WELCOME!
—sign in—
—get some food—
—take a seat—
The Accounting Club
at the University of Utah
Our Mission
We’re here to help YOU succeed!
The Accounting Club is established to teach students about the accounting industry, grow their understanding of accounting specialties and pathways, and develop their professional skills for success at every step of their careers.
OUR EVENTS
Informational Meetings
Learn about the profession during sessions led by our club officers and professionals brought in as guest speakers or by employers.
Professional Development Workshops
Be the best candidate possible by developing your resume, interview, and networking skills (among others) during our workshops.
Networking Opportunities
Network with your classmates, student leaders, faculty, and accounting professionals during meetings and networking events.
What will you learn about?
The wide variety of career paths in accounting
We bring in guest speakers and employers from most accounting career paths and strive to demonstrate the diversity of choices.
How the industry works
Between our own experiences and those of our guests, you’ll understand what it’s really like to work in accounting.
How to land your internship and job
Having been through it ourselves, we possess a wealth of knowledge about recruiting, and strive to prepare you to get the career you want.
Other Benefits
Free lunch!
Passport Points!
Swag!
Leadership Opportunities
We encourage everyone to apply for next year’s leadership team.
There will be several positions open, each requiring a unique skillset.
We are big believers in leadership and want to see YOU on our board!
How does membership work?
Membership is easy!
Once you attend three meetings, pay the $20 semesterly membership dues in cash to our Vice President of Finance.
After that, we'll invite you to join on Campus Connect, and you'll officially be a member!
While we do not enforce an attendance requirement for members, we do encourage you to attend all our meetings.
Leadership Team
Nate Zwart
Advisor
Program Director, School of Accounting
Jack VanDerHeyden
Co-President
Accounting, 2024
Spencer Fletcher
Co-President
Accounting, Finance, OSC, 2024
Leadership Team
Taylor Miller
Vice President, Finance
Accounting, 2025
Ryleigh Hertzberg
Vice President, Operations
Accounting, 2024
Joey Psaila
Vice President, Operations
Accounting, 2025
Leadership Team
Trey Zobell
Vice President, Recruitment
Information Systems, 2024
Skyler Sanchez
Vice President, Recruitment
Accounting, 2024
Connect with us!
Show off to your network!
Stay updated!
@accountingclub.uofu
Slack Group
Stay connected with us
Questions?
Spring Recruiting Explained
Accounting Club at the University of Utah
WHO WANTS A JOB UPON GRADUATION?
Easiest way to do that is to do an internship before you finish school.
HOW DO I GET AN INTERNSHIP?
The answer is recruiting. Good thing you’re here today.
What is recruiting?
The Recruiting Season
When accounting firms and other employers actively recruit students for jobs and internships.
Spring semester focuses on recruiting undergraduate students for spring & summer internships.
Fall semester focuses on recruiting MAcc students for full-time positions.
Who is doing the recruiting?
Whoever employs accounting students!
This presentation focuses on recruiting for public accounting firms that recruit on-campus.
It is the most structured recruiting process of the different career paths.
It’s like you’re in Harry Potter and getting on the Hogwarts Express.
These tips can easily be applied to industry, government, and other career paths.
Recruiting for these companies is an individual journey.
We’re also assuming full-time internships.
Who is being recruited?
Juniors!
Seniors
MAcc students
On the rise:
Sophomores
Rarely:
Freshmen
What’s the when?
What’s the when?
Time Horizon
Target semester
Graduation plans and CPA eligibility
How far out?
Process Timeframe
Application deadlines
Interview process
Offers
Target semester
Which semester do you want to do your internship?
Spring (AKA Winter)
Summer
Fall
Graduation Plans
BS in Accounting
Master of Accounting
CPA Eligibility
150 credit hours & other details
Required for public accounting
Big Internship
The internship before you graduate & hope to get a return offer for.
BS in Accounting
Between junior and senior year
Less time to figure things out
4 years to get 150 credits (double major)
Master of Accounting
Between senior and graduate year
More time to figure things out
5 years to get 150 credits
“Should I get a MAcc?”
Outside the scope of today’s meeting.
Students get a MAcc usually for two reasons:
150 credit hours for the CPA
Advanced classes & knowledge
How far out do CPA firms recruit on-campus?
12-18 months!
So, for this season:
Spring & Summer 2025
FYI: Same-year spots at big firms are limited.
Firms do not reserve internships for same-year hires.
Other companies (non-CPA firms) follow their own cycles.
Goldman Sachs starts recruiting the fall prior:
Fall 2024 for Summer 2025
Industry employers recruit year-round and closer to the start of the internship.
Usually the semester prior.
Target Graduation Dates
This season, recruiters seek students who will graduate and be CPA eligible between Dec 2024 and August 2025.
Recruiters may reject you if you are early, so December 2025 or later. Don’t get discouraged—treat it as practice.
You can still recruit early, but you need to say that.
“I know I’m early, but…”
Timeframe of the Recruiting Process
Approximate Date Ranges
Feb through Apr
Apps due mid-to-late Feb or rolling deadlines
Interviews in Feb & Mar
Offers given in Mar & Apr and are good for 2 weeks, but are flexible
Jan & Feb
Tabling events
Meet the Professionals (Jan 23)
Does Hired (Jan 25)
On-campus firm events
Interview Process
Most public accounting firms do two behavioral interviews.
Some are one round with two back-to-back interviews.
Others are two separate rounds.
Most are virtual.
OK. So we’ve covered what, who, and when.
What else?
WHERE!
WHERE do I look for internships?
WHERE do I go for help?
WHERE do I recruit?
Where do I find internships?
HANDSHAKE!
What is Handshake?
Handshake is the best job board you have access to as a student.
Internships
Part-time jobs
Campus jobs
Even full-time jobs
Events too!
How to get started
When searching for internships, avoid sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, etc. Handshake has 95% of what you want.
Where do I get help?
Business Career Success
Talk to people!
Go to the Accounting Club :D
Meet with your career coach!
Lynnette Horner is AMAZING!
She will help you go from zero to hero in no time.
lynnette.horner@eccles.utah.edu
Meet with Lynnette as soon as you are admitted to the major.
If you’ve already been admitted, and haven’t met with Lynnette,
do so ASAP!
While we’re focusing on public accounting today, Lynnette can absolutely help you if you plan to go into industry or another path.
Explore the website.
Don’t be that person who says
“I didn’t know they offered that” because you didn’t look at the website.
Talk to people!
Upperclassmen
Professors
Relatives
Alumni
Professionals in your field
They’re happy to help!
Go to the Accounting Club!
We have a lot of cool stuff coming up.
We want to see YOU succeed.
There are many more accounting jobs than accounting graduates in Utah and the nation.
When we help each other succeed, we all win.
Where do I recruit?
Events like Meet the Professionals
Firms tabling in the lobby
On-campus office hours
Firm events hosted on-campus
Office visits
Further recruiting & networking
Phone calls
Coffee chats
Lunches
Office visits
You have to organize these yourself!
The big question…
HOW?
GET STARTED NOW!
Being early will only help
At the very least, it’s good practice
Research
Preparation
Networking
Apply & Interview
Research
What do I want to do?
What do I want to start my career in?
You’ll be asked: “Audit or Tax?”
It’s okay to say “I don’t know”
BUT! Don’t stop there.
I don’t know, but I want to learn more. Can you connect me with audit and tax professionals at your firm so I can know which practice area to apply to?
Networking helps tremendously with researching what you want to do.
Students who’ve done internships are a great resource.
It’s also okay to go with your gut, or just pick something and see how it goes.
(That’s what I’m doing)
Preparation
Business Career Success is great for all of these!
Cover Letter Workshop: Jan 31
LinkedIn Workshop: Feb 14
Mock Interviews: Mar 20
Presentation & Elevator Pitch
How will you present yourself?
How will you sell yourself?
Networking
(scary scary)
Introduce yourself to the recruiters and professionals at every event.
Do this each time—they likely won’t remember you exactly.
What to do?
I kept a notepad with the names, emails, and business cards of the professionals I met.
When professionals say “feel free to reach out”
They mean it!
DO reach out
DO follow through
They are happy to talk to you!
Why is networking important?
The firms offer very similar opportunities.
You’ll get great experience at all the firms. You’ll do the same work there.
Auditing cash and accounts receivable is (mostly) the same at the Big 4, regional firms, and local firms.
So, what does differ?
The people. The culture. The vibe. The connections.
It’s important to assess what the people are like at each firm.
Ask yourself:
Would I like to work with the people at this firm?
So, that was a lot.
This presentation will be posted with my speaker notes in our Slack group.
QUESTIONS?
Further questions
714-800-3676
jack.vanderheyden@eccles.utah.edu
Message me on Slack
Connect with us!
Show off to your network!
Stay updated!
@accountingclub.uofu
Slack Group
Stay connected with us