
By Matt Nordhoff, MSADA Class of 2021
To be adequately prepared to enter the workforce and to distinguish oneself from other applicants, a student should pursue both a rigorous education and work experience. In an effort to enable Kelley students to gain valuable work experience prior to the commencement of their MSADA program experience, the MSADA program began offering a spring internship option for undergraduate students. This spring internship option encourages students to pursue busy season internship opportunities in service lines such as audit or tax.
By completing a busy season audit internship prior to the Masters in Accounting with Data and Analytics program, I was able to enhance my technical knowledge and interpersonal skills and further refine my interests. Ultimately, this opportunity enabled me to tailor my MSADA program experience by taking advanced coursework that aligned with my interests. I have elaborated on these points below:
- Busy season internships provide a valuable opportunity to apply technical knowledge in a practical setting. As an audit intern, I was given the opportunity to perform year-end substantive and internal control testing. I also assisted with risk assessment documentation and witnessed firsthand the use of advanced data analytics tools. By assisting in several audit phases, I was able to enhance my interests and technical knowledge in audit and financial reporting. The MSADA program’s diverse course offerings in areas such as audit, financial reporting, and data analytics enabled me to further pursue these interests through hands-on projects and rigorous instruction.
- Busy season internships also provide a valuable opportunity to practice interpersonal and critical thinking skills. My internship challenged me to work through tasks independently and to ask appropriate questions at the right time. Furthermore, I was expected to professionally collaborate with clients and team members. These skills were further developed through the MSADA program’s experiential learning, including a course on career success skills and a field consulting project.
To conclude, I believe that the practical experiences one gains through a busy season internship complements the rigorous educational experiences offered by the MSADA program and makes one a holistic job candidate. The MSADA program challenged me to be intellectually curious and afforded me opportunities and connections that would not have been possible without completing this program, such as my current role at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as a Postgraduate Technical Assistant. I kindly recommend that you consider the MSADA program and the spring internship option.
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