From the Classroom to the Real World
By Kenzie Owen and Bryon Wolfford —We are members of the Houston CPA Society Student Auxiliary, an organization that helps prepare young professionals interested in accounting for the real world. Each meeting has a panel of speakers from various accounting firms who provide students with valuable insight about how they became successful and what they look for in a person when they are out recruiting and interviewing.
At a recent meeting, the topics discussed directly reflected what we were learning in our business communication class with Dr. Dowden. During this meeting, all of the panel speakers stressed the importance of good communication skills. They explained how anyone can have technical skills, but not everyone has good communication skills. These are important skills that have the ability to put one applicant above and beyond the other applicants.
As the meeting went on, we constantly found ourselves looking over to one another in amazement because we felt as if Dr. Dowden was speaking to us. They stressed the importance of many of the same things we had covered in our business communication class. Here are just a few of the topics they reinforced:
Elevator Speech
Before even getting an interview, potential candidates need to sit down and develop an elevator speech. An elevator speech gives you the opportunity to present yourself to potential employers in less than a minute. Doing this could be the first step for getting an interview.
First Impressions
First impressions are made within the first few seconds of meeting people. A good firm handshake is a large part of that first impression. Usually, when going into an interview, a handshake will be a part of the greeting process. Many people bypass the thought of how important a good, firm handshake can be in making a good first impression.
Tell a Story
Once you get an interview, you want to do things that make you stand-out. The best way to make yourself stand out is to tell a story rather than “just answer” the questions that are asked. Telling a story will help the employer remember you better. In all of the stories you tell during an interview, you should clearly state what actions you took, what skills you used, and what results you achieved. One speaker at the CPA society meeting stated, “The best interviews that I have conducted are the ones where I run out of time because I’m so interested in what the interviewee has to say. These are the ones where the interviewee tells stories rather than just plainly answering my questions.”
Conclusion
The Houston CPA Society Student Auxiliary meeting reinforced what an excellent education the Cameron School of Business offers students. We, as students, can sometimes take for granted all of the knowledge we are learning, and we don’t even realize what we are learning in our classes will directly help us in the real world. What the professionals were saying at the Houston CPA Society Student Auxiliary meeting seemed as if Dr. Dowden had given them the material for the meeting.
This experience made us appreciate all of our CSB professors and what we learn from their classes. We now realize the many opportunities our education will give us to be successful. We look forward to taking all this knowledge from the classroom into the real world.
University of St. Thomas, pursuing BBA/MBA in accounting and finance