find someone that’s enthusiastic, who has a positive attitude, is great at communication and is interested in learning,” said Tate.
Done That
Kara Bowen is a managing director for the newly named Forvis, a company that emerged out of a recent merger and whose name stands for forward vision. She works out of the company’s Greenville office and looks forward to attending the COB’s annual accounting career fair.
“The majority of our group are ECU alums, so we are very familiar with this event,” said Bowen, who received her Master of Science in Accounting from the COB. “We are excited to meet the students and hopefully find many prospective employees.”
When asked about what kind of candidates she looks for when she attends Meet the Firms, she said, “We are looking for anyone and everyone interested in the accounting world, which includes audit and tax advisory services.”
“The students always are full of energy and excitement about their upcoming careers, and we want to support them in their journey and … we hope they want to come along with us,” said Bowen.
“This event is the highlight of our fall semester,” said Dr. Cal Christian, accounting chair. “It felt like gameday! Our students are in high demand and to be able to come out tonight and experience the excitement of having all of these employers on campus wanting to recruit our students is awesome. The event’s high turnout confirms our students are wanted. In addition, for our faculty to be able to visit with so many former students that have come back to campus to recruit is just an added bonus. This is going to be a great year for the accounting department!”
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