Success Started Here

By Lyndsey Lawson
Assurance Intern
Irvine, CA

To say that time has flown by is an understatement. I remember my first day here and being more nervous than I’ve ever felt before. Now, I have experience working in the audit field with some of the most intelligent people I have ever encountered. I can honestly say I’m going to miss all this auditing fun when my internship comes to an end.

The life of an auditor (never in the office!)

As much as I love sitting at a desk for 8 hours, I always want to do a little victory dance when my schedule gets updated and I see that I get to go out to a client. It seems as though the auditors are almost NEVER in the office, and I love being at a client so I must be fit for auditing! Interning at McGladrey has allowed me to go out to several different clients and I’ve had a blast at every single one of them. You might be thinking, “How is that possible? Work isn’t supposed to be fun.” But I’m not lying. Among all the work, there were plenty of opportunities for fun and new learning experiences. I never expected that I would be cracking up constantly and making jokes at one another while working (efficiently, of course). And the work is awesome! Not gonna lie, I half expected I was going to be doing “grunt” work and tasks that people often think of when they hear the word “intern.” But besides making copies and running job-related errands, I got to do actual audit work. I’ve worked on a 401K audit, an SEC review, and a few others. I was able to perform some test work for audits and I got to shadow another team member during walk-throughs, which was pretty awesome because I got to hear the language/conversations and see how auditors interact with clients. And on a side note, I now totally feel like an Excel pro.

Another essential and seemingly difficult task at McGladrey is lunch. Yes, lunch. Lunch is a big thing around here. When eating with other team members (which always happens when at a client), you have to figure out who’s dining out, what everyone does and doesn’t like, and most importantly, where we’re eating today. I’ve gone to so many delicious and wonderful places to eat with some of the McGladrey team. I feel like I’ve tried almost every type of food there is. I even tried Peruvian (yum!), which is a big step for someone like me who doesn’t ever branch out. Despite my love for food, going out to lunch with other McGladrey members almost every day gave me the opportunity to really get to know everyone on a more relaxed and personal basis. We’d talk about movies/music and tell tons of funny stories. McGladrey knows how to have a good lunch.

A very smart woman once told me to treat this opportunity as a career, not just a job. If there’s work to finish, take it home. The accounting world doesn’t only operate from 9-5. That advice coupled with my amazing experience at McGladrey has set me up for success. I have joined, grown, and succeeded.

Shout out to Mike(s) (T. & L.J) and all the other Irvine people for making my time here so enjoyable! And a big thanks to McGladrey, I couldn’t have asked for a better interning experience.