Baker Newman Noyes, a High 100 Agency based mostly in Portland, Maine, held its first in-person recruiting summit because the pandemic, internet hosting 18 college students who realized concerning the accounting career and careers on the agency, and frolicked volunteering at an area soup kitchen.
The three-day recruitment occasion passed off in mid-Might and revived a convention begun by the agency in 2015. Historically the agency has introduced in school sophomores and juniors to take part in group and one-on-one discussions with BNN employees, get some skilled headshots taken, discover the town, and expertise the agency’s dedication to group service by volunteering with the town’s United Manner chapter and YMCA amenities. This 12 months, the scholars volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in downtown Portland. This system attracted 17 college students from throughout New England and one from Texas. Over 40 BNN staff met with the scholars. Current interns described their experiences on the agency, and the brand new interns heard from BNN leaders in audit and tax, and spent a night networking with meals, trivia and video games.
Accounting companies, like different industries, have been experiencing acute hiring shortages because the pandemic, and the variety of accounting college students has declined in recent times, making it more durable for companies to compete for expertise as their child boomer staff attain retirement age. Recruitment occasions just like the one BNN hosted give companies an opportunity to make their case to college students and curiosity them within the career.
“A whole lot of our recruiting is completed by way of school, whether or not it’s by way of internship applications or from first-year employees simply after graduating with their bachelor’s and grasp’s levels,” stated Jessica Laverriere, the agency’s expertise acquisition specialist, who organized the summit. “A part of our technique is ensuring we’re getting began early with these college students and giving them an introduction to accounting. We speak lots concerning the pipeline and enrollment numbers. Schools are seeing low enrollment numbers for accounting college students, so a part of this Tradition & Profession Summit is permitting college students to be launched to the agency and get a really feel of who BNN is and likewise to actually introduce them to the sector of accounting, and present them what their profession alternatives appear to be inside this main and this discipline.”
Contributors within the Baker Newman Noyes Tradition & Profession Summit
The AICPA tendencies report from 2021 discovered that the variety of accounting graduates trended downward within the 2019–20 educational 12 months, with decreases of two.8% and eight.4% on the bachelor’s and grasp’s ranges, respectively. The variety of new CPA examination candidates coming into the pipeline declined in 2020 attributable to short-term closings and the assorted restrictions at Prometric take a look at facilities, with total COVID-19 issues carrying ahead into 2021.
BNN’s summit gave some college students who haven’t been majoring in accounting an opportunity to be taught concerning the discipline. Whereas the individuals this 12 months had been largely accounting majors, some majored in finance and economics.
“I personally come from a nontraditional background,” stated BNN principal Andy Smith. “I used to be a finance main in school and didn’t actually contemplate a profession in public accounting. On the time, I simply didn’t know what a public accountant did. I definitely had a imaginative and prescient for what a tax accountant or a CPA did, however after I did an internship at Baker Newman Noyes, I discovered it was a lot completely different than my notion, and that it was a way more dynamic and fascinating job than simply sitting in a room and getting ready tax returns and tabulating receipts and creating spreadsheets.”
The summit uncovered college students to what a profession in an accounting agency may appear to be. “One of many targets we tried to do with this program was to let school college students get a peek backstage and really see what our staff do on a day-to-day-basis,” stated Smith. “We do a variety of job shadowing, in addition to speaking to them about other ways we work together with shoppers and various things we do for shoppers, that it’s much more than simply getting ready monetary statements or tax returns.”
A panel dialogue on the BNN Tradition & Profession Summit
For the reason that summit occurred in Might, BNN has prolonged presents for internships and acquired acceptances from numerous individuals. Some will probably be beginning their internships in January and others subsequent summer time.
Like different companies competing for scarce expertise, BNN has wanted to lift beginning salaries. “We’ve elevated our beginning salaries over the past two years,” stated Smith. “It’s partly in response to the demand. There’s fewer folks going into the trade, so there’s extra competitors for all the graduates at this level.”
The primary day of this system targeted on attending to know what a profession in public accounting seems to be like and attending to know extra about Baker Newman Noyes. The second day dove deeper into the variations between the agency’s tax, audit and consulting practices. The third day targeted on the group service facet of the agency.
“We despatched 30 volunteers to the soup kitchen, together with college students and a few present staff as effectively,” stated Laverriere. “They bought to pack lunches for the soup kitchen in addition to do some group initiatives, asking for donations and issues like that. Volunteerism is a vital facet of Baker Newman Noyes’ tradition, so introducing them to that and serving to our group was actually vital to us as effectively.”
Volunteers from the BNN Tradition & Profession Summit on the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Portland, Maine
The occasion gave BNN staff an opportunity to fulfill college students in individual for the primary time because the pandemic.
“We’re simply actually excited to have this program again in individual and to provide these college students a variety of one-on-one time and introduce them to who we’re, and provides them that have to fulfill completely different professionals from the employees stage all the best way as much as the extent like Andy,” stated Laverriere. “Giving them that publicity was vital to us.”