Becoming Comfortable with McGladrey

Written by Ryan Dalpiaz

Assurance Associate

Cleveland, OH

As I was going through the search for my first full-time job out of college, I was looking for a few things in any company that I was thinking about working for. I wanted to stay in the Cleveland area, which I have called home for my whole life. I wanted to work for a company where I could learn as much as possible, and most importantly, I wanted to work for a company that was a good match for my personality. When I started looking more into McGladrey, the more I became convinced that it was a place that would be a good fit for me.

As I went through the recruitment process, I was very impressed with the human resources personnel and recruiters that I spoke with. They came across as friendly, honest, and personable. That was very important and made a great impression on me. Once I made my visit to the Cleveland office and met with some of the people from that office, I was convinced that this was where I wanted to work. The interviewers made me feel comfortable and I really was able to be myself in the interview. They were great about talking to me in-depth about the position (Assurance Associate) and about McGladrey itself. I left the interviews feeling like I had a very good grasp on the responsibilities of the position, the culture of the Cleveland office, and values that were important to the firm. Some of the associates took me out to lunch as well, which was a great way to meet more people from the firm, ask more questions, and get more comfortable with the Cleveland office.

I was called the next day and offered the position, and there really wasn’t any question in my mind that I was going to accept. I felt totally comfortable with everything and knew McGladrey was where I wanted to work. My first two days with McGladrey were at orientation in the Chicago office, which was very helpful in terms of fully understanding the firm, along with being able to learn about some of the software which I would be using. After that, I was in the Cleveland office the rest of the week. I was slightly nervous going into my first day in the office (who wouldn’t be?) but that feeling quickly dissipated after every single person I met welcomed me to the firm and let me know they were always available to answer questions. I felt like they were genuinely excited to have me there and that meant a lot to me.

I hope this quick narrative of my recruitment and first days at McGladrey can help someone looking to work at the firm understand what to expect going through the process. My best advice is to just be yourself – I think being able to do that helped me feel more comfortable with McGladrey and helped them feel more comfortable with me. Interviewing and starting a new job can be a difficult process that can create a feeling of nervousness, but McGladrey helped make everything go smooth and made me feel comfortable and welcome.