School of Business Administration

The 2024 Spring Meet the Firms event, hosted by Beta Alpha Psi, at the University of Dayton, unfolded on February 1st, offering an exclusive opportunity for accounting majors and MPAcc students. This biannual career fair attracted public accounting firms, private industries, and government agencies, providing a platform for accounting professionals to identify potential new hires for their firms.

"Meet the Firms brings together a large number of firms to create a fantastic networking and informational opportunity for our students seeking employment opportunities in the accounting profession."- Curtis Farnsel, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting.

UD's chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honor organization for financial information students and professionals,  organizes Meet the Firms, with Vice Presidents Brooklyn Massey and Matthew Haake taking the lead. "The credit for the success of Meet the Firms goes to Beta Alpha Psi and the officers who devote so much time and attention to ensuring it runs smoothly," says Tim Keune, Ph.D., CPA, Chair, Department of Accounting

Meet the Firms "has a more centered niche of accounting intern/job opportunities in comparison to other career fairs." explains Erin Kadrovach, President of Beta Alpha Psi. "It is set up and conducted like typical fairs, but centered on accounting students in hopes they find their next career opportunity and work on their professional networking."

While the event is particularly meaningful for junior and senior students, sophomores and freshmen are strongly encouraged to participate. This active involvement provides accounting majors valuable networking and interviewing experience, laying the groundwork for future internships or subsequent career positions.

"Our Meet the Firms event is a very important career fair for our students because, for most, it marks the start of the recruiting process that will lead to internships and ultimately full-time jobs. It is a special experience for our students to be able to walk into a career fair with dozens of employers devoted entirely to their major. Students attending Meet the Firms have the opportunity to speak to employers of all types and sizes representing a variety of career paths within the accounting profession. Not only that, employers are interested in connecting with students at all grade levels. Following Meet the Firms, many students in their second year will accept internship offers for the summer of 2025. And considering that many students receive an offer for full-time employment at the end of their internship, it is not a stretch to say that students can make great strides toward their full-time job after graduation by attending Meet the Firms as early as their second year at UD. It is a great time to be an accounting major!" - Dr. Keune

Erin partially attributes her 2023 summer internship and future post-graduation employment to her participation in the Fall 2022 Meet the Firms event. "I had the honor of experiencing my third internship in Summer 2023 with GBQ Partners LLC. I was at their Toledo, OH location. This was my first experience in public accounting, and I learned a lot from their team. I initially came in contact with their recruiter at our Fall 2022 Meet the Firms Event. There, I got to speak with two firm representatives that took the time out of their busy schedules to attend our event. I felt a real connection when speaking with them, and later completed the interview process for an audit intern position for summer 2023."

Due to her impactful experience at GBQ being so positive and insightful, Erin accepted a generous offer of Audit Intern and will return to the Toledo location in the Summer of 2024. After she completes her master's degree in accounting, she will be working full-time at their Columbus location as an audit staff member.