{"id":16997,"date":"2020-10-14T08:22:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T12:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=16997"},"modified":"2020-10-28T10:46:46","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T14:46:46","slug":"mac-recruiting-goes-virtual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/14\/mac-recruiting-goes-virtual\/","title":{"rendered":"MAC Recruiting Goes Virtual"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a normal year for Jenkins Master of Accounting<\/a> (MAC) students, fall recruiting kicks off with a four-day Meet the Firms event that offers extensive engagement with several dozen public accounting firms. This year, of course, is far from normal. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prevent events from taking place in person, Meet the Firms went virtual for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kelly Hardy<\/a>, the associate director of student programs and career services for the Jenkins MAC program, Meet the Firms plays a vital role in placing MAC students in internships and full-time positions. \u201cWhen we converted this event to a virtual format, the greatest challenge for my office was to create an environment in which students have enough time to make authentic connections with recruiters,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardy collaborated with recruiters who had participated in Meet the Firms for years to create a virtual event that served the needs of students and accounting firms alike. With their input, she created a series of Zoom-hosted events that allowed firms to deliver presentations before inviting students into breakout rooms based on their particular service line interest. \u201cThe MAC team tried to manage the process for recruiters as much as possible,\u201d says Hardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInitially, our concern was that we would miss out on small group interaction with the students, but NC State took the burden off recruiters and organized everything,\u201d says Ella Ryan, a campus recruiter for Ernst & Young. Anita Galiano, a recruiter for CohnReznick, praises Hardy and her team for \u201cmaking sure that no one missed a beat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she coached students in advance of the event, Hardy emphasized the importance of making an extra effort to engage with recruiters. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough just to listen,\u201d she told them. \u201cEspecially in a virtual space, it\u2019s crucial to speak up, ask questions, and clearly articulate their strengths and areas of interest.\u201d Jonah Hatley, a MAC student who will graduate in 2021, followed her advice. \u201cIt\u2019s not as easy to express one\u2019s personality across a computer screen, so I definitely had to talk more to convey my thoughts,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jonah Hatley, Jenkins MAC On Campus Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hardy also encouraged students to keep an open mind while meeting firm representatives instead of focusing solely on the ones they assume they want to join. Like a number of students, Hatley attended the event with several career directions in mind. \u201cBy having the opportunity to compare and contrast different firms by industry, size and culture, I left with a clearer direction for the future,\u201d he says. Through talking with representatives who shared his interest in investing and finance, Hatley decided to pursue Charlotte-based firms that serve the financial services industry. \u201cMeet the Firms definitely helped set me up for success as interviews are underway,\u201d he affirms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, I was impressed with the students\u2019 resilience,\u201d says Galiano. \u201cThey showed up, engaged and followed up with us in a highly professional way.\u201d Like Galiano, Ryan participates in a number of Meet the Firms events every fall. \u201cWhen I think about what makes some events more successful than others, it always comes down to the quality of the students,\u201d she says. \u201cNC State students have demonstrated the ability to adapt and handle themselves well, which made for a positive experience.”<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

From a full-time hiring perspective going into next year, we expect to hire about the same number of NC State students as in previous years.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the end, 20 different public accounting firms participated in the first virtual Meet the Firms\u2014the same number that would normally attend in a non-COVID year. Despite the challenge of connecting students and recruiters without any in-person interaction, Hardy points to at least one silver lining. \u201cBecause employers could participate without traveling, we had more geographical diversity represented in our event,\u201d she shares. \u201cIt\u2019s typical for students to interact most with Raleigh-based teams, who can easily attend our events, but the virtual format allowed them to connect more easily with teams in other cities and states, as well as with higher level managers who would have been unable to participate in person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether Meet the Firms takes place in person, virtually or in a hybrid format next year, Hardy is confident that MAC students will continue to leave a positive impression on recruiters. \u201cThe MAC program produces students who are prepared to make a significant contribution, which is why employers make NC State a priority even in tough times,\u201d she believes. \u201cWe\u2019re very proud to help the best and the brightest achieve career success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

In a normal year for Jenkins Master of Accounting<\/a> (MAC) students, fall recruiting kicks off with a four-day Meet the Firms event that offers extensive engagement with several dozen public accounting firms. This year, of course, is far from normal. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prevent events from taking place in person, Meet the Firms went virtual for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kelly Hardy<\/a>, the associate director of student programs and career services for the Jenkins MAC program, Meet the Firms plays a vital role in placing MAC students in internships and full-time positions. \u201cWhen we converted this event to a virtual format, the greatest challenge for my office was to create an environment in which students have enough time to make authentic connections with recruiters,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardy collaborated with recruiters who had participated in Meet the Firms for years to create a virtual event that served the needs of students and accounting firms alike. With their input, she created a series of Zoom-hosted events that allowed firms to deliver presentations before inviting students into breakout rooms based on their particular service line interest. \u201cThe MAC team tried to manage the process for recruiters as much as possible,\u201d says Hardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInitially, our concern was that we would miss out on small group interaction with the students, but NC State took the burden off recruiters and organized everything,\u201d says Ella Ryan, a campus recruiter for Ernst & Young. Anita Galiano, a recruiter for CohnReznick, praises Hardy and her team for \u201cmaking sure that no one missed a beat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she coached students in advance of the event, Hardy emphasized the importance of making an extra effort to engage with recruiters. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough just to listen,\u201d she told them. \u201cEspecially in a virtual space, it\u2019s crucial to speak up, ask questions, and clearly articulate their strengths and areas of interest.\u201d Jonah Hatley, a MAC student who will graduate in 2021, followed her advice. \u201cIt\u2019s not as easy to express one\u2019s personality across a computer screen, so I definitely had to talk more to convey my thoughts,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jonah Hatley, Jenkins MAC On Campus Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hardy also encouraged students to keep an open mind while meeting firm representatives instead of focusing solely on the ones they assume they want to join. Like a number of students, Hatley attended the event with several career directions in mind. \u201cBy having the opportunity to compare and contrast different firms by industry, size and culture, I left with a clearer direction for the future,\u201d he says. Through talking with representatives who shared his interest in investing and finance, Hatley decided to pursue Charlotte-based firms that serve the financial services industry. \u201cMeet the Firms definitely helped set me up for success as interviews are underway,\u201d he affirms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, I was impressed with the students\u2019 resilience,\u201d says Galiano. \u201cThey showed up, engaged and followed up with us in a highly professional way.\u201d Like Galiano, Ryan participates in a number of Meet the Firms events every fall. \u201cWhen I think about what makes some events more successful than others, it always comes down to the quality of the students,\u201d she says. \u201cNC State students have demonstrated the ability to adapt and handle themselves well, which made for a positive experience.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a full-time hiring perspective going into next year, we expect to hire about the same number of NC State students as in previous years.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the end, 20 different public accounting firms participated in the first virtual Meet the Firms\u2014the same number that would normally attend in a non-COVID year. Despite the challenge of connecting students and recruiters without any in-person interaction, Hardy points to at least one silver lining. \u201cBecause employers could participate without traveling, we had more geographical diversity represented in our event,\u201d she shares. \u201cIt\u2019s typical for students to interact most with Raleigh-based teams, who can easily attend our events, but the virtual format allowed them to connect more easily with teams in other cities and states, as well as with higher level managers who would have been unable to participate in person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether Meet the Firms takes place in person, virtually or in a hybrid format next year, Hardy is confident that MAC students will continue to leave a positive impression on recruiters. \u201cThe MAC program produces students who are prepared to make a significant contribution, which is why employers make NC State a priority even in tough times,\u201d she believes. \u201cWe\u2019re very proud to help the best and the brightest achieve career success.\u201d<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MAC Recruiting Goes Virtual<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"backgroundColor\":\"red_400\",\"caption\":\"\",\"subtitle\":\"Early in the fall 2020 semester, the Jenkins MAC Program successfully launched its main recruiting event virtually without sacrificing the personal connections vital for student success.\",\"displayCategoryID\":398}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,323,398,286,1],"tags":[],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-16997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accounting","category-graduate","category-mac-program","category-newswire","category-uncategorized"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":398,"name":"Jenkins MAC Program News","slug":"mac-program","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":398,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Master of Accounting Program News","parent":1810,"count":207,"filter":"raw"},"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16997"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17230,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16997\/revisions\/17230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16997"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=16997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}