In the spring semester of their sophomore year, University of Delaware accounting majors find themselves interviewing with firms for internship positions that can determine their career path. However, students report this decision can be incredibly daunting since they’ve only taken one or two accounting courses up to that point. That’s why UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics created ACCT 267: Fall Exposure, a new 1-credit course that will expose students to all aspects of accounting before they start applying for internships in the spring.
“They interview spring of their sophomore year and over a year later, 90% of students who do the internship stay with that same firm,” said Jeff Gillespie, associate professor of accounting and Lerner advisor. “They’re interviewing as a sophomore for what could be their job after graduation. That’s scary for them.”
Gillespie and Carolyn Levine, professor of accounting and chair of the Department of Accounting and Management Information Systems, will be teaching the course on Thursday evenings. The class will feature sessions including a panel with accounting upperclassmen and weekly presentations from recruiters representing a diverse group of leading firms.
“We want students to have a better handle on what the options are before specializing,” Levine said. “Through seminars, panel discussions and case studies, students will get a broader ‘exposure’ to the different options and a better understanding of what jobs in the different accounting sub-areas entail.”
Accounting students who want a leg-up on their internship search can register for ACCT 267 today through their UDSIS homepage.