Join, Grow, Succeed

Written by Gianna Migliaccio

Assurance Intern

New York, NY

Only a few short weeks ago my nerves were absolutely out of control as I anticipated my start date. However, my pre-internship jitters are no longer present, and I have a lot to recap!

McGladrey has made me feel incredibly comfortable during my transition from college graduate to summer intern, which started with our intern orientation at the Doral Arrowood Conference Center in Rye Brook, NY. Although it was clearly quite nerve racking, they prepped us properly so that we were at ease by the end of our orientation.  It lasted 3 days and there were over 90 people there for this event. This gave me the opportunity to meet all of the interns who are working in the Northeast. We even played a little icebreaker game called “My Twin” to try and find people who filled out their board the same way. In doing so, I spoke with everyone and learned some fun facts about all of the interns I spoke with.  I actually won and received a great little McGladrey water bottle too.  It’s awesome- I literally use it every day! Regardless, it was great to meet everyone even if they weren’t “my twin” since we all share a common ground, which is of course McGladrey. 

Additionally, over the course of the 3 days at orientation we attended numerous presentations and workshops.  Although the days were long, the time we spent there was extremely worthwhile.  We were given a variety of helpful tips that I will definitely keep in mind as I start my professional career. Also, after these workshops I became extremely motivated to accomplish both my short term and long term goals for my career and my personal life.  All of the speakers were so enthusiastic and knowledgeable throughout the entire time, which made the days fly by.  It’s also important for me to note just how amazing all the food was.  That was definitely a perk!

I also thought that it was really great that we performed a community service project while we were all there.  We made blankets for Project Linus, which is a really great charity inspired by Charles Schulz’s Linus character from the PEANUTS comic strip.  This character was comforted by his blanket so that’s what this organization strives to do.  They provide blankets for children for various reasons, whether they are ill, traumatized, or generally in need.  In pairs we each made at least 2 blankets, which was both rewarding and fun.  It was nice to dress down and do something for such a great cause. 



Here is a photo of some of the blankets that we made!

After finishing up at orientation and receiving our laptops we started in the office the following Monday.  Since being in the office, I have only great experiences to share.  I’m located on the 5^th floor with all of the Audit interns.  This has really provided us the opportunity to get to know each other, and I really love everyone that I’m working with- we even made a book club for our Pod.  I was also put on a client after the first week! I was out of the office for two weeks and traveled to a client in New Jersey.  This was clearly a great experience because I actually got a taste as to what auditing is all about.  My engagement team was really informative and helpful in answering all of my questions.  While doing client work, we all participated in a Mock Audit which involves a presentation at the end.  We were assigned to a team and went through all of the steps one would take when participating in an audit when auditing cash and long term debt.  We successfully completed the audit for these accounts and now the competition begins! Within our same group we are now participating in a competition regarding the same accounts.  My group is presenting on cash, and we are actually working on it right now! So back to work, and I will report how it turns out next time.  Go team 4!