My SD Internship

I’d been interested in accounting as a career since my junior year of high school when I took an introductory course. After that I was intrigued, and as I went to college and continued to explore various interests, accounting was always a staple on my schedule. It didn’t take long after my freshman year to decide to pursue a career in the field, but first I wanted to get an inside look into the profession, and there’s no better way to do that than through an internship. As I searched in both the Pittsburgh and Columbus areas, I stumbled upon Schneider Downs, a fast-growing firm with, coincidentally, offices in both those locales.

I immediately applied to the Pittsburgh office and, after completing the interview process, was elated to be offered an internship. The start of my journey, however, commenced right around the time of the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here I was, preparing to spend my summer coming into an office five days a week, visiting clients and socializing with other professionals. Instead, I slowly saw what I thought of as my ideal internship slipping away as prolonged quarantines continued.

The situation would convert my experience into a virtual internship and bring along all sorts of new challenges. As the start date approached, I grew anxious. What would it be like, working 100 percent online? How will I be able to communicate with people? What if I get lost during work? What happens if my technology fails? Etcetera, etcetera.

These fears quickly dissolved within my first week. Everyone I worked with or came into contact with was beyond understanding and more than willing to help in any way I needed. One of the best parts about the experience, in addition to the SD people, was meeting the various clients and working the different jobs. It was a new experience almost every week.

Schneider Downs has given me what I believe is the best experience I could have asked for during these trying times. I look forward to using the knowledge I’ve gained from my internship to further my career in audit and to maintaining the friendships I’ve made at the firm.