Profiles of Success
Christina Freeland, Staff Accountant I
The Intern Experience
Outside of reading a textbook in college, my internship at WithumSmith+Brown was my first experience in accounting. I did not know if I was prepared for this. I did not know if I was prepared for this. Fortunately, the firm has an open-door policy which was very beneficial and comforting. I was encouraged to ask questions and everyone in the firm was patient and willing to explain things that were new to me. A positive aspect about my internship was that I was not expected to know more than what was taught in college; the firm was willing to take the time to teach me. During my internship, I tried to absorb everything I was taught. Even though I was only an intern, I was respected and treated as an equal.
As a tax season intern, I began working at the end of January. At first, the workload was light, which gave me time to train and adjust to the work environment. As the weeks continued and March approached, I quickly learned what the “tax season” hype was about as the workload increased. While I got a lot of tax preparation experience, I was also given the opportunity to see other aspects of the accounting field. I was taken to clients whenever the firm saw it as appropriate, allowing me to see a little of what goes on outside of the office.
Choosing accounting as a major in college was as simple as wanting to do something in business, and liking numbers. However, after interning I knew that accounting was something I would enjoy for my career because there are many challenges that will keep my career interesting and the goals of accountants are set high — both characteristics that are important to me. I am very happy that I had the opportunity to intern before beginning my career, and I highly recommend an internship for all college students entering the workforce within the next few years.
Published on WebCPA.com on December 1, 2009.