Interviewees: Tony Schoenberg (Assurance Intern), Patrick Smith (Assurance Intern) & David Snell (Tax Intern), Minneapolis, MN
As the weather has warmed up and Tax Season has become a thing of the past, that means this year’s winter internships have also come to an end. Many students view having an internship as a resume builder to help land that “dream job.” But if you ask someone who has interned at RSM, they might say something more.
RSM strives to provide interns with a ‘true experience.’ From on the job training to exposure to the industry and firm by working directly with clients, key decision makers and company owners (perks of focusing on the middle market!). Now, it’s been a few years since I have had to worry about obtaining an internship, but working in Campus Recruiting has reminded me about that pressure. It can be scary and intimidating, but also rewarding and exciting at the same time. RSM Internships offer a lot of surprises, no matter what Line of Business you are focusing on. Like most interns, their hopes after finishing an RSM internship is to walk away with an Associate offer, but many of our interns walk away with more than that.
I asked some recent winter interns, what they truly got out of an internship with RSM.
Element of surprise
RSM internships, like most others are full of surprises and the unknown, especially as you are first starting. Usually those surprises come from the workload, but in this case it was something that not all companies can brag about. “I think the biggest surprise was how great the people who work here are. During the interview process companies preach how great their employees are and everyone I interviewed with here I thought fit that mold. But when I began working my internship, I was amazed how great the people I worked with were. It made me want to come to work and made the experience I had at RSM that much more enjoyable” (Tony Schoenberg). But I guess there can be surprises are the workload too. “While there was a learning curve at first, it was a great experience having real responsibility in a professional setting. Instead of filing documents and doing obscure work, the interns were a key component of a successful audit” (Patrick Smith).
Is accounting right for me?
When you are asked to declare a major in college, that decision is not always one you are definite on. It’s hard enough deciding what you will have for dinner tonight, but on top of that what you want to do with the rest of your life?! As Patrick Smith learned, “while this career (accounting) is demanding, it is extremely rewarding.” While accounting is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea,’ RSM helps many interns cement their decision to pursue accounting. “I think my internship helped solidify my decision to major in accounting. I have felt that my accounting classes have always come easy to me, but it was much more beneficial to get experience outside the classroom with such a successful accounting firm like RSM” (David Snell).
I just met with my client’s CEO, no big deal…
Not every intern can say that they have met with a client’s CEO, CFO or owner. But RSM is proud to specialize in the middle market, which means even interns have the opportunity to meet with executives and CEO’s. “I had the chance to work with both higher level people within RSM as well as out in the field with a client. From staff to partner, everyone was great to work with and were role models for the interns. One of my favorite parts of the internship was being in on high-level meetings or conversations between a partner and the CFO/CEO of the client. Just listening to two people who are at the top of their professional converse in this setting was an awesome experience. RSM exposed their interns to everything regarding the engagement which was something I appreciated” (Patrick Smith).
There is even the opportunity to interact with upper-management within the RSM walls. “There were numerous occasions where I worked and discussed projects with Directors from my team at RSM. They viewed me as a valued member of the team and made sure I was being included in a variety of projects” (David Snell).
Bring on the Confidence
You can’t put confidence on a resume, but you can bring that with you wherever you go. “I feel much more confident after my internship. It's amazing to go from in the beginning of January not really knowing much about an audit to the end of March and pretty much being able to do sections of an audit on my own” (Tony Schoenberg).
The real world isn’t that bad…
If you thought getting through your next round of finals was hard, entering the ‘real world,’ isn’t much easier. But, RSM truly tries to show you the ‘whole picture’ when it comes to what to expect out of a career at the firm. “To be honest, I was pretty nervous coming into the internship. However, RSM made it a very smooth transition to adjust to the corporate lifestyle and I felt comfortable within a week of my internship” (David Snell).
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| Anthony Schoenberg |
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| David Snell |
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| Sarah Benedetto |
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| Patrick Smith |
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