Get EXCITED

Written by Daniel Verastegui

Tax Intern

Schaumburg, IL





Daniel Verastegui

Yes McGladrey is astonishing. Kind of hard to imagine an accounting firm being astonishing isn’t it? When I first got hired for an internship at McGladrey I thought (1) what are the people like, (2) how hard is the work going to be and (3) how much will I get paid? Thoughts on how orientation and training were going to be didn’t even come to mind, all I wanted to do was go to the office and start preparing tax returns (good thing I didn’t).  

Let’s talk about orientation. I have a feeling that I wasn’t the only person nervous about arriving to the intimidating office in Chicago. When I arrived I saw about three to four other people that were standing around in the lobby waiting to go to McGladrey’s floor (no one wants to be the first person at orientation awkwardly waiting for everyone else). Orientation is a very helpful tool for all interns and should be taken advantage of. Aside from getting our laptops and all our tools to start preparing tax returns, we get lunch at Lloyd’s! In all seriousness we get to learn how to charge our time and get to meet a lot of people that I guarantee you will befriend. Everyone there is very open and interesting, there were many people from all different types of backgrounds and cultures which made it fun to get to know them.

Training was a lot like orientation except there were a lot more people. Training was a lot of fun and a good learning experience. We were set up in the Q Center in St. Charles, Illinois. We arrived there on Sunday afternoon and stayed there until Friday morning. I have never had so much fun at a training event. After work many of us would go to the game room and relax, play a game of billiards or two and get intense with some foosball or ping pong. And if all this isn’t enough for someone, there is always the pub a few yards away. Aside from all the activities we did a lot of training. We learned so much, I feel I learned 4 years of school in one week at the Q Center. The trainers were great and provided us with all the do’s and do not’s of being a professional accountant. If anyone was nervous about training, whether it be the materials we had to work on or just meeting new people, there was no need to be. Everyone from the instructors to all the interns were very nice and helpful.

Now I am at work and things are great here. People are getting busy but yet they still find the time to help me out with anything I need. The person who is assigned to be my navigator is extremely helpful and patient; he may have 20 things to do at once but he is always willing to help me out. The managers, directors, partners, and senior associates who have assigned work to me are more than willing to sit down and go over any questions I have.

So if anyone is applying to McGladrey, get EXCITED - it’s a great place to work.