University Park,
11
October
2022
|
10:55 AM
America/Chicago

Record Number of COB Students Intern at Big Four Firms

david green and students

It isn’t easy to land an internship at one of the Big Four accounting firms. But thanks to the College of Business (COB) and their efforts in creating pathways to success, seven of its students managed to intern at each of the prestigious firms in the same academic year, a first in the college's history.  

The students include Ibrahim Ahmad, Omar Hernadez and John Morrissey, who interned at KPMG in Spring 2022; Gail O’Banner and Colton Krska who both interned at Deloitte in Summer 2022; Lonzo Lynn who interned at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Spring 2022; and Arameli Banuelos who interned at Ernst and Young in Summer 2022. 

Dr. David Green, Chair of COB’s Division of Accounting, Economics, Finance and Management Information Systems, said the accomplishment should turn heads because the firms only recruit students from a very small number of schools. In part, it was made possible by the past successes of students who’ve interned at the firms, which helped to put GSU on the map. 

“When we’ve had students who’ve landed those internships and are successful, that opens doors to other GSU students because the firms say ‘Oh, GSU students are great students,’” Dr. Green said.  

The accomplishment also came as a result of the college’s efforts to help students be more prepared for career opportunities through key initiatives. 

In February 2022, the college hired its first Internship and Employer Relations Coordinator, Peter Judge, who is instrumental in helping students find and prepare for internships. 

Additional forms of support have been added in the classroom as well. In partnership with Career Services, the college implemented the Career Ready Program in the Intermediate Accounting I course. The course requires students to do career assignments in addition to their usual course work. That includes working closely with Career Services, attending workshops and seminars on resumes, searching for internships and preparing Linkedin profiles. 

Dr. Green said the college is planning to implement the Career Ready Program in all undergraduate business majors sometime soon.

COB will be hosting a career and internship fair on Nov. 10 from 1 p.m to 3 p.m. in the Hall of Governors. Click here to register.