After a well needed hearty breakfast, myself and the rest of the interns gathered in the Amphitheatre where we were treated by Ben and an energetic guest speaker, Jacque Anderson. She started her presentation explaining that 70% of your career is built from experience, 20% is from people that surround you, and the remaining 10% is from self-development. Experience is a combination of great work, risk, and team. Capstone seemed to be organized in a way that brought all three components together. She did a great job of explaining each of these and giving examples. Good work simply blossoms from your education, while great work is not only meaningful to your company, but also to yourself. She shared with us her “exit card” or chance card and how it has pushed her to think and take risk whether in your personal relationship or your professional position. She played “Name that tune” with us, the song was her favorite “Like a Rolling Stone”, which was used to revive the energy in the room and illustrate someone taking a risk at Columbia Records. The most inspirational story she told us was about her coworker and friend Charlene, who always took the risk of taking the job that no one else wanted to take and ended her the position of CEO of GE as one of the most successful women in business. Her presentation was very entertaining with many anecdotes. She did very well at keeping everyone awake that early in the morning.
After Jacque Anderson handed us our own copy of her “exit card” and a coupon from her old employer Pillsbury, we broke out into our teams. Teams met up to work on their presentation, live or video. There are three different topics for the presentation. One is Seventeen Again, which involves going back and advising high school students into being the best possible candidate to enter into the public accounting industry. The second topic is how older generations view our generation. The last topic is giving tips to be the perfect intern. We met with our engagement leaders to ask question and tell them about what and how we were doing. Promptly at 11:45, the interns had lunch with the McGladrey Leadership Team. All the interns were divided onto 12 tables and each table included a member of the leadership team. The interns were given question topic to ask each of the leaders to spur conversations, but at our table, like at most, did not need them. After lunch we all gathered back together to have a Q&A session with McGladrey’s two leaders: David Scudder, the managing partner, and C.E. Andrews, the COO & President of McGladrey.
The two marched in to the Virginia Tech fight song— and that was when I knew this was going to be a session full of laughter and life lessons. Kimpa Moss, one of the Leadership Team members, directed the session with a few question and then gave the interns the floor. One of the lessons was “All of you get your CPA,” as it is one of the requirements of the profession. When CE Andrews said this I was glad I had at least read part of my first Becker book. David Scudder commented on something that I know a lot of interns and first years are nervous about: not knowing what we are doing and hoping we can get by with our small pose of knowledge until we actually learn it. He gave us confidence and assurance that it was expected of us to ask questions and to let others know that we needed help. During the session, one of the interns asked: what was the greatest piece of advice anyone has ever given you? Both answered with a response that reflects what McGladrey is all about. David Scudder told us to give our full attention to what we are doing at that moment, whether it is at home with your family or at work, this emphasizes the work-life balance that this firm pushes. CE Andrews let us know that we need to accept the unknown & pay attention to the details, and if you can’t balance the work-life equilibrium, get a dog, for it will always be happy to see you. This session really let the interns gain insight on how the two leaders of this firm feel about their professions, firm, and most importantly employees. After the Q&A session, we teamed up again for our project and put the final touch on our presentations before turning them in.
After dinner, all six Seventeen Again group performed their 5 minute presentations of how to stand out from the rest. Half of the presentations were live and the others were in video format. All of them were really funny and entertaining. It was fun to see how people interpret the same project differently. I personally look forward to seeing the rest of the interns performing tomorrow morning. The rest of the evening was a surprise planned by the faculty members it was VEGAS NIGHT. This included many of the famous Las Vegas games such as Blackjack, Poker, Roulette and Craps. I, along with many other interns, really enjoyed it because I learned a few of the tables without having to take to take too much risk. All in all it was a very busy, fun filled, and energy driven day!
Thanks to Morgane for sharing, be sure to check back tomorrow as another of our interns share their experience of the third and final day here at Capstone. To see some of the pictures from day 2, click on the photo album below!
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| McGladrey 2010 Summer Intern Capstone Conference- Day 2 |
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