Blog Archive

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Service Project at Ronald McDonald House

by Kelly McLaughlin
Tax Intern
Orlando, FL


In July, the Orlando interns and a few audit staff prepared lunch for the families at the local Ronald McDonald House. My navigator Mari, who is the person who oversees the internship and makes sure you’re getting the best experience possible, brought all of the food we needed to make our Italian themed menu: four pizzas, pasta with Alfredo sauce, pasta with spaghetti sauce, salad, and garlic bread. While our lunch was cooking, we were taken on a tour of the house and were told a little about the history of the foundation. I had no idea it was started in 1974 by a Philadelphia Eagles player, whose daughter had leukemia, and along with the owner of the Eagles and McDonald’s regional manger they were able to raise the funds to build the first house using the proceeds from the sale of Shamrock Shakes! Today there are over 309 houses and 44 mobile units across the world.

After the tour, lunch was ready for all of the families. We were overwhelmed with the friendliness and appreciation we received from the families staying at the house. We heard from several families that a nice, hot, home-cooked meal was their favorite part of staying at the Ronald McDonald House, as opposed to the hospitals or hotels in the area. The experience was definitely one of my favorites from the summer; knowing that a little time from my day could help someone that much was very rewarding. I’m looking forward to taking part in more volunteer events at Ronald McDonald house in the future, and possibly getting a group of students to go once a semester.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

McGladrey Participates in Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon

By Anne Hoang
Talent Acquisition Specialist
Chicago, IL


At McGladrey, lending our helping hand to the community is one of our top priorities. Recently, the 20th Annual Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon took place, an event in which McGladrey employees, friends, and families participate in each year. This event is the largest single day of community service in Chicago, and it was kicked off in the heart of downtown with an inspiring welcome speech by Chelsea Clinton.

Following the morning welcome ceremony, McGladrey volunteers headed to a low-income school for children Pre-K through eighth grade. Once at our volunteer site, we were split into different projects which included mural painting, hallway painting, and outdoor landscaping. Although no skills were required for any of these jobs, our employees did an excellent job of making each and every corner of the school look professional! 

Here at McGladrey, we are proud to make a difference. From the East Coast to the West Coast, we are always looking for opportunities to positively impact our local societies. We have always promoted, and will continue to promote, volunteer projects that transform local neighborhoods and improve the well-being for our fellow neighbors and underserved communities. Although we have just celebrated the success of this community service event, we are already looking forward to the next opportunity to show our commitment to others!

One of the murals the team painted in the cafeteria.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Consulting Summer Internship

By Justin Kleifield
Transaction Advisory Services Intern
Chicago, IL


As I finish up my summer as a consulting intern at McGladrey, I would like to reflect upon my time here and how it all started. I was first introduced to McGladrey in the fall of my senior year at one of the finance/accounting career fairs at Indiana University. After having conversations with some of the recruiters and staff members there and giving them my resume they contacted me a few days later to conduct a phone interview. The next step was an in-office interview in October and then I was eventually given an offer in November.  

While at McGladrey I was exposed to a wide range of projects. The highlight though, would have to be conducting my own webcast to 60 members of my group nationwide on the research I had been working on the whole summer. This proved to me that McGladrey truly does treat their interns like full time associates and you are relied upon for important projects. Even as an intern I was included in the week long corporate training which was a great learning and networking experience as well. 

Looking back, the opportunity to be a consulting intern at McGladrey instead of being at strictly a consulting firm was a good one. Since I am an accounting major and McGladrey is a public accounting firm there were many similarities from what I had learned in school to the projects I worked on and I felt I could help in more ways than one. Also, most of the employees here in the consulting group have had audit experience and they were able to share some things with me about their experience doing that as well as some great insight in numerous areas.

Some advice I would like to share with both future interns and new hires is to get involved and meet people in other groups. McGladrey is filled with so many great people that have many years of experience in the industry and are always willing to help. I have established great contacts from being here and look forward to applying their advice to my last year of school and my everyday life. 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Find Your Zebra

Written by
Jaclyn Muddiman – West Chester University
Seth Lengel – Penn State University
Assurance Interns
Blue Bell, PA


Picture yourself driving to school. You take the same way, everyday, and you reach that point where you’re just going through the motions, not really paying attention to your surroundings. Then, one day you notice a zebra in a horse farm (this actually happened!). After that moment, every time you drive to school you can’t help but look for the zebra among all of the horses.              

Seth and Jaclyn
For us, McGladrey was our zebra. Over the past two years of college we have been pressured by both our peers and professors to follow in the footsteps of their career path, they were driving the bus and we were just a passenger. We were on the highway of attending events, talking to the right people, and getting our name out to specific firms until we noticed the zebra.

Both of us participated in a McGladrey presentation, at our respective schools, and we felt that initial “click” which now put us in the driver’s seat. Going through the interviewing process we were able to build relationships with people of all levels, which set McGladrey apart from other firms. Entering the office for our second round of interviews was like walking onto a college campus and knowing it was the perfect school – it just felt right. 

Northeast Intern Orientation Olympics
Going into the internship we had very high expectations. We knew we wanted to learn what accounting was really about – not just the textbook version. We wanted to build relationships around the firm, while still being able to enjoy summer. Our first three days at the Northeast Intern Orientation was a great start to our summer. We were able to meet other interns from different cities, talk to McGladrey professionals, and attend fun events such as a barbeque and office Olympics. This experience helped us feel comfortable before the real work began. 

Throughout the summer we were exposed to a wide variety of co-workers, clients, and projects. Between the exposure to different industries and different fieldwork, such as planning or auditing, we felt we had a range of learning opportunities which helped us understand what public accounting is about rather than a problem from our textbooks. We finally were able to apply our education to the real world – we had that “click” moment of understanding. We can all agree that accounting work won’t be the best part of the summer; however, it was the mixture of the experiences we received which have made it worthwhile. Most importantly, we learned the stereotype of boring accountants couldn’t be more wrong.


The highlights of the internship have been the times we relaxed and had a good time with the rest of the office. Through various happy hours, a Phillies game, and other firm-sponsored events we have been able to make connections with our co-workers both inside and outside of the office. It’s a great feeling when you realize how well you can “click” with people. Aside from the fun events, we have participated in a couple different service projects. There was a heated competition between interns to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a childhood cancer research foundation, and during the Pathways Program we sorted through donated clothing for Cradles to Crayons organization with the extern students. Overall, McGladrey has done a great job of making sure we had an enjoyable summer.

Our advice to other students is to put yourself out there, talk to all different firms, feel for the “click.” But in the end, sit in the driver’s seat and find your zebra.