{"id":3904,"date":"2023-08-29T07:46:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T11:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/?p=3904"},"modified":"2023-08-29T07:46:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T11:46:49","slug":"what-i-have-learned-in-my-accounting-internships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/2023\/08\/29\/what-i-have-learned-in-my-accounting-internships\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Have Learned in My Accounting Internships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by: Justin Zulewski, MSA \u201823<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout my time at the University at Buffalo, I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be involved in two different accounting internships: one as an internal auditor intern and one as an external auditor intern. These internships provided me with invaluable experiences and have also helped  shape my career path as I prepare to graduate and begin a full-time job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During junior year of my undergraduate studies, I was encouraged to seek out and apply for internships. Like many of my peers, I had no idea what type of internship I wanted so I applied to a variety of different positions on UB\u2019s Bizlink website.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, I accepted an internship offer with a private company in their internal audit department. At the time, I knew very little about the role of internal audit at companies, but I viewed the internship as an opportunity to see if working in internal audit was something I would want to do in my career.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ended up working as an internal auditor intern for about 10 months where I gained technical knowledge related to internal audit and the accounting profession. In addition, I learned that I prefer to work in-person vs. remotely.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to COVID-19, the company worked remotely for most of my time at the internship. I found that while it can be convenient to work from home, it can be difficult to communicate with co-workers and learn how to perform tasks without direct supervision. My supervisors and co-workers tried to be as accessible as possible and help make the best out of an unfavorable situation, but I couldn\u2019t help but feel that my learning was hindered from working remotely. This  has been a hot topic for many companies post pandemic, but I firmly believe that the benefits of working in person outweigh the benefits of working from home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really enjoyed working as an internal audit intern and would be open to working in an internal audit department in the future, but I wanted to try another accounting position for my second internship. I decided to try an internship in external audit at a regional firm during the summer after senior year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had already enrolled in the Master of Science Accounting program for the following semester with hopes of becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).  Even though I had enjoyed working in internal audit, I thought working in external audit was best for me. (It was also traditional for aspiring CPAs to start off as an external auditor.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m still interning as an external auditor at the same regional firm and currently, I have signed an offer letter for a full-time position in the fall of 2023. The internship is fully in-person, so I believe I\u2019m getting the most out of my internship experience as I\u2019m able to connect with co-workers more comfortably and efficiently whenever I have any questions. More importantly, I\u2019ve really enjoyed working as an external audit intern and could see myself working in this industry for an extended period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My internships allowed me to learn what preferences I have regarding different positions and work situations that I otherwise would not have known about myself. I learned the value of working in the office opposed to working from home which I wouldn\u2019t have known of if not for experiencing the two conflicting situations at each internship. Additionally, I learned key technical knowledge at both internships, but I also found that I would be open to working in either internal or external audit later in my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Justin<\/figure>
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Justin Zulewski<\/a> recently graduated from the University at Buffalo School of Management with a Master of Science degree in Accounting. As of this post, he is working as an intern at EFPR Group LLP. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by: Justin Zulewski, MSA \u201823 Throughout my time at the University at Buffalo, I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be involved in two different accounting internships: one as an internal auditor intern and one as an external auditor intern. These Continue reading What I Have Learned in My Accounting Internships<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":3906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,133,5,201],"tags":[134,172,160],"class_list":["post-3904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-career","category-internships","category-ms-accounting","tag-career","tag-graduate-school","tag-ms"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t