McGladrey Earns a Top 10 Spot in the LA Market

Maybe it's the sunshine. Or maybe it's just the payoff to a lot of hard work. In any case, McGladrey continues to thrive in Los Angeles and make significant progress toward the firm's location strategy change mission.

The Los Angeles Business Journal recently released its list of the largest accounting firms in the city. McGladrey's LA office broke into the Top 10, moving up form No. 12 to No. 9.

Office Managing Partner Joe Mazza says the LA office's rapid growth is confirmation that the firm's strategy is working in California. "We've put numerous programs in place this past year to position us to be the first-choice advisor to middle-market leaders in Los Angeles. I think we are seeing the results," he says.

The Los Angeles Business Journal also named the McGladrey office as one of its Best Places to Work for two years running (2013 and 2014) (related article). The office's main industries include industrial products, consumer products, financial services, financial institutions, health care and private equity groups.

Regional Managing Partner Don Natenstedt added that McGladrey has exciting plans for supporting growth in LA and all of California. "We've introduced a number of new activities to support the talent and client experience," he says. "We believe our partners, like Joe, are a key to our exciting environment. The leadership team is having tons of fun along the way."

If you're interested in learning more about the opportunities that exist in McGladrey's Los Angeles practice, click here.

Stewardship in Action - Dress for Success

McGladrey's Minneapolis Women's Leadership group held a clothing drive to benefit the Twin Cities Dress for Success organization throughout the month of January. This donation drive collected gently-used suits, other business-appropriate apparel, shoes and accessories like handbags and jewelry. This drive was McGladrey's way of supporting women in our community to help them take the crucial first step towards a better future.

Dress for Success promotes the economic independency of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

The generosity of McGladrey employees and their family members donated enough clothing to fill a large SUV! In a thank you note from Dress for Success, the organization said, "Thank you McGladrey very much for providing Dress for Success Twin Cities with so many high quality items and accessories from your recent drive. You were able to collect so many wonderful items that we will use in our Suiting Program, which will allow us to help some of the 800 women who will come through our doors this year. Your donations help us continue to help economically disadvantaged women in our community become employed. It is gratifying work and we deeply appreciate the partnership and support of McGladrey."

McGladrey employee's commitment to the community is truly outstanding and we look forward to partnering with Dress for Success again for future events!

McGladrey Cracks the Top 25 in Atlanta Market

The Atlanta Business Chronicle announced the Atlanta Top 25 Accounting Firms last week. And McGladrey, which wasn’t ranked the previous year, has now cracked the list at No. 22.

 

But just as significant is the fact that McGladrey’s Atlanta office ranked No. 1 among the fastest growing firms by number of professionals and No. 3 among fastest growing firms by revenue.

 

“Breaking into the Top 25 was one of our goals this year,” says Partner Mike Anderson. “I could not be happier or more proud of our accomplishments. This was truly a team effort, and I want to thank everyone involved in making this a reality. But this isn’t the end—it’s only the beginning of our growth. And we’re shooting for the top 15 for next year.”

 

“It’s rewarding to see the vision that we’ve established for the Atlanta office continuing to take shape,” says Partner Henry Niden. “It reinforces that serving clients with distinction, building our brand and reputation in the marketplace, attracting and retaining high-quality talent, and old-fashioned hard work are so important in order for us to become what we all want to be in Atlanta.”  

 

Interested in joining the team? Take a look at our current openings in the Atlanta market!

Tips for Spring Recruiting Season

Now that second semester is in full swing, students are starting to become aware of their university's upcoming career fairs and various opportunities to meet potential employers. Accounting students, in particular, need to be aware of many firms' recruiting timelines. At McGladrey, we like to say we recruit a year in advance. Meaning, as we head out on campus this semester, our priority is to recruit Winter/Spring 2016 interns. Here are some tips to ensure that you have a successful day at your upcoming career fair:

• Updated Resume: Be sure to bring copies of your most current resume. This includes listing your expected graduation date along with your expected CPA eligibility date. Your CPA eligibility is one of the most important things we look at on your resume.
• Winter vs Summer Internships: Know which internship season will work best with your graduation timeline. Winter internships give you the most exposure to what it's like to be a tax or assurance associate. Summer internships are geared toward consulting.
• Assurance/Tax/Consulting: You can only interview for one line of business, so have an idea of which area you would most like to pursue. If you're unsure, speaking to our staff provides a great opportunity to learn about life as an intern in assurance/tax/consulting, as each line of business varies.
• Research: This one is obvious, but make sure to do some research on the firms that interest you before the career fair. We're always impressed by students who can tell us why they're interested in McGladrey over other firms.
• Questions: These are important. Prepare a list of meaningful questions that you can't find the answers to on our website. There will be former interns and new associates at the fair who just went through the recruiting process not long ago, and are great resources when it comes to getting to know the firm.
• Apply: Be aware of the application deadline through your university's recruiting system. We meet a lot of great candidates and want to ensure that everyone has the chance to apply for an interview. It's best to do so right after the fair while all of the firms are still fresh in your mind.
• Business Cards: Ask whomever you speak with for their card. If you have any follow-up questions regarding position requirements, application process, or the firm in general, you'll be able to easily reach out to someone.

McGladrey campus recruiters are excited to head out to campus this semester and are looking forward to meeting bright, talented students! Check with your career services to see if we'll be at your university/college soon!

Pursue Your Passion: Wine To Water

Tyler Cronk
Consulting Senior Associate
Minneapolis, MN

Part of a regional McGladrey program, three central region employees were recently awarded the opportunity to pursue their passion, with time-off and assistance from the firm. Tyler Cronk, consulting senior associate from Minneapolis, was one of the three individuals selected and will be pursuing his passion in August 2015. Tyler will be taking a 10-day trip to the Dominican Republic where he will help build water purification filters with the nonprofit organization, Wine To Water. Giving back to worthy causes has always been important to Tyler. Throughout his life, he’s volunteered and been affiliated with churches, hospitals, schools and other nonprofit organizations supporting many diverse initiatives.

Until the Pursue Your Passion program was announced, his ability to give back was confined to local and regional organizations. But you could say that international volunteerism runs in Tyler’s blood. His mother worked in the Peace Corps internationally for three years, and his sister traveled to Honduras to volunteer with a church group on a water purification project. From his family, he learned of the tremendous impact that can be made by giving of his time and resources. His mother’s and sister’s excitement and enthusiasm encouraged him to expand his horizons. The Pursue Your Passion program gave him the means.

When evaluating international volunteer organizations, one thing that was important to Tyler was to target those truly in need, living without basic necessities that Americans take for granted. One of the most basic building blocks of life is clean water. Today, nearly 800 million people in the world lack access to adequate water and 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. Wine To Water, an international aid organization focused on providing clean water to needy people around the world, is devoted to fighting this epidemic.

Tyler feels fortunate to have ready access to clean water every day. Wine To Water provides volunteers with an opportunity to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. While on his 10-day trip, he will not only assist with building water purification filters in the Dominican Republic, he will also get to meet with community members who will benefit from these filters.

For Tyler, this trip combines two values very important to him—teamwork and stewardship. These are also two of McGladrey’s five values. Directly impacting the lives of others and leaving the community he serves a better place is the definition of stewardship. While on the trip, Tyler will be teaming with volunteers from all over the country, possibly the world. He is excited to be part of a team working for such a great cause.

Learn more about Wine To Water and the organization's efforts. To date, Wine To Water has provided clean water and sanitation to over 250,000 people in 17 countries. Stay tuned for a recap of Tyler's adventures following his return!