Welcome!

Fall 2010 Take a Student to Work Day Kickoff Presentation

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Your Host

• Mary Walsh

• Instructor in the FAU School of Accounting

• Board member of FICPA (Atlantic Chapter)

– Education Chair

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Agenda/Topics To Be Covered

• Outline of Program

• Who may participate

• What you can expect

• What is expected of you

• How to register

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Outline of Program

• What does a CPA do each day at the workplace?

• This fall, the FICPA Atlantic Chapter and Florida Atlantic University’s Accounting Students’ Association will join together for our annual “Take a Student to Work Day” to offer accounting undergraduates a first hand, close-up look at accounting operations in both public accounting firms, companies and governmental agencies

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Outline of Program, cont’d

• The goal of the event is to give our FAU undergraduate accounting majors (juniors and seniors) some idea of what they can do with their accounting degrees.

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Who may participate

• Currently enrolled Junior and Senior accounting students from all FAU campuses are invited to participate in this event.

• Please understand that the FICPA is hosting this event and it sets “the rules.” Unfortunately, if you are not a CURRENTLY enrolled junior or senior accounting undergraduate accounting major, you cannot participate.

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What you can expect

• We will attempt to match eligible students with an organization to visit that organization sometime between October 1 – December 31, 2010.

• We will attempt to schedule the visits on a Friday and give you plenty of notice before a visit.

– However, if Friday doesn’t work for a host, we will attempt to accommodate the host (we want to get as many of you out there as possible)

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What you can expect• Please understand that student demand always exceeds the

available hosts.

• Not everyone who registers for the event will be able to participate

• For the most part, the participants are chosen randomly (geographic proximity is taken into account).

• Sometimes the organizations make special requests (e.g., they want to see only seniors or only juniors) and I have to fill the requests.

• Take comfort in the fact that I do not play favorites. For what it’s worth, I teach only 1 undergraduate course a year and don’t know that many of you.

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What you can expect, cont’d• Most students, when given a choice, want to go to a CPA firm.

– None of the “Big 4” participated last year.

– A couple of the next tier firms participated

– Several local firms/solo practitioners participated

• However, many of the participating organizations are not CPA firms.

– Last year, Office Depot took 13 students and gave them a WONDERFUL experience

– This year, we want to try to get some governmental agencies involved.

• Please don’t expect to go to a CPA firm

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What you can expect, cont’d

• The details of a visit are left up to the organization. The goal of the visit is to give you an idea of what accountants do every day.

• Plan to spend 3 – 4 hours at the organization.

– Typically, the visit will be scheduled for the morning and ending with lunch

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What you can expect, cont’d

• This is not a formal recruiting event, it is an opportunity for you to learn about a facet of the accounting profession. Do not expect to get a job out of it.

• That being said, organizations have been known to hire people who have visited as part of this event.

– ....so make sure you are on your best and most professional behavior

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What is expected of you• Be Professional

– Follow whatever directions are given to you in a timely fashion

– Arrive ON TIME to the visit

– Dress appropriately

– Be respectful and polite (these people are doing us a big favor)

– Remember that you are representing FAU

– Remember to bring a resume (just in case)

– Say Thank You: Get a business card from everyone you meet and send them thank-you letters

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What is expected of you, cont’d

• If you are matched, I will contact you through the EMAIL address that you provide.

• Make sure your email works and that you clear me (mwalsh8@fau.edu) from going into spam.

• If the email I send comes back as undeliverable, I am going on to the next person AND your request to participate will be discarded.

• If you fail to respond to me within 2 days of my email contact, I will move on to the next person. Your request to participate will go back into the pool.

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What is expected of you, cont’d• If I contact you and you can’t participate in an event for whatever

reason, I will move on to the next person. Your request to participate will go back into the pool (unless you direct me otherwise).

• If you decide that you do not wish to participate after having registered, please inform me (mwalsh8@fau.edu).

• You are expected to be able to provide your own transportation to an event (we cannot arrange transportation).

– On the registration form, there is a place for you to note special circumstances. You can tell me that you really are restricted to a particular area, but that’s about all I can accommodate.

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How to Register

• If you are interested in participating and are ELIGIBLE to participate, please copy and paste the address below to a form that will register you for this event (hit the “Send Email” button when you have inputted the required information):

https://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/V6GN5bWKEa71ynZ1AdOCcSDd7 (copy and paste into browser)

• Please understand that all requests will be checked for participant eligibility. If you are not eligible to participate, your request will be discarded.

• You will receive a confirmation that your request was received upon submission.

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Communications

• If you have a question about the event, please email me (Mary Walsh) at mwalsh8@fau.edu.

• However, once you receive your confirmation, please believe that I have received your request. Please refrain from contacting me to ask about status.

– Basically, you’ll know if you are to attend make an office visit.

– If Christmas rolls around and you weren’t contacted, I wasn’t able to place you

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Thank you!

• Thanks for taking time to learn about this event. I truly hope that you can participate and that we can send you on an office visit!