Blog Archive

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

My Journey Begins...

Today's post comes to us from Andrew Finger, an Associate who started in our Blue Bell, PA office on November 1st (along with a few hundred other new Associates). Andrew shares with us his experience of his first two weeks with McGladrey, including going through New Employee Orientation and New Associate Training.

I started with McGladrey just two weeks ago but I can already say that I have met so many nice people and learned so much more than I thought was possible. I started in the Blue Bell, PA office on November 1st, and I will admit I was nervous. The day started off with a meet and greet breakfast and everyone that came in was so friendly and full of good advice, it definitely started off on the right foot.

The first couple days in the office were geared toward learning about the McGladrey brand, getting familiar with tools such as Caseware and Idea, as well as networking with co-workers. It was definitely nice to get to know some people and get acclimated with the surroundings I will be seeing a lot in the near future.

Next, we headed down to Baltimore, MD for regional orientation. I must say that office is beautiful, located on the inner harbor. The first day of orientation we learned all about McGladrey. People used to always ask me, “who are you working for” and I will be honest I didn’t always know how to answer that question. After that first day of training I no longer am at a loss for words to describe McGladrey. We engaged in some team building activities with new associates from other offices along the east coast like Vienna, VA, Charlotte, NC, Wilmington, NC, and of course Baltimore, MD. It was great to meet and network with all of the new associates. That night we had an exciting event, bowling at Mustang Alley’s in Baltimore. It was a great opportunity to network and bond with both experienced staff as well as fellow new hires in a casual setting. We all had a ton of fun. The second day in Baltimore we had some tremendous guest speakers that really shared some important insight into our careers at McGladrey. To end the two day event there was a raffle, and the grand prize was a new IPad. I happened to have the winning raffle ticket, how lucky!

Our second week on the job consisted of new hire training at The Q Center in St. Charles, Ill, just outside of Chicago. The center was beautiful and was an ideal place to hold a conference of such magnitude. Throughout the week we went through training that will help us in our specific area of business with McGladrey. It was great to be able to meet people from all over the country and great to hear their stories. On Thursday night we all took part in a charity event for two children’s hospitals in the greater Chicago area. The event was based on The McGladrey Classic, so groups were pitted against one another in events at 18 different “holes.” It was a lot of fun and the camaraderie between everyone was great. At the end of the competition each team was given a bear from Build a Bear. Based on the points your team had accumulated the more you could outfit and accessorize your bear, which will be given to a patient at one of the children’s hospitals. It was a great night and for a great cause.

All in all my first two weeks at McGladrey have been hectic, but very enjoyable. I have been able to meet so many nice people and learn so many important things. It has been a great experience so far and I look forward to the many great experiences that lay ahead.

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