Recruiting in the School of Accountancy
The most challenging problem for BYU Marriott’s accounting students isn’t found in a spreadsheet or a ledger book. They’ve got those covered, handily. Instead students are suffering from a slight case of FOMO—fear of missing out.
Recruiting at the School of Accountancy has exploded in the last decade. By graduation, many students are faced with choosing from several good job offers—and that’s just the beginning. Though Brian Voigt, the new SOA director of career services and employer relations, jokes about indecision and FOMO, he and his colleagues responsible for recruiting would all agree it’s a great problem to have.
RECRUITING THE BEST
If you ask Bill Brady, former director of career services, how recruiting has changed since he started working with the SOA in 2002, he’ll tell you it hasn’t changed that much: “Firms are still seeking the brightest and best qualified, and that will likely never change.” What has changed is the number of employers who have realized the SOA is a prime place to find those people. Since 2008, the accounting programs at BYU have ranked among the top three in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Public Accounting Report, and TaxTalent.
Jenn Maroney, alumni director for the SOA, calls recruiting in the school a “wild ride.”
“It’s fortunate to be recognized nationally and that people want our students,” she says. “And not just our students but our alumni too. We get inundated with employers trying to find our seasoned alumni all the time.”
Brady remembers that when he started in SOA career services, less than a dozen firms and companies came to campus. Last year, that number was fifty-five. Originally, the annual Meet the Firms event, in which students meet with Big Four representatives, was held in the Wilkinson Center Ballroom. Now, Meet the Firms happens twice a year: In the fall, companies and regional and local CPA firms are joined on campus by the Big Four, which recruit for their advisory positions. In January, students meet with the Big Four and large national firms about summer leadership opportunities.
And the venue for the fall event? It’s been upsized to the Marriott Center concourse.
THE SOONER, THE BETTER
The increase in recruiters is just one aspect of the new direction recruiting is taking. Because of the high demand, the timeline of recruiting has also changed considerably.
During Brady’s time, the Big Four moved to a recruiting process focused almost exclusively on carefully selecting interns they could more effectively convert into full-time employees after graduation. All of the Big Four—and many of the national, regional, and local firms as well—now offer two-day summer leadership programs to funnel high-performing junior students toward those internships and jobs. This accelerated timeline means students are making decisions about their careers earlier and earlier.
NEW DESTINATIONS
After school, the career path for accounting students used to be pretty direct—graduation, then off to public accounting—but now students and alumni are seeing more ways to put their degrees to work.
“The options outside of large public accounting have expanded, and the demand from industry is on the rise,” Voigt says. “Students have more options to use their accounting education in new and different ways from the traditional audit and tax routes.”
According to Voigt, the number of accounting-related jobs is increasing across various sectors, including technology, financial services, government, nonprofit, and consulting, in addition to an increase in small, boutique accounting firms.
Though the SOA prides itself on continuing to be a number-one stop for CPA firms, it is also pleased to draw in major industry players, such as John Deere, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, and Disney.
During fall semester, the SOA holds a Career Options Day to help expose students to the wide range of opportunities. Voigt reports that after that event, students clamor to talk with him, feeling both excited and confused by all the possibilities.
A HAPPY HOME
What Maroney and Voigt care most about is helping students—and employers—figure out the best fit.
“I don’t like it when accounting students say, ‘I will do audit because I have to for three years, and then I will find something else,’” Voigt says. “That is not what this is about. Let’s find your best initial fit; that is good for the firms as well because there’s less turnover. A more engaged employee is a more productive employee.”
Maroney had a similar experience when she began conducting exit interviews. After she noticed several students expressing discontent with their postgraduation plans, she began tracking the frequency of those comments. “I’m not excited,” they would say. “This is not what I want; it’s just the path of least resistance.”
Knowing she had 14,000 alumni and their companies within reach, Maroney was shocked that students felt they had no options. She focused on getting students prepared to find a job where they would be happiest. Now those kinds of comments rarely come up in interviews; instead students arrive at her office excited and with a range of great options to choose from.
Maroney loves that as she visits these new alumni around the country, they rave about how they’re thriving at work.
NAVIGATING THE POSSIBILITIES
For some students, finding their best fit is a matter of understanding the options. Maroney notes that some students think they don’t want to take a particular path, but when they learn more about what each job actually entails, they’re surprised to find that what may have once seemed unattractive is exactly what they are looking for.
To further help with the FOMO, Maroney, Voigt, and Brady have sought out recruiters that provide rotational programs, such as Disney and Honeywell. These programs allow interns and employees to work in different sections of the company for several months at a time. In addition to adding skills to their résumés, those involved in these programs gain a clear sense of where their talents are best used and the kind of work that interests them most.
Another great career-exploration tool offered by the SOA is the Accounting Society and its accompanying student clubs. Under its new structure, the Accounting Society works hand-in-hand with the Finance Society on campus, providing additional education and networking opportunities for students in both disciplines.
BYU is also home to the largest chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Through the IMA, students can earn a CMA (Certified Management Accountant) certification. “The CMA offers students a valuable, practical, hands-on certification that is a complement to the CPA,” Voigt says. “This certification has opened a lot of doors.”
ALUMNI REVOLUTION
Those open doors go both ways. Thanks to an increasingly connected network, alumni from around the country are returning to campus to share their experiences. In classrooms and at club events, students can hear what it’s really like out in the real world, and those perspectives help narrow down their recruiting options. Meeting with alumni and the SOA Board of Advisors gives students a clearer picture of what in-between steps are needed to reach their own career goals.
This networking has been particularly beneficial for female students wondering how to balance having a family and having a career. At the 2016 fall banquet for the Women of the School of Accountancy club, more than fifty alumnae traveled to campus on their own dime to mentor students. Representing a wide range of options— including full-time employees, remote workers, and stay-at-home moms—these women reassured students that they can find a best fit. These invaluable interactions not only help women confidently tackle the recruiting process but also connect students with companies that offer different kinds of employment setups.
Maroney says that for nearly every “vocation, location, or corporation” a student might be interested in, there’s an SOA alum who has already blazed the trail—and who is often willing to share his or her experiences and network.
“It takes a village to raise a child, and I feel like that’s what we’re doing: coming together for the benefit of the student,” Maroney says.
Alumni benefit as well. Large, well-known corporations are turning to SOA to help them handpick candidates for their top positions. “It behooves alums to stay in contact with us because then I can make these personal recommendations when your experience qualifies you to be one of these candidates for these great positions,” she says.
For students and alumni going through recruiting, Maroney reminds them that they have the power to choose their paths. There will be plenty of hard work and some pounding the pavement, but the future of recruiting in the SOA is definitely a bright one.
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HOW TO HELP
Every alum’s situation is different, which is just what SOA students need. There’s something each alum—currently employed, stay-at-home, or otherwise—can contribute in a student’s recruiting process. If you’re interested in helping, contact the Accounting Department at BYU Marriott.
Help with Housing
Whether it’s a full-time job or an internship that brings them out of familiar territory, many students have questions about where to live. Do you know where the good schools are or how to best navigate public transportation? Do people in your city use Craigslist or another site to list vacancies? In addition to helping answer these kinds of questions, many alumni have even gone so far as to offer a spare room in their own homes to put up an intern for a few months.
Mentor Students
Mentors connect with students in many ways; some speak on campus to large groups, while others take a more one-on-one approach. Whatever your career path, odds are you’ll have unique insights to offer. As part of the junior core, students are required to interview three alumni in person. If you’re willing to open up, someone would love to listen.
Get Involved in Alumni Networking
The more alumni, the better. You can help our network grow by becoming an alumni chapter leader or hosting an alumni event in your city. When alumni make connections, they multiply opportunities for themselves and students. If you haven’t already done so, join the School of Accountancy’s private LinkedIn group by reaching out to Maroney.
Connect Students with Employers
You know our students are number one, but does your employer know? Help spread the word about our students in your place of business by encouraging your employer to recruit at BYU or by arranging a business site visit. You may even consider setting up an internship or entry-level position. Not in the workforce right now? Check with your spouse or other family members to see if there are needs within their networks.
Make a Donation
If you’re crunched for time or more comfortable with spreadsheets than speaking, you can still impact recruiting by donating to the SOA. Your support helps fund activities such as student recruiting trips, alumni outreach efforts, study abroad programs, and scholarships that give students a leg up.
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RECRUITED BY THE MOUSE
The thought of students working for Disney may conjure up images of Jungle Cruise guides, but behind the scenes of this massive company, BYU students aren’t just roleplaying. Thanks to the Disney Accounting and Finance Rotation Program, they’re being recruited for key accounting and finance positions that keep the Magic Kingdom—and its accounts— practically perfect in every way. We spoke with Matt Owen, Disney VP and controller and 1985 alum, to find out more.
What’s the story behind the program?
We were looking for ways to improve our recruiting and were debating hiring some students directly off campus. So we visited BYU. As we talked, it became clear that we needed to have a leadership component to what we provided. We went back to Burbank and debated for a year and a half if we wanted to create the program and how. If we just said, “Come and you can process accounts payable,” I wasn’t going to look a student in the eye and say, “Come do this.”
We developed a rotation program, in which participants work in different places in the company for four six-month-long stints. One stop includes getting their audit requirements. At the end of their fourth rotation, they are free to interview for any job open in the company, even a segment they never worked in. Generally, they get multiple offers.
What are the benefits to this type of program?
These people get a leg up on others because of their work experience within the company. I always challenge them to enhance and define the role, to make it better for the next person. And because they are there for six months, it’s tangible. It’s exciting to see the development.
What results are you seeing?
In all honesty, almost everyone has elevated the process. When we brought the first class in, we didn’t really know how good they would be. Now if you compare that class from 2010 to those coming in today, we have doubled or tripled the expectations and the work that we give them and expose them to. We first started with a class of four, and now we do two classes of six every year. Our retention rate is extremely high: in all of these classes combined, we have had less than five not stay with Disney.
How many BYU grads have you hired?
More than 20 percent of all the folks we have hired have been BYU grads. It’s truly one of the great accounting programs in the country. The knowledge base is incredible. They prove very adaptable to the space, and they are go-getters.
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Illustrations by Michael Austin