I was skeptical about how effective a virtual internship could be when I began applying to internships last fall – I wondered just how possible it was to gain the exposure and knowledge I wanted to deem an internship as successful.
To say the least, I was certainly wrong.
During my first week at Schneider Downs, I was acclimating to getting the perfect workspace set up in my Pittsburgh home in hopes of being in-person, and I was excited to finally start my professional career; however, family matters from home arose and I moved my workspace to my home in Montgomery County, PA. Without the virtual environment that allowed me to continue my internship seamlessly, I may have missed out on valuable and useful experiences.
I believe Schneider Downs takes great care of their interns – for example, there are your “buddies,” or your staff counterparts, who are meant to assist you whenever possible. Furthermore, the perks included with being an intern are especially warming and I believe all interns could attest to that.
However, my favorite part about Schneider Downs are the trainings and continued professional education (CPE) opportunities. As a professional services firm, you need to stay up to date on all things current, such as tax legislation and new cloud opportunities. Schneider Downs’s system for trainings, called Cornerstone, is an immensely helpful resource and I am beyond glad that Schneider Downs’s educational opportunities are both bountiful and useful. Additionally, my work on employee benefit plans has greatly enhanced my understanding of how pensions and retirement plans work, for both for-profit and non-profit organizations. I find my engagements very rewarding, and I am excited to see topics from my classes in the real world.
Overall, my internship experience has been much better than I initially predicted, and I take pride in knowing that I am gaining valuable experience from this great firm. I enjoy the work I am doing, the people I am working with, the education opportunities, and everything else in between the lines. I highly recommend students or early-career professionals seeking an audit internship to seriously consider Schneider Downs.
