UMSL accounting students chat with RubinBrown representatives Alisha Barnum (right) and Thomas Fabry (second from right). Both Barnum and Fabry are UMSL alumni. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
More than 100 people attended the Accounting Club’s meet-the-firms gathering on Tuesday – the event was matter-of-factly titled “It’s Time to Prepare for Recruiting Opportunities” – and there wasn’t a single suit coat, stuffy blazer or power tie to be found in the room at Anheuser-Busch Hall on the campus of the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
That’s exactly what students and professionals in attendance appreciate most about the event.
“I like it because it’s a casual event,” said Angela Truesdale, the president of the Accounting Club. “For a lot of events, I feel like there’s a lot of pressure – come with your resume, be interviewed and be very formal. This is just informal. It’s a chance to just talk, ask questions about the culture, find out about summer internship opportunities.”
The low-pressure, get-to-know-you environment was originally introduced to the Accounting Club schedule in 2017 by Marcia Countryman, the club’s longtime faculty advisor. This spring’s event featured 23 professionals – including 10 UMSL alumni – representing 12 local firms, along with nearly 70 students and a handful of faculty and staff members during the two-hour College of Business Administration event.
Obviously, helping students land internships and eventually full-time jobs is a priority for Countryman and others in the accounting department, but she pointed out that events like this are important for the accounting firms, too.
“The demand is there in the accounting profession,” Countryman said. “They need people, and UMSL students are wonderful. They’ll even give up a day during tax season to come visit UMSL, which tells you something.”
Each firm was set up at a table, and the firms were given 10 minutes with each group of four to six UMSL students. Countryman used the timer on her phone to keep the event humming on schedule, which was something else everyone appreciated. When the time was up, the students got up and moved to the next table.
“The firm professionals say you wouldn’t believe how many faces they recognize from these informal events,” Countryman said. “Some of my students have said it’s like speed dating. It feels kind of like that. The firms have a chance to talk about internships, scholarships, full-time job opportunities. It’s a great opportunity for the firms come in and see who our students are and meet them on their turf.”
The firms in attendance included Anders CPAs + Advisors, Armanino, BDO, CLA, Deloitte, Forvis Mazars, PwC, RSM, RubinBrown, Sikich, UHY and Wipfli. The setting, sans professional attire, makes it easier for both sides to make good impressions.
“This is my second one of these events,” said Lilly Houser, a junior who just started as the Accounting Club’s marketing director this semester. “It’s one of my favorites because it allows you to meet with firms in a less-formal setting, which I appreciate. I was just talking with a firm that I had met with last time, and they remembered me because we’ve had conversations. They said, ‘It’s nice to see you again.’”
Andrew Callaway had five accounting internships while pursuing his degree at UMSL. One of those internships led to his full-time job as a tax accountant at Anders.
Andrew Callaway is a veteran of the essential meet-the-firms events hosted by the Accounting Club. Now a tax associate at Anders, Callaway is a spring 2024 UMSL accounting graduate who did five accounting internships while at UMSL – with UHY, Caleras, KEB, Anders and PwC – and he understands as well as anyone the benefit of events like this.
“Oh, 100% they helped,” Callaway said. “At least two of my five internships were directly related to someone I spoke with at one of these events. I did an internship with Anders in the spring of 2023 and that was from a connection I made with one of the HR coordinators I met at one of these meet-the-firms event. This is my chance to give back. And because I have some firsthand experience with it, I’m trying to guide students and push them to try a lot of different internships, meet with a lot of these firms and then start building those connections. It’s just cool to build that network with events like this.”
Callaway did so many internships in part because he wanted to get a better idea of the career path he wanted to pursue. When he arrived at UMSL, he intended to pursue the audit track. After a couple of internships in that arena, he was less convinced. Internships in tax showed him the path he wound up following.
“I tell students all the time that it’s crucial to get experience in both, because you’re going to like one more than you like the other,” Callaway said. “I tell them to come to these events and network and meet all these different firms, because you never know when it’s going to be your future employer or something. I was at one of these events having already accepted a fall internship with PwC, and I met my current employer just being here networking.”
Kristin Lawrence, another spring 2024 UMSL graduate – she was part of the 2+3 Master’s program – was back at A-B Hall representing Armanino, along with Nyeal Biedenstein, a current officer in the Accounting Club who is doing an internship at Armanino. Lawrence was happy to not only pitch current students on her firm, but to offer career advice and encouragement, too.
“I just like them to know that they don’t have to know everything immediately, to be curious and ask questions and be positive,” she said. “There are all types of internships, so find one that fits you and a company that fits you, even if it’s not what you originally think it might be.
UMSL alum Kristin Lawrence (right) is an audit associate at Armanino. Nyeal Biedenstein (green shirt) is a current UMSL student who has an internship at Armanino.
“I found Armanino through one of the networking events here at UMSL, and then I went to work for them after I was done with my internship. One internship, job offer, and that was it.”
In total, there were 10 UMSL alumni representing firms, a group that also included Rob White (BDO), Nick Graff (CLA), Emily Davis (CLA), Jennifer Cole (Forvis Mazars), Kevin Campbell (PwC), Alisha Barnum (RubinBrown), Thomas Fabry (RubinBrown) and Claire Witte (Wipfli).
As Truesdale pointed out, meet-the-firms events like this one aren’t only for grad students or juniors and seniors. It’s never too early to start building a network.
“The firms want to make connections as early as they can with students,” said Truesdale, who noted her RubinBrown internship started with a similar event at UMSL. “With accounting, since they recruit so far out, they’re looking at 2026-27 internships already. If you’re just getting started out, internships feel like they’re very far away. This is a good way, especially since there’s so many options for students, to start to figure out what you might want to do. It’s a good way to find out about different cultures, different expectations and different opportunities.”
