By attending a ProfessionalQuest event at the Donald G. Costello College of Business at George Mason University, John Joseph gained invaluable experience in networking and secured an internship in his field.
As a senior studying accounting, John Joseph is getting a head start on the master’s in accounting degree through the Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s (BAM) program, which enables him to apply some of his undergraduate credits to his future graduate degree. He is also preparing to begin an internship at RSM US LLP following his graduation in the spring of 2024. Like with his master’s degree, Joseph had gotten a head start on the internship opportunity, this time by attending a ProfessionalQuest event in the fall of 2022.
ProfessionalQuest is a series of events available to students from the Costello College of Business where they can network with employers from across industries. “I found out about it through my Business 303 class,” says Joseph. “There was this requirement that I wasn’t looking forward to doing, but it ended up being very beneficial.” From a list of events that he needed to choose from, he selected the accounting edition of ProfessionalQuest, where he interacted with all the firms who were represented there—about 15 of them in total. RSM was a firm that really stood out to him, and the recruiter encouraged him to apply. RSM US LLP is an audit, tax, and consulting firm focused on the middle market. By planning ahead, he already has his summer after graduation figured out, igniting his career immediately.
Before attending his Business 303 course and ProfessionalQuest, Joseph’s interest in accounting was sparked during his accounting course at Northern Virginia Community College. “When I took that class, stuff really started to make sense, and I enjoyed doing the work,” he says. And then after transferring to Mason and enrolling in Business 303, he was introduced to the variety of resources that the business college and its careers services has to offer students, from career fairs and internships to other networking events. Another resource from the Costello College of Business Career Services that he took advantage of was the career advisors, with whom he would meet with whenever he felt lost or like he was straying from his path.
In addition to utilizing the resources from career services, John Joseph advises other business students to meet as many different people from as many different firms as possible. “The main thing is just to be open to meeting more people and networking,” he says, “I think networking is one of the most important things that you can do as a business student because it’s something that we’re going to have to do in the professional world.” After graduating from his bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and earning his CPA in the near future, Joseph intends to start working at an accounting firm in either audit or consulting. He’s not exactly sure what his longer-term goals and aspirations will bring, but his upcoming internship experience will certainly help him find out.
- Learn more about the undergraduate accounting concentration at the Costello College of Business at George Mason University
- Learn more about Mason's master's in accounting program at the Costello College of Business at George Mason University
- Learn more about the Accounting Advisory Council at the Costello College of Business at George Mason University