Meredith Cyr

I worked in the auditing department on a team with about ten people. I typically worked with medium-sized nonprofits. I worked mostly on sections of their accounts receivables by looking at invoices and confirmations. I also set up their financial statements. I was able to gain better experience with different types of software, such as Excel and Engagement. Later in my co-op, I was able to visit clients at their warehouses and count their inventory. This helped me to verify my financials and get hands-on experience with the clients I was working on.

I would typically work on the same client for about a week or two on different audit procedures and financials. I worked on audit sections within the company through their software called Engagement. I was in the office every day, so I typically received tasks from a manager or a senior, otherwise, I would hop on calls with different managers in my department who were in a different office.
 

I started looking for a job for my co-op spring semester of my freshman year. I was able to get in touch with the director of the co-op program, Dr. Krug. He was my biggest help through my job search. He was able to not only help me with my resume to send to employers, but also had contacts with the employers I could potentially be working for. Once Dr. Krug sent out the list of employers that were interested in hiring CO-OP students, I was able to tell him which ones I was interested in. Dr Krug was able to send my resume directly to these employers, and shortly after, the employers started reaching out to me. I had three interviews and landed two of the three jobs I interviewed for. One of the major things that helped me with the interview process was the chance to do a mock interview beforehand. This helped me by giving me tips and negotiating tricks used during an interview before the real one.

On a daily basis I worked with a software called Engagement. This is the software my company used to keep all its records of past clients and records, and also contained the different audit sections I would work with on a daily basis. Along with Engagement I learned and became more proficient in Excel. Most audit sections I worked on were done on Excel workbooks. Along with the software, I learned about how I should be thinking as an auditor assessing the reliability and credibility of the client's information, identifying trends, and developing critical thinking skills.

I took two accounting classes before starting my co-op, financial and managerial accounting. I think this background in accounting helped prepare me for my role at my co-op. It was able to give me basic knowledge of my role. Along with the knowledge I had from my two accounting classes, I was able to learn so much more that I didn't know about accounting since I hadn't taken an auditing class before.

Some advice I would give to students searching for an internship is to reach out to fellow students who are in your major or have had past internship experiences. Make sure your resume has highlights of your accomplishments, and be ready to talk about them during an interview. Prepare and research the company before an interview takes place. During the internship, take in as much as you can. There is so much to learn at your first job. Both within the list of the job description’s duties, but outside of that, such as things like how to be professional and network in an office setting. The last tip I would give is to ask as many questions as you can. While you are there, you want to soak up as much as you can during your time at the internship.