UCLA Student Accounting Society

Accounting Internship Recruiting- What to Expect!

By, Winnie Lee
Lead Tax Associate in Los Angeles (UCLA Alumni)
Deloitte

I wanted to start by introducing myself; I'm Winnie Lee, a fellow Bruin and a current Lead Tax Associate at Deloitte and Touche. I started my career with Deloitte as a Summer Intern in 2003. The recruiting process for an internship in accounting at UCLA is easy and student-friendly, so don't be worried! I recall as a Junior that exploring internships was my first glimpse at job applications, interviews, networking and the whole work life experience. The best place to start is to explore what is available. BruinView, an online service provided through the UCLA Career Center, is conveniently accessible to students any time of the day from school or from home, so you can explore internship options at your convenience, which when you're a student can be midnight!

Through BruinView, all of the Big Four, most mid-tier firms and even other industries will lists openings for positions, specifically Summer Internship that you can read about online. I knew I was interested in interning with the Big Four, but I encourage you to explore your options and learn as much as you can to find out what firm suits you best and what service line you are most interested. From my research I learned, Deloitte has internships available for Audit, Tax, Enterprise Risk Services, and Financial Advisory Services. As a student, I (and you can too!) filled out a general profile that could be used for any position that I wanted. I was able to upload the profile and my résumé for all the positions that interested me and then I just waited for a response either from the BruinView system or from the recruiter to sign up for On-Campus Interviews. Well, I didn't exactly 'just wait' I attended information sessions and the social events that really let me get to know the firms and each of the firms' people within their service lines. From attending events in the Winter, like Deloitte's Casino Night (this year being held on January 27th, so get the details from SAS and don't miss out), I was able to decide that I wanted tax and felt a strong connection with Deloitte. By the time I interviewed on campus and was selected for the second-round interview, more commonly known as the "In-House Interview", I felt really comfortable with choosing tax as my path. This is really important, as you must apply to just one service line for each firm, so you can't interview for tax and audit.

Now, to continue with my personal internship recruiting experience... BruinView took care of the logistics and I was notified to sign up for an on-campus interview with Deloitte. With an abundant amount of time slots, I was able to find a few that could work around my classes. Without a driver's license or a car at the time, it was important to me that UCLA was able to provide on-campus interviews. The Deloitte recruiter on site at the day of the interview was especially friendly and pleasant to the nervous interviewees. My interview with the senior manager was the like of a casual chat as we exchanged information about ourselves, our experiences and our goals. I left feeling more relaxed than I expected, but was a little nervous, as I knew I would need to wait to hear back regarding an In-House Interview!

The tax recruiting manager gave me a call and invited me to an in-house interview, yahoo! She was very warm and understanding in her phone calls to arrange for the in-house interview to work with my class schedule. The day of the in-house interview was well-planned. The interviewees were given agendas and were promptly greeted at the lobby and escorted to our respective interviews throughout the day. We were later treated individually to lunch nearby, where we were able to get a more realistic perspective of the work life by associates close to our age. After lunch, we had a closing interview and then we were free to leave.

From the beginning of the recruiting process till even after I accepted the full-time offer, the recruiting team at Deloitte has been very warm and generous. I had no problem deciding where I would like to begin my career!

The internship experience was comprehensive in developing tax and business skills and was the same for my friends who decided to intern with Deloitte in audit. I had not taken either an audit or tax class at UCLA prior to the internship, but while I was going through it, I received helpful guidance and encouragement, and was able to successfully complete assignments and tax returns. We participated in many cross-department functions to develop networking skills and build lasting friendships with other interns. Within the tax department, I met a lot of people in different positions and had the opportunity to work with many of them.

My internship led to a full-time offer, which I accepted. Starting full-time at Deloitte after two internships was like going back to school after the summer. People, procedures, and processes were familiar, and I was less apprehensive during my first week than most. Instead of making contacts from scratch, I had a few whom I could call on to ask questions, to chat, or to eat with at lunch.

My internship experience was especially helpful in my transition from the school life to the work life. It gave me great insights to what the "real world" was like once school was over. During my last year at UCLA, I was able to appreciate the classroom setting, enjoy life as a student, and participate more in tax classes with my enhanced background in the subject. I found tax more interesting once I knew how to apply the concepts that we learned in class to the tax returns and other projects that we had worked on during the summer.

Deloitte is a great firm for students interested in public accounting because of the variety in service lines that the firm provides and the internships are a great way for students to learn that public accounting is their career choice. No matter what you are consider, I encourage you to explore an internship, it can shape your summer and your career!