Roundtables in Accounting Recap
By Payton Costenbader
Staff Writer
The Accounting Club is an on-campus organization that promotes networking skills and opportunity discovery. Though this club is directed towards freshman and sophomore accounting majors, anybody who would like to sit in on a presentation, practice networking skills or broaden their involvement on their resume is welcome to join. Tuesday, January 30th, the Accounting Club hosted their largest event of the year in collaboration with The Career Center. Over a dozen accounting firms were in attendance at the 6th annual Roundtables in Accounting event held in Bethany Hall. The primary focus of this event was to allow students of any academic year to approach employers in an organized fashion and ask questions, introduce themselves, as well as gain contact information to follow up on exciting offers that may come.
The night had a calm start, beginning with socialization among firms and other students. There was about twenty minutes of open chatting and enjoying the refreshments purchased by treasurer of the club, Amanda Gelber before we got into the structured networking. At each table sat a firm, and then 2-3 students rotated among each table in 6-minute intervals. At the table, you were given the chance to give your elevator pitch to the firm’s representatives. An elevator pitch is a rehearsed introduction that answers most of the obvious questions a person may ask at the first interaction: name, major, graduation year and a brief description of why you are speaking to them.
After the initial introduction, there is limited time to ask questions due to the timer set on each interaction. A great question to ask is one with purpose, that will show the employer that you are genuinely interested in the firm; avoid vague questions that will only take up time because you want to be courteous to the other students at the table networking. Each employer had a different style of communication with the students: some tables chose a one-on-one approach, with each student speaking to a representative in the niche that they are interested in, while others did a presentation format with all representatives speaking and then allowing time for questions. I preferred the one-on-one approach as it gave me the opportunity to gain insight on what I was specifically interested in. For example, I spoke with the representative from the tax niche of KPMG, while my partner at the table spoke with an auditor.
The night concluded with more open networking and socializing. Students were able to revisit tables that particularly caught their interest and leave a lasting impression that could enhance their likelihood of getting their resume recognized come internship application time. One of the most crucial steps to networking in an organized setting, such as Roundtables in Accounting, is the follow up email. Acquiring business cards throughout the night and reaching out to thank the firms for their time helps an individual stand out to the recruiter and earns the Stillman School of Business a great reputation for having respectful students. Each of my peers that I have spoken to after the event shared the opinion that it was a night filled with great opportunities, great food, and great people to chat with. Roundtables in Accounting is truly not an event you would want to miss at Seton Hall.
Contact Payton at payton.costenbader@student.shu.edu
