I
interviewed Elayna Burdelski.
She is a junior here at Chatham University. She is majoring in Accounting and
she is also completing the application process to join the MAcc program. She is
doing the MAcc program because public accounting firms only hire full-time if
you are in the process of completing your 150 credits to obtain your CPA. It is
also hard to get internships in the public accounting field if you aren’t in
the course. Her main focus is tax and managerial accounting because she really
enjoys those two. She is leaning towards taxes because of the one program that
she has volunteered at for the past two years. This program helps people of
lower income do their taxes. She really enjoys helping out with this program.
She is the President of the Accounting club and she is also a member of the
Entrepreneurship club.
One of the study strategies that has
helped her through the years with her accounting classes would be to make a study
guide and review the book. When reviewing the book, it’s best to look over the
problems and also to look over some of the vocab. Another study strategy is to
look over the homework that the professor gives before the exams. This will
help a lot with the different types of problems that might be on the test. Her
last test strategy that she says helps her a lot is to change the numbers in
the problems, so then they are new problems but have the same concepts.
When it comes to building a good
resume, Elayna believes that joining clubs, volunteering, and putting yourself
out there really helps. The more clubs that you join and the more events you
volunteer at help make your resumes look good. She also said that putting
yourself out there to work at different internships or volunteer events even if
you might not like it because it will help you narrow down the areas of
accounting that you know will like, but also making your resume look good.
Elayna said that Handshake is one way to find good on-campus or off-campus jobs
to help build your resume. She also said that networking is another great way
to meet new people but also find good jobs off and on campus that will help
build your resume for the profession you are pursuing. Some of the ways that
Elayna benefits from different campus events and mixers is to set out of your
comfort zone and talk to new people. Also, to follow up with the people you
talked to when you get their business card and maybe even give them your
resume. Elayna also talks to different businesses that she is interested in
when it’s time to get a good internship for summer. Her main point over all is
to try new things to build your skills, add to your resume, and to also figure
out what you do and don’t like.
Elayna compares to Rachel Kolar from
the MAcc Student Spotlight: Rachel Kolar article. Rachel is currently
completing an Integrated Degree Program to receive a Master’s in Accounting in
five years. Rachel has completed her undergraduate studies in April, 2018 and
will complete her Master’s degree in April, 2019. She started her college
experience at the University of West Florida but decided to return to
Pennsylvania. Rachel chose Accounting because she has always enjoyed being
organized and she sees a positive job market in the accounting field. She also
loves the tax law aspect in accounting which is one of the fields that Elayna
loves. Rachel is also a part of the Accounting club which Elayna is the
President of.
Chhabra, A. (2018, September
17). MAcc Student Spotlight: Rachel Kolar. Retrieved September 30, 2018, from
http://blogs.chatham.edu/businessblogs/2018/09/17/macc-student-spotlight-rachel-kolar/
