Blog Archive

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Newest McGladrey expats look forward to opportunities

UK expats Katie Johnson and Will Meconi
It’s been only a couple weeks since McGladrey’s new U.K. expats touched down in London. But already it’s clear that Will Meconi and Katie Johnson will have plenty to keep them busy—and grow their careers—during the next two–three years.

According to Will, an assurance director from Boston, “It’s obvious that I am going to learn a ton about London’s business culture, as well as the general culture of London and the rest of Europe.” While in London, Will and Katie will support U.S.-based audit teams with component audit needs in the U.K. and surrounding countries. 

“Katie and I will work with our expats in Germany to ensure that all of the current engagement team needs are met in a timely fashion with a high quality work product,” says Will. “After we get through busy season, our focus will turn to driving business development here in the UK, ideally with opportunities that will result in outbound referral work to the US.”

Katie, an assurance manager from Chicago, will focus specifically on network growth of financial services industry opportunities. “But I’m happy to assist with other industries in any way I can,” she says. “I’ll also be responsible for workpaper reviews and onsite proposal support in Europe.”

With only seven days on the ground, McGladrey’s newest expats have nothing but great things to say about their temporary hometown. “London is amazing. I certainly won’t be bored here anytime soon,” Will says. “I have a friend in London who has been an expat with another firm for the past four years. All he talks about is how easy travelling Europe is and what an amazing experience it has been for him. I’m really looking forward to taking advantage of everything this opportunity has to offer.”

Katie and Will are currently based at RSM International headquarters in London. “Everyone we’ve met so far has been very supportive and friendly,” says Will. And Katie adds, “It was very clear to me right away that the RSM International employees are working diligently to make us a global company and support the network firms.”

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Intern Orientation

by Stephanie Niemiec
Tax Intern
Chicago, IL
 


I recently started interning at McGladrey’s Chicago office in the tax service line. However, I interviewed for the position in March of last year. I initially was nervous for both the on campus and the in office interview, however, after talking with the recruiters and meeting with all the associates and partners the nerves went away. Everyone I met with was welcoming and down to earth, embodying the overall culture of the company. The attitudes and perspectives of the people I met with made me realize that McGladrey was a perfect fit for me based on my background and interests.

My first days at McGladrey included a two day orientation followed by a week of training at the Q Center in St Charles, IL. We spent a majority of the orientation getting better acquainted with the firm and its background and culture. We also discussed what we can expect from our internship and received advice from other first year associates who had gone through the internship program. 

The technical training at the Q Center walked us through preparing a variety of returns so we would be acquainted with the software and the steps used in preparing a return. After that week, I felt more comfortable with the software and significantly improved my technical skills. There was a lot of information to be absorbed in such a short period of time but our instructors made it fun and engaged us the entire time we were in class. We would often take breaks and play games such as Scategories for which my team, the Wet Bandits, took first place when we summed the scores for the entire week. It was an excellent way to meet and get to know interns from the other offices. McGladrey also hosted a charity night on Wednesday where we built bikes for underserved children. This was one of my favorite events I participated in while at the Q center. McGladrey made it a competition testing our creativity and multitasking skills where we would have to answer puzzles and questions in order to get the parts to build the bike and at the end each team had to race the bike to the finish line. We also had to write a song about building bikes and then perform it for everyone. It was a great time and when we were all done we actually met the children who received the bikes which was a truly rewarding experience. 

Based on my experience at orientation and training, I’m really excited about the rest of my internship. I had a great time at orientation and the Q Center and I am eager to apply everything that I have learned in the past two weeks as well as meet and work with new people in the Chicago office. 

Learn more about interning at McGladrey:

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Happy New Year and top posts of 2013

Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting the McGladrey Careers Blog over the last year. We had a lot of fun in 2013, especially getting to know so many McGladrey employees through our new videos. If you haven’t had a chance to check them out yet, please do! They can be found right here on the blog on the videos tab, or on our YouTube channel. As always, if there is anything specific that you would like to see on the blog this year, please let us know.

Below are our top posts from 2013. We hope you’ll continue to stop by in 2014!
1. Home Stretch 
2. Let the Busyness Begin 
3. Internship Preparations 
4. Disclaimer: This blog may make you hungry 
5. A day in the life of a Tax Senior Associate