*THE INTERNS DESK*

Is money in your future?

Let this young man manage it for you one day.

Initially, when I considered the prospects of interning at KPMG LLP’s headquarters in New York, I was a little hesitant. The accounting industry, while a respected and quite lucrative career path, wasn’t the most appealing job in my eyes. I wanted to go into corporate finance. Furthermore, outside of two introductory accounting courses, I had no understanding of what exactly a public accounting firm did. But the prospects of interning in the “City” and gaining overall exposure to the financial services industry proved to be opportunities that I couldn’t let pass. I received my internship through the Institute for Responsible Citizenship’s Career Program (http://www.i4rc.org/) and was selected as one of six sophomores to participate in the KPMG Summer Scholars Program. The program lasted eight weeks and offered three rotations through the firm’s three major lines of business (tax, audit, and advisory) in addition to a week of training. For each rotation, we were assigned to a senior partner, for whom we did various projects.

From the start, I was surprised by the depth of the projects that each of us were assigned. At the end of the first week, all six of us, presented a competitive gap analysis of the Big Four Accounting Firms to a panel of senior executives. At the time, we were all unaware of the level of seniority that we were working with, but we would learn quickly as the summer passed. My first rotation lasted only a week in which I worked in KPMG’s insurance advisory business. The partner I was assigned to there was extremely helpful in giving me feedback as I completed various projects for her. Throughout the week, my primary goal was to complete a SWAT analysis of the Big Four firms’ insurance advisory businesses. At the end of the week, I was to give a formal presentation, but as I would soon learn, plans change at the drop of a dime. Instead, I traveled to Dallas with her to attend a two-day partners meeting and had to deliver the presentation on the returning flight. The change of pace was exciting and the stay in a five-star hotel made it even more worthwhile!

My second rotation was in the audit sector. There, I was assigned to KPMG’s Pfizer engagement and as a result had to work from Pfizer’s nearby office. While not as entertaining as my last rotation, I learned the valuable importance of having enough resolve to work through grudge-work. Analyzing annual reports, editing roll-forwards, and organizing audit workbooks weren’t the most thrilling moments of my internship, but they allowed me to become more familiar with financial statements in addition to providing insight on how an audit team works.

My third and final rotation was in the tax sector where I worked under a partner in the Information, Communications, and Entertainment industry group (ICE). The first day I walked into the office, I was told to book a flight to Boston through the company’s travel services. There, I was expected to attend a Northeast tax partner’s leadership meeting. Again, I learned that I must always stay on my toes and be prepared to travel even at times when one doesn’t feel like it. Throughout the rest of the rotation, I conducted industry research reports, created revenue breakthrough reports, and attended various partner meetings.

At the end of the summer, my understanding of a Big Four accounting firm’s structure had improved tenfold. Additionally, I had made major connections with some of the most senior people in the firm. But perhaps the most beneficial thing that I learned from the summer was how important soft skills are in getting to the point where one is leading and managing people. Going into the summer, I had expected to learn tons of technical accounting standards. But watching how senior partners led and motivated some of the world’s brightest thinkers proved the greatest lesson of all. At the end of the summer, I had worked for one of the biggest accounting firms, received great pay, networked with some of New York’s most senior people, traveled, and most importantly, put myself in a great position for the next summer.

If anyone has any questions on the Institute for Responsible Citizenship or my summer, feel free to visit http://www.i4rc.org/ or e-mail me at pyles.warren@gmail.com. Warren Pyles is currently a junior at the University of Pennsylvania.