Category: Internship Spotlight

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Big 4 Internships and the Pandemic Impact (Part 4 of 4)

This is part 4 of a 4 part post. If you already saw the part prior, go ahead and skip over the remainder of this introductory paragraph since it is the same as that in the others. During the summer of 2020, in the heat of the pandemic, I had a rare opportunity: I was part of Ernst & Young’s first fully virtual internship experience. This post is geared towards students looking at interning at the “Big 4” in the coming years, so this post is particularly suitable for current or prospective accounting majors. But, if you are not considering accounting, there is still something here for you.

4. The reality

In spring of 2020, I found out that my internship would be 100% remote. While I was disappointed, I was impressed with how well EY was able to adjust their plans in such a dramatic way on such short notice. The program was shortened by about three weeks and the start date shifted back by about a month. I was mailed a laptop (and everything that came with). Within the first day of the internship, thousands of new interns were up and running on EY’s remarkably advanced technological platforms. We were provided with training, broken down into groups, assigned mentors and peer-buddies (one of the greatest things about EY), and put on client-engagement teams. We were given a few weeks to work with our assigned client engagement teams, and then we were given a week to work through EY Badges to earn the Intern level badge. The final week of the internship had 8-10 interns from all service lines were paired with a coach to work through a real business problem for a client, and compete to see who could offer the best plan, slide deck, and presentation.

While the internship did not look the way I expected it to, being remote showed me an even clearer picture of how EY works. They were off knocked off kilter and navigating foreign territory, and while they could have canceled the internship or cut it down to merely the training portion, they proved that people matter and displayed the power of the organization to rally in hard times and unwaveringly meet objectives.

Disclaimer: I do not represent nor am I speaking on behalf of any of the Big 4; all information in this article is subject to change; the intent of this article and all following posts on the same subject is to help inform students, not to advise their career decisions.

 

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Big 4 Internships and the Pandemic Impact (Part 3 of 4)

This is part 3 of a 4 part post. If you already saw the part prior, go ahead and skip over the remainder of this introductory paragraph since it is the same as that in the others. During the summer of 2020, in the heat of the pandemic, I had a rare opportunity: I was part of Ernst & Young’s first fully virtual internship experience. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a scar in my past or a badge of accomplishment. I certainly view it as the latter, but I did not initially. This post is geared towards students looking at interning at the “Big 4” in the coming years, so this post is particularly suitable for current or prospective accounting majors. But, if you are not considering accounting, there is still something here for you.

I discussed previously what companies the “Big 4” are and what they do, and I covered why internships there are so significant. This post is aimed at relating my experience from the summer of 2020, and discussing how it was shaped by the pandemic.

3. My expectations

My relationship with Ernst & Young started long before my first day as an intern; I met a recruiter on campus for a mock interview, and knew from that meeting that EY was a place I wanted to work and grow. As I progressed through the application and interview process, everyone that I spoke to or exchanged emails with further affirmed my decision. When I applied, interviewed, and accepted my offer (all before Easter in 2019), no one knew how the world would change over the coming year. I went into this expecting to be sitting in a recently remodeled office in one of Denver’s tallest buildings with a view of the city and the mountains. I expected intern activities after days in the office, and opportunities to visit client sites and really see a “day in the life of an auditor.” More importantly I expected to be challenged, pushed, taught, mentored, and exhausted.

Disclaimer: I do not represent nor am I speaking on behalf of any of the Big 4; all information in this article is subject to change; the intent of this article and all following posts on the same subject is to help inform students, not to advise their career decisions.

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Big 4 Internships and the Pandemic Impact (Part 2 of 4)

This is part 2 of a 4 part post. If you already saw the part prior, go ahead and skip over the remainder of this introductory paragraph since it is the same as that in the others. During the summer of 2020, in the heat of the pandemic, I had a rare opportunity: I was part of Ernst & Young’s first fully virtual internship experience. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a scar in my past or a badge of accomplishment. I certainly view it as the latter, but I did not initially. This post is geared towards students looking at interning at the “Big 4” in the coming years, so this post is particularly suitable for current or prospective accounting majors. But, if you are not considering accounting, there is still something here for you.

2. Internships

Big 4 internships are highly competitive because they are very valuable. You probably have heard jokes about fetching coffee and making copies; Big 4 internships leave students at times craving a simpler job description. Big 4 internships are significant because they are well respected both inside of and outside of the Big 4. They are well respected because they are consistently challenging. Much of the internship is spent in training – a training very similar to what you would receive if you were a new hire fresh out of college. This training is invaluable because it provides interns with the skills they will need in the next phase of the internship which is typically one or more different client engagements. While on client engagements, intern roles vary by team and by client and by intern, but it is safe to assume that you will be doing substantive work, safe to assume that you will get a taste of what the Big 4’s environment is like, and even safer to assume that you will learn a lot.

Disclaimer: I do not represent nor am I speaking on behalf of any of the Big 4; all information in this article is subject to change; the intent of this article and all following posts on the same subject is to help inform students, not to advise their career decisions.

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Big 4 Internships and the Pandemic Impact (Part 1 of 4)

During the summer of 2020, in the heat of the pandemic, I had a rare opportunity: I was part of Ernst & Young’s first fully virtual internship experience. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a scar in my past or a badge of accomplishment. I certainly view it as the latter, but I did not initially. This post is geared towards students looking at interning at the “Big 4” in the coming years, so this post is particularly suitable for current or prospective accounting majors. But, if you are not considering accounting, there is still something here for you.

1. What are the “Big 4”?

The “Big 4” is a term used to refer to the four largest global accounting firms in the world. The firms, in no particular order, are EY (Ernst & Young), KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler), PWC (Price Waterhouse Coopers), and Delloite. While they differ in what portion of their business comes from which service line, they are known for high performance in three key areas: audit, tax, and consulting. Audit is also referred to as “assurance,” because the service line is geared towards assuring clients and users of clients’ financial statements that the statements are free from material misstatement. In other words, we make sure they did their accounting right. It is required by law that public companies get audited, and the largest ones rely on the Big 4. Consulting is pretty much what it sounds like – consultants are hired by clients to lend a set of fresh, expert eyes to business operations and decisions. For example, if a client is considering a new operational strategy, they may ask a team of Big 4 consultants to analyze, evaluate, and help make the decision. Tax is also fairly intuitive – public companies have to navigate a complex tax system whether they are US only, foreign, or multi-national; they also deal with often complex transactions (such as mergers or acquisitions) that have powerful tax implications. In short, successfully navigating the tax system requires expertise and planning, and the tax service line at Big 4 companies exists to provide that.

Disclaimer: I do not represent nor am I speaking on behalf of any of the Big 4; all information in this article is subject to change; the intent of this article and all following posts on the same subject is to help inform students, not to advise their career decisions.

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Internship Spotlight – Finance

I recently interviewed my boyfriend, Dave Bereck, on his current internship. Dave loves working and sees himself as a hard worker and very driven. Currently, he is a full-time student majoring in Finance and Management but also works at a business called Treloar & Heisel. Although Treloar & Heisel provides financial services of all types, Dave specifically works in the wealth management department. He works 15 hours a week and does all sorts of work for the company. He is in charge of inputting client specific data into the company’s system, listening in on important client calls, and calling and speaking with clients to see if they would like to work with his side of the business.

Treloar & Heisel is a financial firm that provides financial services to dental and medical professionals. The niche that Treloar has is that they are dental-specific. According to Dave, there are a lot of dentists that get taught the medical side of life but do not get to learn the financial side. Most dentists get out of residency with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. The average amount of debt that a dentist leaves residency with is $450,000. At this point in their lives they are around 32 years old so they usually will be looking to buy a house soon. This only adds to the amount of debt that they have. It can be a very stressful situation to be in but that is where Treloar comes in to help. They put together a comprehensive financial plan based off of all the doctor’s financial documents and then deliver the plan to the doctor. The company bills on a flat fee rate and only asks that the doctor commit to the first year of service and then they pay on a monthly basis after that. This is so that the company can complete their fiduciary duty of making sure the doctor is in a better place than when they started.

Though it is challenging to juggle 16 credits and the internship, Dave feels that the experience that he is gaining will really help him in the future. I asked him to provide one piece of advice to anyone thinking of working while in school and he said, “It is so important that you plan out every day and that you stick to your schedule. There is not a ton of free time and little time to waste. In the end, it is all worth it though! This semester has been challenging, but I have learned about finance and will use these skills in my career. I am thankful for the opportunity.”

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Internship Business Learnings

This summer, I had my first internship. I interned in marketing at a business in Pittsburgh called At Home Senior Services. At Home Senior Services is a non-medical home health care company. At first, I had no idea what I was going to do and what I was going to learn. I was afraid and nervous because it was a new experience for me. Not only did I learn many practical skills, but I learned many business skills that you cannot learn in a classroom.

An internship is great because you get to apply what you have been learning in college to an actual business. I loved that I was able to be hands-on in the company. I learned how to work with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is one of the most challenging skills that I learned. SEO, in a nutshell, is how you best optimize your website and your posts so that they are successful within search engines. I also was able to participate in many conference calls and other virtual meetings. My boss assigned me projects so that I was able to learn business skills such as telephone skills, negotiation skills, and communication skills.

I learned a lot about how a business operates and all of the different functions of a business. Even though it was a marketing internship, I was able to learn a lot about Human Resourses by interviewing applications on my own. I also learned how to recruit employees and how to best market our business to both employees and clients. I learned a lot of practical business skills that I never could have learned in a classroom. I really enjoyed the hands-on application of the marketing skills that I have learned because it was the first time in my life that I could actually apply what I learned at Grove City College to the business world.

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English Major Internship Spotlight: Laura Locher

Internships are a stressful topic for some and a reminiscent memory for others. I completely understand both sides of this coin. My name is Laura Locher and I completed two internships over the course of my time at Grove City College. Both internships were in New York City. The first was with an independent publishing company called Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group and the second was with a healthcare marketing ad agency company called FCB Health. Today, I want to focus on my most recent experience with FCB Health.

FCB Health Experience (remote from June 2020-August 2020):

My most recent internship was with FCB Health, NY. I was the single editorial intern for the network’s NYC office. I spent the summer learning the lingo, various editing software systems, the history of the company, and the editorial process FCB uses. Let me describe the editorial process FCB Health enacted. With what I am legally allowed to share, being that the network is a healthcare company, the editorial process is a multi-level system that includes factors like cold reads, fact checks, proofreads, etc. The editorial process is much more in-depth than that and I would love to talk to anyone who is interested in a similar field!

I loved my internship experience with FCB so much. If I could some it up in a sentence I would say this, it’s simple: the people, the culture and atmosphere, and the work. I cannot begin to explain how much I loved everyone I worked with last summer. Whether they were people from various departments or my fellow interns, everyone was phenomenal. The company culture is exactly what I am looking for – accepting, encouraging, team-oriented, driven. And finally, the work I did this summer piqued my interest in something I never pictured myself working in – healthcare. Overall, my experience with FCB Health was incredible and I have recently accepted a freelance editor position with the company beginning September 1, 2020.

One final highlight from my internship was winning the intern pitch project challenge! All 53 summer interns at FCB were split into five teams and tasked with creating a pitch for a brand the company works with. My team ended up winning the pitch and the group’s ideas are actually going to be used in an upcoming campaign! My advice to students seeking similar internships is this, apply everywhere and anywhere even if you think you don’t have a chance of landing the internship. You have no idea what door God will open for you. Look at me, I applied to FCB Health on a whim randomly on LinkedIn, got the email saying they want to start the interview process, got the internship, and now have a job with the company. You never know.

 

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Internship Spotlight: Indie Artists to Innovate Records

Where you go to school does not limit careers you can have if you work hard enough. This is the quick version of how I went from intern-managing an indie band to having an internship with Innovate Records in Ohio.

Growing up, I always loved music and had an interest in the entertainment industry. I come from a practical Pittsburgh family who wanted me to stay close to home for college. Because of this, my dreams of working in the music industry had vanished – or so I thought. I proceeded to enroll at Grove City as an English major.

Music Marketing Course

Everything took off at the beginning of my junior year. While optimizing my schedule in the summer, I noticed Dr. Lewis’ Music Marketing course, which he only offered once before, had an open space. I immediately emailed him and he signed me into the class. During this time, students split into teams and intern-managed an assigned band. Fortunately, I love the band I worked with (Atlantic Wasteland, check them out on Spotify or wherever you stream music). We ended the semester with a 50-page marketing plan, which we presented to a panel of artists and record label representatives.

Knowing my experience was coming to an end, I asked Dr. Lewis if I could take an independent study with him in Artist Management (an independent study is when you and a professor create an in-depth mini course to look at a specific topic. I would highly recommend!). He approved, and I was able to continue learning more industry specific marketing techniques.

Relay for Life Benefit Concert featuring Atlantic Wasteland

During the course I used analytical tools, such as Spotify for Artists, to gather data on Atlantic Wasteland’s target audience. After discovering the main demographic is college students in the Pittsburgh area, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to bring a new kind of music to campus. I then paired up with my sorority, the sisters of Sigma Theta Chi, and the Pansophic fraternity to create the Relay for Life Benefit Concert featuring Atlantic Wasteland.

We spent long hours searching for local sponsors and coordinating with other bands. The set included the campus-renowned professor band, Crimson Floyd, the Pittsburgh alternative rock band, Young Lungs, and the headlining alumni band, Atlantic Wasteland. The event went well and in four days we raised $230 for The American Cancer Society.

Innovate Records Internship

While this was happening, I received surprising news from Dr. Lewis. Due to the timing of our paperwork, my independent study would not work. To make this happen he contacted Grove City alumnus Jordan Biel, who owns the Christian record label Innovate Records. He also owns its secular sister label The Cellar Records.

Currently

I am working with Sol Virani an artist under The Elite Allegiance Records. Also, I recently received acceptance to study at the Contemporary Music Center in Nashville next semester.

With this I leave you with one piece of advice: Never be afraid to ask for anything, the worst response you can hear is “no.” Which is not too bad anyway.

If you want to find out how you can pursue the music industry through Grove City College, feel free to email me any questions at Funderlichsr1@gcc.edu or talk to a Grove City Ambassador head over to the official website at http://www.gcc.edu/

Innovate Records Intern, Samantha Funderlich, with Atlantic Wasteland
Me with Atlantic Wasteland after the benefit concert.
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Exercise Science Internship Opportunities in Pittsburgh

Nate Sprunk is a senior Exercise Science major with a minor in Psychology.  Nate is from Wexford, PA. He is currently treasurer of the Beta Sigma fraternity on campus. The summer after his junior year, he had an internship at Pittsburgh Veteran’s Administration Hospital located in Pittsburgh, PA.

Nate happens to be a good friend of mine. I roomed with his fiancé my junior year. Priya was a senior at the time and Nate was a junior. This past June, I was a bridesmaid at their wedding! The two of them had a busy summer working out their jobs, living arrangements, and adjusting to married life. I did not have the opportunity to keep in touch as much as I had hoped. This semester I have been able to catch up with Nate and hear more about his summer.

When I asked Nate about his role with the company and what he accomplished that summer he replied, “I was an undergraduate rehab intern. I assisted in the inpatient and outpatient clinics. I observed, cleaned equipment, escorted veterans back and forth from their rooms to the clinic, performed wheelchair follows, and I conducted an educational in-service project for the inpatient staff.”

I followed with, “Did you enjoy your experience?” Which he answered, “I did. I learned more about the field of physical therapy and how clinics operate. After my experience, I feel more comfortable working in a clinical setting.”

Nate did not receive a job offer from Pittsburgh Veteran’s Administration Hospital. He still has to attend graduate school to work as a Physical Therapist, but Nate could potentially complete one of his clinical rotations at the same VA clinic in the future. He plans on staying in the Pittsburgh area after graduation to live with Priya and stay close to their families.

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A Major League Intern

Nate Curry, a 2019 senior, may seem like your average student athlete, but last summer he had a major experience with Major League Soccer (MLS) at its National Sales Center. Located in Blaine, Minn., Nate spent the summer as an intern supporting the current crop of post-graduates who were going through the sales training program themselves.

An internship at Grove City can be used for class credit if it meets the criteria set forth by each academic department. A few of these requirements may include regular contact with your faculty advisor, logging your hours worked, and a paper to reflect on your time as an intern. Depending on the number of hours of work an intern does, they can receive an upwards of six hours of class credit. A student’s faculty advisor for their internship will be a professor who has had firsthand experience in that type of work. This has proven to benefit our students because they can go into their internships knowing what they can expect, as well as being aware of what challenges they may be faced with.

I sat down with Nate and his faculty advisor, Dr. Scott Powell, to discuss what Nate’s experience at the National Sales Center was like. Dr. Powell also gave us some insight on the advantages of doing an internship for academic credit, as well as why Grove City encourages all of their students to take advantage of those benefits.

Dr. Powell and Nate went more in depth on Nate’s internship, the importance of an academically verified internship, and what it looks like to be a Christian in a secular work environment. If you are interested in learning more about these topics, you can view our full interview here: https://youtu.be/_RBSy-zZfAo