Big congratulations to go out to the four Nichols seniors, Katie Birdsall, Tom Haggerty, Nicole Champney, and Danny Greiner, who got hired as staff accountants at Alexander Aronson Finning Company, a business of certified public accountants, this past semester. While all four ultimately got the same position at the same company, three out of the four took a different path to get there. Tom, Nicole, and Danny found out about openings at AAF with the help of Nichols and Road to Success.
These three seniors ended up applying and found themselves in an interview with a total of fifteen Nichols students and a grand total of twenty six applicants. With the help of their “personalities and leadership skills”, as well as “time management skills and good grades”, all three made it to a second interview. Nichols provides a very strong accounting program, so while they all felt nervous; there was definitely a sense of confidence.
On edge, eventually, Tom, Nicole and Danny all received a package in the mail to inform them that they had got the job. All three of the seniors expressed a great feeling of relief, knowing that they have a job after graduation. It certainly makes for a less stressful last semester of college. Katie Birdsall was the only one who didn’t have the typical, formal interview process, for she had an internship this past summer that lasted the course of nine weeks. When a human resources employee from AAF came to the Nichols campus last year that was when Katie was first introduced to the company. Katie was interviewed for a staff accountant internship and got the job for the summer.
Throughout the internship Katie acknowledged that she understood everything they were teaching her. She moved at a faster than normal pace and really latched on to the software that they use. Katie was an extremely dedicated intern who was eager to learn and asked a lot of questions which undoubtedly attracted AAF to her work ethic ultimately leading to a job offer.
Katie was offered the position of staff accountant during her exit interview which is basically a recap of how she did during her time at the company. Katie was hired to start and June, and says, “I’m nervous about working full time and finding the time to study for CPA exams.” No doubt, going from a full time college student to a full time accountant will be no easy task and it will take some getting used to.
As a staff accountant, these four new employees will show up at a client’s location and spend the whole day auditing them. If more work needs to be done, they will return to their home office in Westborough to finish up. Only about 20% of their time is spent in the office which means lots of traveling around. One amazing aspect of their job is that AAF has offered to pay for them to go to school to get their masters as well as CPA’s.
When asked why AAF hires so many Nichols students, AAF employee and Nichols alumni, Kevin Quinn said, “I believe AAF hires many Nichols graduates because of the sheer determination that Nichols graduates have as well as being a well prepared individual to enter the workforce upon graduation.” There is no doubt that Nichols helps shape young professionals and Kevin agreed when he said, “I feel Nichols College prepares you in a way to be very successful upon graduation, if you are willing to embrace what the school has to offer. I see a lot of young professionals enter the workforce who are very timid and not sure what they are about to embark on however I feel as though AAF notices that Nichols students are well equipped to be a valued asset right away.”
These four seniors have made it a long way to become young professionals. One thing the seniors would recommend to freshman or incoming Nichols students is to get involved. They stressed that grades are very important as well as being in a club, sport or having a job outside of school. Being phenomenal students certainly worked out for these four new AAF employees.