In today's global marketplace, the business world can be dangerous. But for Marriott School alumnus Jared Benedict, few things are more dangerous than canyoning amidst a series of streams, lakes, and waterfalls in the Patagonia region of Chile.’
“It's one of those activities where they get a lot of liability concerns,” says Benedict, who describes canyoning as “kayaking in nothing but a wet suit and a helmet.”
Benedict, who graduated in 2003 with a BS in accountancy, is a senior accountant at Ernst & Young in Denver. As a part of the Ernst & Young Corporate Responsibility Fellows program, he worked for three months in 2008 at GENESYS, a software-development company based in Concepción, Chile, to further develop the business arm of the company. While participating in a program seminar in the Patagonia region of Chile, Benedict decided to take advantage of the weekend and try the sport of canyoning.
But the BYU grad didn't spend all of his time in Chile playing. He helped GENESYS by developing a system to organize the company's financial statements, revamping its general ledger, and establishing an employee performance review system—for both managers and individual project employees.
“The partners of the company had been focused on their core business—developing the software,” Benedict says. “But as it relates to other things that are also important, there was a lot of opportunity for further development. I was really able to assist them in that.”
As most Spanish-speaking returned missionaries at BYU can attest, knowledge of the language in business settings can be quite different from the street-contacting language skills necessary to be a successful missionary. Benedict, who served in the Paraguay Asunción Mission, was no different; he was less than conversant in the typical Spanish necessary in the day-to-day operations of a business.
“One of the first things I did was buy an Accounting 101 book in Spanish so I could become more familiar with the business terminology,” he says.
The experience of adapting to a new ambient and learning the operations of a South American business impacted Benedict as much as he impacted GENESYS. “I got a much broader perspective regarding how to help companies in the marketplace,” he says. “As a result, I find that I am much more open when looking at business processes and better able to make recommendations for some of my current clients.”
