Welcome! Fall 2010 Take a Student to Work Day Kickoff Presentation

2 Your Host Mary Walsh Instructor in the FAU School of Accounting Board member of FICPA (Atlantic Chapter) –Education Chair

3 Agenda/Topics To Be Covered Outline of Program Who may participate What you can expect What is expected of you How to register

4 Outline of Program What does a CPA do each day at the workplace? This fall, the FICPA Atlantic Chapter and Florida Atlantic University’s Accounting Students’ Association will join together for our annual “Take a Student to Work Day” to offer accounting undergraduates a first hand, close-up look at accounting operations in both public accounting firms, companies and governmental agencies

5 Outline of Program, cont’d The goal of the event is to give our FAU undergraduate accounting majors (juniors and seniors) some idea of what they can do with their accounting degrees.

6 Who may participate Currently enrolled Junior and Senior accounting students from all FAU campuses are invited to participate in this event. Please understand that the FICPA is hosting this event and it sets “the rules.” Unfortunately, if you are not a CURRENTLY enrolled junior or senior accounting undergraduate accounting major, you cannot participate.

7 What you can expect We will attempt to match eligible students with an organization to visit that organization sometime between October 1 – December 31, We will attempt to schedule the visits on a Friday and give you plenty of notice before a visit. –However, if Friday doesn’t work for a host, we will attempt to accommodate the host (we want to get as many of you out there as possible)

8 What you can expect Please understand that student demand always exceeds the available hosts. Not everyone who registers for the event will be able to participate For the most part, the participants are chosen randomly (geographic proximity is taken into account). Sometimes the organizations make special requests (e.g., they want to see only seniors or only juniors) and I have to fill the requests. Take comfort in the fact that I do not play favorites. For what it’s worth, I teach only 1 undergraduate course a year and don’t know that many of you.

9 What you can expect, cont’d Most students, when given a choice, want to go to a CPA firm. –None of the “Big 4” participated last year. –A couple of the next tier firms participated –Several local firms/solo practitioners participated However, many of the participating organizations are not CPA firms. –Last year, Office Depot took 13 students and gave them a WONDERFUL experience –This year, we want to try to get some governmental agencies involved. Please don’t expect to go to a CPA firm

10 What you can expect, cont’d The details of a visit are left up to the organization. The goal of the visit is to give you an idea of what accountants do every day. Plan to spend 3 – 4 hours at the organization. –Typically, the visit will be scheduled for the morning and ending with lunch

11 What you can expect, cont’d This is not a formal recruiting event, it is an opportunity for you to learn about a facet of the accounting profession. Do not expect to get a job out of it. That being said, organizations have been known to hire people who have visited as part of this event. –....so make sure you are on your best and most professional behavior

12 What is expected of you Be Professional –Follow whatever directions are given to you in a timely fashion –Arrive ON TIME to the visit –Dress appropriately –Be respectful and polite (these people are doing us a big favor) –Remember that you are representing FAU –Remember to bring a resume (just in case) –Say Thank You: Get a business card from everyone you meet and send them thank-you letters

13 What is expected of you, cont’d If you are matched, I will contact you through the address that you provide. Make sure your works and that you clear me from going into If the I send comes back as undeliverable, I am going on to the next person AND your request to participate will be discarded. If you fail to respond to me within 2 days of my contact, I will move on to the next person. Your request to participate will go back into the pool.

14 What is expected of you, cont’d If I contact you and you can’t participate in an event for whatever reason, I will move on to the next person. Your request to participate will go back into the pool (unless you direct me otherwise). If you decide that you do not wish to participate after having registered, please inform me You are expected to be able to provide your own transportation to an event (we cannot arrange transportation). –On the registration form, there is a place for you to note special circumstances. You can tell me that you really are restricted to a particular area, but that’s about all I can accommodate.

15 How to Register If you are interested in participating and are ELIGIBLE to participate, please copy and paste the address below to a form that will register you for this event (hit the “Send ” button when you have inputted the required information): AdOCcSDd7https:// AdOCcSDd7 (copy and paste into browser) Please understand that all requests will be checked for participant eligibility. If you are not eligible to participate, your request will be discarded. You will receive a confirmation that your request was received upon submission.

16 Communications If you have a question about the event, please me (Mary Walsh) at However, once you receive your confirmation, please believe that I have received your request. Please refrain from contacting me to ask about status. –Basically, you’ll know if you are to attend make an office visit. –If Christmas rolls around and you weren’t contacted, I wasn’t able to place you

17 Thank you! Thanks for taking time to learn about this event. I truly hope that you can participate and that we can send you on an office visit!