10/04/2018
By Ed Brennen

Manning School of Business student Juan Landaverde came to an important realization after attending last year’s Accounting Career Fair as a sophomore.

“It really clicked that I have to have some experience on my résumé. I didn’t want to graduate without it,” says Landaverde, a business administration major (with an accounting concentration) from East Boston.

So through the Career & Co-op Center, Landaverde landed a co-op position as a staff accountant at Enterprise Bank in Lowell last December. When he returned to this fall’s Accounting Career Fair at University Crossing, Landaverde was much more prepared when talking with representatives from the 28 firms and organizations in attendance.

“This time around, I felt more confident knowing that I have something on my résumé that I can be proud of,” says Landaverde, who has dreamed of working in Boston’s Financial District since he was young. “It’s great that UMass Lowell offers a career fair like this. A lot of my friends go to schools that don’t have this kind of opportunity.”

Image by Ed Brennen

While many of the accounting firms also attend the university-wide fall Career Fair each October, Asst. Dean of Student Affairs for Career Development Greg Denon says a separate, accounting-specific fair is held in September for firms looking to hire co-ops and interns in time for the upcoming tax season.

“It’s a wonderful annual event,” says Accounting Department Chair Khondkar Karim, who notes that many of the attendees, including “Big Four” firm Ernst and Young, were represented by Manning School alumni. “Accounting firms find that it’s a great way to reach out to our students. They can get involved with their future employees on campus.”

There were also several professional organizations on hand, such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA), to tell students about opportunities to prepare for the accounting profession before and after graduation. Assoc. Prof. of Accounting Stefanie Tate, coordinator of the Master of Science in Accounting program, also spoke with students.

Image by Ed Brennen

Manning School Dean Sandra Richtermeyer thanked Career Services and the Accounting Department for “bringing so many outstanding organizations to campus to talk with our students about co-ops, internships and full-time positions.” Richtermeyer also thanked and congratulated Karim, who was recently elected to serve as president of the American Accounting Association’s Northeast chapter.

Senior business administration major Samantha Spanos, who landed an audit internship with Kevin P. Martin & Associates at last year’s fair, returned this year with hopes of lining up a full-time job after graduation in May.

“It’s important to do an internship early on, because I know people who waited until their senior year and then they found out they didn’t really like accounting,” says Spanos, a Dracut native who has concentrations in accounting and management information systems. “So the experience is absolutely worth it.”